Biography of Carey Maxon
American artist, Carey Maxon is instantly recognizable for the repetitive yet irregular dots that characterize much of her work. They are imperfect yet in line and given character through their reoccurrence. Carey Maxon often uses her fields of dots to subtly disguise faces and figures, which catch the viewer’s eye as they travel around the piece.
Carey Maxon’s work is inspired by the contemporary Op Art movement of the 1960s, in which scientists used their increased understanding of visual perception to create optical illusions. She uses geometrical forms similarly to create optical effects and mosaic-like patterns that dazzle the eye. Her artistic process is initiated by depicting and rendering submerged figures and faces. She then builds her work on top of this in a series of layers, which finishes with her dotted designs. Her work aims to put the drama of human existence into perspective through overlay and repetition.
Carey Maxon (born in 1978) lives and works in Italy but spent much of her earlier career in New York. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in art history from Barnard College she lived in a rural part of Italy before completing her Master’s in Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology. She was an analytic candidate at the CG Jung Institute in New York and cites her interest in psychotherapy as inspiration for her works, comparing her dots to the process of therapy in which one investigates the psyche. The farm where she initially lived upon moving to Italy was left to her by the owner after he passed away, and she has recently moved back to the farm from New York.
Carey Maxon has had exhibitions at Pierogi Gallery in New York, Miyakoyo Shinaga Art Prospects, and French Neon. Her work is held in major public collections including that of MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, and The Whitney Museum of American Art, all in New York City.
