Carrie Mason lives on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, UK. Following a 20-year career in local government she returned to education and studied Fine Art at the Arts University Bournemouth, graduating at MA level in 2017. Carrie is a member of the Drawing Research Group (Arts University Bournemouth) and Dorset Visual Arts (Salon Collective).
A bursary from DVA and b-side Festival in 2018 led to Carrie expanding her practice to include live action drawing, with Marking Time being performed daily for 9 days at the 2018 Festival. This led to being commissioned in 2019 to perform Silentia at the BEAF Festival and Pledge at two venues at the Dorset Moon Festival. Carrie was invited to perform Silentia at Field of Action, a Draw to Perform event and exhibition in London in 2022.
Residencies include Draw to Perform in Brighton (2018), the Prison Residencies (2021), Brisons Veor, Cornwall and Durlston Country Park, Dorset (2022).
In 2023 she was commissioned to make a sculpture for the b-side Festival and received a Turning Point bursary from aSpace arts which resulted in her first installation The Cure for Everything is Saltwater, Tears Sweat or the Sea being exhibited with supporting work in the group exhibition Present Tense at Gods House Tower, Southampton in February 2024.
Solo exhibitions include Being in Time, at the Mowlem Theatre, Swanage (2022), Stone Paper Thread (2023) and Sea Change (2024). She has also exhibited widely in group exhibitions including Black Swan Arts, Somerset, SW Printmaking Open, Devon; and Print International, Wrexham.
Artist Statement
“Through my multi-disciplinary practice which includes drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and performance, I explore the challenges we face living in an age of digital distraction where there are so many demands on our time and attention.
I am interested in how we experience time and ideas around mindfulness and being present. We now experience so much virtually, and our lives are mediated through screens. As a result, I feel that it is important for me to have a physical connection with the materials that I use, and for my work to generate moments of quiet that enable the audience to experience a sense of time, and a sense of place,
I often use repetitive mark making over long periods of time to create drawings or to transform materials. It is when there is an accumulation of marks or the materials start to breakdown and become something “other”, something almost unrecognisable from their original state, that the magic happens.
Living on an island and being a keen sea swimmer, I am also really interested in the effects of coastal environments and salt water on people and materials. The sea has the power to transform landscapes, materials, and our wellbeing.”
A bursary from DVA and b-side Festival in 2018 led to Carrie expanding her practice to include live action drawing, with Marking Time being performed daily for 9 days at the 2018 Festival. This led to being commissioned in 2019 to perform Silentia at the BEAF Festival and Pledge at two venues at the Dorset Moon Festival. Carrie was invited to perform Silentia at Field of Action, a Draw to Perform event and exhibition in London in 2022.
Residencies include Draw to Perform in Brighton (2018), the Prison Residencies (2021), Brisons Veor, Cornwall and Durlston Country Park, Dorset (2022).
In 2023 she was commissioned to make a sculpture for the b-side Festival and received a Turning Point bursary from aSpace arts which resulted in her first installation The Cure for Everything is Saltwater, Tears Sweat or the Sea being exhibited with supporting work in the group exhibition Present Tense at Gods House Tower, Southampton in February 2024.
Solo exhibitions include Being in Time, at the Mowlem Theatre, Swanage (2022), Stone Paper Thread (2023) and Sea Change (2024). She has also exhibited widely in group exhibitions including Black Swan Arts, Somerset, SW Printmaking Open, Devon; and Print International, Wrexham.
Artist Statement
“Through my multi-disciplinary practice which includes drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and performance, I explore the challenges we face living in an age of digital distraction where there are so many demands on our time and attention.
I am interested in how we experience time and ideas around mindfulness and being present. We now experience so much virtually, and our lives are mediated through screens. As a result, I feel that it is important for me to have a physical connection with the materials that I use, and for my work to generate moments of quiet that enable the audience to experience a sense of time, and a sense of place,
I often use repetitive mark making over long periods of time to create drawings or to transform materials. It is when there is an accumulation of marks or the materials start to breakdown and become something “other”, something almost unrecognisable from their original state, that the magic happens.
Living on an island and being a keen sea swimmer, I am also really interested in the effects of coastal environments and salt water on people and materials. The sea has the power to transform landscapes, materials, and our wellbeing.”