Margret Carde’s work explores the experience of color as it appears in those rare, fleeting moments that impress themselves upon us. Though initially drawn from a glimpse of reality, through the process of creation the paintings slowly begin to take on an ephemeral, surreal quality of light that serves to evoke an outward affirmation of internal reality or feeling rather than a mere snapshot of the world. From the dreamlike haze that Cadre creates emerge feelings of not only happiness, but also somber, melancholic yearning for the sublime feelings that such fleeting moments of light and attention-breaking one out of the monotony of routine life ever so briefly-can create. In this way she allows her paintings to turn elements of reality into experiences of the soul.
Carde’s work has been met with much acclaim during her career. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts individual artist’s grant and was awarded the special edition purchase prize by the World Print Competition. Further, her paintings are held in private collections worldwide and museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco and the Aachenbach.
