Carly Allen-Martin
Carly Allen-Martin has studied at Santa Reperata International School of Art in Florence, Italy, The European Academy of Fine Art in Trier, Germany, and Aoyama Gakiun University in Tokyo, Japan. She holds a BFA in painting from Texas Christian University, and has completed a residency at the Vermont Studio Center. Her paintings have been featured in the Dallas Morning News, LUXE editorials, Food Network Magazine, Celebrity Homes For The Holidays, and on the Cooking Channel network.
Allen-Martin’s work is collected publicly and privately both internationally and across the United States. Public Collections include BBVA Compass Bank and Texas Christian University. Allen-Martin is represented by Laura Rathe Fine Art Dallas, Laura Rathe Fine Art Houston, and Artspace111 Gallery in Fort Worth. She lives and works in Dallas, Texas.
The message of her work is one of resiliency, optimism, authenticity, depth, and fearlessness. It is about over coming the oppression and walls we all face as human beings. Color is the most important tool that she use to convey that message. You won’t find a heavy weight or overpowering darkness in her work. She uses bits and pieces of a darker palette because she has found that just like in life, on a surface, elements of darkness make the brights shine brighter and the colors read more true. Color is the most important aspect of her work followed by layer and attention to detail. To her, for a painting to be successful, it needs to have depth and a trail of layers in how it came to be. To her that is the pathway to the individuality of each piece. It is the resume of where the work has been and how it came to be. The materials she works with have given her the keys to unlock a surface of the painting that she previously longed for, but was unable to execute. Drawing is a critical element of her expression – she has been drawing these same lines on paper since she was able to hold a pencil. She loves charcoal, because it is unapologetic. It doesn’t fit into a neat, tidy box. It is messy, and bold, and brings an element of grit to the surface of the piece. The soft pastels have the same effect, but with a more graceful, gentle approach. She loves pastels, because there is a purity to their color and richness that she has not found in another material. Oils are the most dominant material she uses to deliver the message or narrative to the surface of the work. She has found that paper and panel are critical, because they allow her to create freely without having to work around the fragility of the surface. Overall, what she is interested in is creating honest, authentic, uplifting work that can thrive in interior spaces, and enriches the lives of both the artist and
the viewer. She believes the world needs optimistic work, with which we interact with on a daily basis, that gently nudges us to live more boldly, more considerately, and more authentically as the individuals we were created to be.