Discover the Art of Carolee

Artist Bio: Carolee Hagey was born and raised in San Diego, California. After living in New York City, she was drawn into the world of contemporary art through the city’s vibrant creative culture and countless galleries and museums. She returned to California to pursue her own artistic path. In 2024, she completed a BA in Studio Art at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she focused primarily on painting and sculpture.

A relative newcomer to the art world, Carolee began seriously developing her artistic practice just two and a half years ago. Working across both two- and three-dimensional media, her work explores materiality, form, and personal narrative. Despite her recent start, her pieces have already been exhibited at the Senson Gallery and the Norris Center. She is also a 2024 recipient of the prestigious Irwin Grant, awarded in recognition of her promising contributions to contemporary art.

Artist Statment: A large part of my artistic process is about expressing convoluted, confusing, or repressed emotions. My work often grapples with the tension between internal feelings and external perceptions—especially the societal projections we’re constantly subjected to. These ideas tend to come through in the form of faces that are intentionally subverted from standard human features, reflecting emotional distortion and dissonance.

I use very bright, vivid colors to pull the viewer in and to relieve some of the emotional weight my pieces often carry. The contrast between the vibrant color palette and the darker themes helps emphasize my own internal struggle with navigating these emotions—something I know many others experience daily as well. My paintings tend to hold deeply personal stories and serve as a kind of emotional mapping for me.

Recently, I’ve expanded my practice to include sculpture and have found a deep appreciation for the medium. While I’m still finding my footing, I love the interactive nature of sculpture—especially working at a scale that allows people to stand beside or inside the pieces. I’m interested in how viewers can experience radically different perspectives of a single work depending on where they stand. As I continue developing as an artist, I plan to bring more of my conceptual and emotional work into sculpture, particularly around the themes of social relationships and performative human interaction.

In contrast to the introspective nature of my painting and sculpture, photography has become a way for me to explore and appreciate the world outside of my head. Through the lens, I’m drawn especially to the intricate patterns found in biology and the structured beauty of architecture. Photography gives me a chance to slow down and observe the details of my environment, offering a kind of grounding and balance to my more internal, emotionally driven work.

As I move forward in my practice, I hope to continue blending emotional honesty with formal experimentation across mediums. Whether working on canvas, in physical space, or through a camera lens, my goal is to create work that invites reflection, connection, and a deeper awareness of both the self and the world around us.

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