Carmen Cano
Birds and Beasts

Fremont Caffe Ladro
January 1-February 28, 2007 452 N. 36th St.Seattle


Also showing at:
Capitol Hill Caffe Ladro
January 15- February 28, 2007 435 15th Ave. E. Seattle



Artist Statement
I am an object-maker born in Madrid, Spain. I firmly believe in work, not inspiration. By assembling and connecting objects, images or materials into unexpected ways they radiate and evoke their own essence, but also contaminate their neighbors. Though I love working in all kinds of media, I have had an especially long personal exploration of calligraphic inks and paper, in some ways the deepest, most original and primitive medium. I am also a constructor with a love of tools, leading to a long series of small sculptures, hand-made boxes and many other unusual objects. Common to it all is a pretty elaborate but precise & consistent iconography, its symbology rooted in nature.
Always water, air, earth, fire, salt and sun; the life that is created by these and who itself creates through these.

Biography
From Madrid, Spain, Carmen Cano has been living and working in the U.S. since 1997. Her studies in Madrid combinedboth fine and graphic arts, and she was an early pioneer in the use of computers in graphic design. As an artist she was involved with other experimental artists, writers and musicians that blossomed in Spain in the wake of the death of Franco and the coming of democracy. She exhibited in a number of Madrid galleries, and in 1991 was awarded 2nd prize in the Biennial of Young Artists in the Mediterranean (Bolougne, France). She was a nationally-recognized designer in Spain,creating many projects for major publishers, the Spanish government, the Barcelona Olympic Games and the Art Expo of Venice among others.Marrying an American and moving to Seattle, since coming to the United States she has quietly but persistently explored new creative techniques of all kinds. She currently oversees digital design and new media operations at a major newspaper.