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We spoke to Carissa Karamarko a few months ago when Melbourne was beginning this lockdown period. Carissa is represented by Saint Cloche in Paddington Sydney but lives and works in Melbourne. We had a great chat about working through lockdown, having a mentor, not going to art school, preparing for a show, and much more. Carissa's next show will be at Saint Cloche in Feb 2022. Thanks for talking to us Carissa.

Carissa Karamarko is an emerging artist based in Melbourne who uses the genre of still life to explore colour, navigating different worlds and experiences through objecthood.

Carissa’s artworks investigate our relationship to objects and their meaning, both inherent, associated or inherited. However, using expressive colour, she expands on this traditional art genre, affirming its place within today’s contemporary art world.

The paintings extend a relationship between how objects dictate our view on history, particular moments in time and how they can provide a window into a world unseen. Carissa relates this to her own surroundings and the items she curates. Yet, critically, her investigation of objects sets out to understand different worlds and different people.

Within her still life paintings, we see a close connection to colour, one that relates to her discovery of herself in her formative days. This relationship with colour follows an intuitive process; Carissa typically begins her process with photographs, capturing the composition and framing through her eye. She works directly from these images, painting onto the canvas with oils, in an automatic process, working quickly, acting intuitively, and trusting the process.

Carissa has been a finalist in numerous art prizes, including the Geelong Contemporary Art Award, Muswellbrook Art Prize, and the Mosman Art Award. Her work is held in collections across Australia.