Swoon: Into the Forest premieres May 15 at Turner Carroll Gallery
Swoon, the nom d’artiste of Caledonia Curry, uses storytelling and the creative process as a method of healing. She became well known as an artist in New York City with her large-scale wheat paste street art of characters in her life, a practice which she expanded internationally from Thailand to Tunisia to Haiti. Now, her work is included in many major museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Brooklyn Museum, Mima Museum in Brussels, and the Tate in London.
For the last few years, Swoon has worked on her most intimate story and set of characters yet: Sibylant Sisters. This autobiographical, multidimensional artwork is immersive and vulnerable. It portrays a magical story set in her childhood realized through drawing, painting, an oracle deck, and a stop motion film. The artist presents her story so that others can find healing the way she did: over years of “making the subconscious conscious,” and by exploring her parents’ opioid addictions through magical realism. Artwork from Sibylant Sisters will be the focus of Into the Forest. In the video below Swoon gives more context and examples from this story.
The event that launched Swoon to fame ocurred in 2009 when she sailed unannounced into the Grand Canal during the Venice Biennale on a series of homemade rafts handbuilt by her and her fellow artists. This project, called Swimming Cities of Serenissima, was a living community that made the impossible feel possible. It was also, according to Art Critic Jerry Salz, “The most moving moment [he] had at the Biennale.” Salz continued, “Swoon’s work doesn’t come out of academic critique; it comes from necessity and vision. These are the perfect tools for making things as old as time new again — including an art world turned dangerously into itself.” Below, you can see the Swimming Cities raft with Swoon at the front, along with two artworks from the original raft (masthead and doors) that Turner Carroll is honored to present to collectors.
Swoon has since created many other immersive projects with “necessity and vision,” including a refurbished church in Bradford, Pennsylvania became a home for community members to train in professional crafts, and a nail salon which gives manicures to homeless citizens.
(left) Swoon’s Swimming Cities of Serenissima crashing the 2009 Venice Biennale
(top right) Raft Doors, cut paper on wooden door, 2019, 57 x 39 x 4.5″
(bottom right) Alixa and Naima Pose 2, block print and acrylic gouache on paper mounted to wood, 2009, 46 x 46 x 11″
One of the most exciting projects we are debuting at Turner Carroll Gallery during the exhibition Swoon: Into the Forest this May is her Sibylant Sisters oracle deck. We will feature both the deck and the original artwork from the cards for the very first time.
As the artist writes, “The Sibylant Sisters Oracle Deck is a work of art you hold in your hands. They are a tool for storytelling and self reflection. Based in the magical world of the Sibylant Sisters fairytale, they offer its symbols and characters as guides for your own mythical journey.”
Swoon will be present at the exhibition opening celebration on May 15 giving readings from her deck. To view more of her readings, you can watch them on the artist’s YouTube and Instagram.
Three original artworks from Swoon’s Oracle Deck (Flying Fish, Celebration Tree, and Siren)
Other exciting components of Swoon: Into the Forest will include rare, unique, and highly collectible paintings and drawings coming directly from the Wyoming Museum of Art which are making their gallery debut.
We look forward to seeing you on Canyon Road in May for the opening of this groundbreaking and creative exhibition by one of the world’s top street artists. You may view all works included in the exhibition at the button below.
Other exciting components of Swoon: Into the Forest will include rare, unique, and highly collectible paintings and drawings coming directly from the Wyoming Museum of Art which are making their gallery debut.
We look forward to seeing you on Canyon Road in May for the opening of this groundbreaking and creative exhibition by one of the world’s top street artists. You may view all works included in the exhibition at the link below.
Author: Sophie Carroll