Meet Carmon Slater | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carmon Slater and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carmon, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I grew up in the Midwest, and have always been inspired by Nature and especially weather phenomena, landscape (especially horizons), the changing night sky, the change of seasons and how light changes thusly. Now I’ve lived in Colorado for many years and have loved all of these same aspects in a totally new environment, especially the mountains, the changing sky, and the plethora of living creatures that dwell within. I’ve loved learning a whole new series of plant forms and did a foothills and an alpine flower series. Primarily just to let people know I could draw since I’ve dealt largely with abstract forms throughout my work. I’ve worked in many media over the years and thus have been utilized as a juror quite frequently.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Some of this has been answered in previous questions. While I’ve worked in wood, clay, and glass–I’ve always loved the tactility and vibrancy of fabrics, whether found or created. Initially I created all of my textiles and was handling dyes like watercolor on a large scale. I’ve always loved the work of artists like Morris Louis and others who were working with thin veils of color, often overlapping to create even more colors. I could do that to some extent with dyes, but then started working with thin sheets of acrylic. When I downsized housing, I had to give up my huge studio space with lots of light and beautiful views of the mountains, to working in a second bedroom, so my work had to change as a result. Now I’m working more with found fabrics in smaller works. And have explored the quilt form as art. I’m always working with different ways that it can be presented other than flat or utilitarian. Sometimes three dimensionally, sometimes with other media such as glass. I’ve become known for my religious stoles, which are actually quilt forms in another dimension. I’m represented in many private, corporate, and institutional collections. I love working with found objects or scraps, creating something beautiful out of nothing. I once had a walking partner who lived on the other end of town with a large park inbetween. We both had dogs, so we’d walk one way alone and one way in partnership. I would find objects on the street and did a whole series of assemblages from those found scraps called Reliquaries from a Walk. I love working with a need or personality to create something befitting such. Consequently much of my work has been commission rather than working through the gallery system.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It would depend on what art exhibitions were occurring at the time. There are many choices in the Denver metro area, especially the Denver Art Museum and the Arvada Center for the Arts. If they have never experienced mountains before, there are some lovely sites to visit out of the city to get a feel for that environment, including walks where local flora can be explored. Everyone always loves to see elk and Evergreen, my former home, is always a good spot to see that, plus some lovely restaurants up there. Red Rocks is one of the all time beautiful spots close by. Great hiking, bird watching, concerts, a chance to perhaps grab lunch up there or take a picnic along. I’ve discovered many little secret places in my time out here that I only share with special people that appreciate Nature and the great outdoors and esthetic things. I’ve also cultivated a series of special little restaurant places that I enjoy. Plus I enjoy cooking for people.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve been pretty much self taught and have always been an artist in my thinking. I guess I’ve always had leadership skills, as I was senior class president in high school and have since served on two national arts boards, was president of two state arts organizations in two different states, served on many local arts boards, was named to the first city Civil Rights Task Force in Ames, Iowa, and was named to the Iowa Arts Council by the governor of that state and was vice-chair before moving to Colorado. I’ve always been intrigued by landforms from the air and the work done with fractals, where mathematicians have tried to describe the ins and outs of coastal margins for instance. Order out of chaos. I’ve had the privilege of curating museum exhibitions and once did a radio program tour of one of them, trying to describe visual forms into a narrative that would translate to the air waves. I’ve also done interviews in New Zealand and France. Having to use a translator for the latter. When the German dyes came on the market and could be purchased in small quantities by artists, I was invited by the New Zealand Crafts Council to be the keynote speaker for their national conference at Waikato University and then did a month long series of workshops over there using those dyes.

Website: windsreachstudio.com