Bio
NYC-based artist and designer Caroline Guilbert brings a holistic approach to color, highlighting its beauty in the everyday. Guilbert obtained their Masters degree in color in their native France, gaining a deep understanding of the ways in which color impacts various facets of our daily lives through psychology, theory, and more. Today, Guilbert creates from a curated live/work space in Brooklyn, NY. This allows them to fuel the daily organic rhythm of their creative process, immersed in their artistic environment.
In their work, Guilbert extracts color from local food & flower wastes with which they create limited edition products and artworks that explore the illusions created by the phenomenon of color. Additionally, Guilbert has a passion for linking color with other creative mediums such as floral, video, music, and dance. In doing so, Guilbert breaks down the boundaries between different creative disciplines while working towards their mission of transforming the way we see and understand color.
For over a decade, Guilbert has shared their extensive knowledge of color and design with major brands including Armani, Reebok, and Coloro. In these positions, Guilbert has led color innovation and pushed sustainable projects to fruition for both apparel and footwear.
Their sculptural work has recently been featured in the exhibition, Eclectica, at My Gallery NYC. Guilbert is currently working on a new collection of work to exhibit this year, as well as additional collaborative projects in New York City.
Artist
Statement
In my work, I create sculptures to challenge the ways in which people perceive and experience color. The way we see color is entirely dependent on context and is shaped by external factors including light source and temperature. Through my artistic practice, I explore the impact of this phenomenon. By shifting the hue of the lighting projected onto each sculpture, I cultivate chromatic moments for the viewer to get lost in.
Reframing the psychological issue of waste is an essential part of my approach. With sustainability at the core of my practice, I gather materials from local and second-hand sources. Through natural dye techniques, I extract chromatic properties from my own daily food scraps, as well as floral waste. By doing so, I curate what is around me and enable nature to be part of the artistic process.
By programming sequences of shifting lights, I modify the perception of hues on and around the artwork. The use of black light activates the UV-sensitive pigments, which allows the naturally dyed parts of the piece to seemingly step back. This lighting layer creates a sense of movement, and shadows are an important player in the animation of my work.
I view this ongoing series as an opportunity to offer a healing and escaping journey for the senses through light and textures. I aim to show how our vision and brain can lead us to misperceive the spectral composition of visible light and to convey that color is a changing sensation, even an illusion.