Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Pyle.
Hi Caroline, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am a native Rhode Islander and have worked as a public health professional since graduating from Boston and Yale Universities. After a near-fatal car accident over 15 years ago, I turned to art as a form of physical and cognitive therapy. Though I worked in the field of public health prior to the accident, I did not fully understand the intense connection between creativity and personal health until after the accident. Painting was the only time I experienced a pain-free existence. When I painted, the vibrancy that was trapped inside of me exploded on canvas. I realized I was still alive in my otherwise broken body. After enduring years of recovery, I moved to Cincinnati, OH and that is where my creative journey began. I’ll always be grateful for the foundational support and validation I received as an emerging artist. To this day, galleries and retailers in Cincinnati including Art Beyond Boundaries, Bantz Studios, Mohawk Gallery, High Street and Art Design Consultants, provide a platform for me to exhibit and sell my works to residents of Ohio and beyond.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The experience of a near-fatal car accident had a transformative effect on me, and it took years of physical therapy to recover both my cognitive and physical functions. A family member suggested I start painting as a form of therapy. During the arduous years of recovery, I was surprised to discover my innate, artistic talent soon exploded on canvas. The very act of creating (painting) had a life-promoting effect on me, that pulled me out of a dark and dismal time-period. Since I was trained as a public health professional, naming myself “Artist” was difficult at first. It wasn’t long before my passion for color enveloped me, pressed me and pushed me, to see myself differently. I realized my true nature: untamed, organic, free of lines, free of limits, free to be an “Artist”. My passion for creativity, which was first a means of personal survival, has now become a voice of hope for broader audiences. As a self-taught artist, I have created a body of work that speaks to the enduring power of possibilities for reinvention, rebirth and sheer unfettered impulse. My pain and brokenness have yielded the birth of purpose and passion that is now Abstract Designs by C. Pyle, and my collections continue to visually narrate my ongoing healing process and evolution.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My process of creating has at its core, the use of vibrant color. For me, color represents life in its fullness, thus I use it liberally and intensely. Life is not a neat package of black and white, rather, filled with colorful moments that transform, alter and often forever change who we are. I’m crazy about texture and use glass to bring life to my work. Like shards of glass, my life was once shattered into many pieces. The breaks experienced in life added more than pain, however – they also added texture, vibrancy and perspective. Along the way, I came to realize that the breaks and facets make glass more brilliant! I guess that is the miracle of brokenness, it can yield beauty.
Currently, I’m working on my latest collection entitled “White Noise”, where I explore the numerous shades and voices of whiteness. I am also expanding my wearable arts collection.
What are your plans for the future?
I am now becoming familiar with the art landscape in neighboring Indiana where I have a studio in downtown Indianapolis. Next steps for me are to engage in “stretch projects” and work in areas that I have not yet pursued, like collaborations with local artists for projects or commissions. I also plan to explore the realm of NFTs (Non-fungible tokens).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cpyleabstracts.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cpyleabstracts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abstractdesignsbycpyle
- Other: https://shopvida.com/collections/cpyle-3
Image Credits
Prickly Pears Photo
