20 North Gallery

Carrie Hawkins (Temperance, Michigan) received her Associate of Applied Business from Davis College (Toledo, Ohio) and her Bachelor of Arts from The University of Toledo (Ohio). For three decades, Hawkins has regularly participated in juried group exhibitions across the United States and recently in Ontario, Canada. As a frequent contributor to arts festivals, Hawkins has shown work in Art Basel (Miami Beach, Florida), ArtPrize (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Art on the Mall (Toledo, Ohio) and the Crosby Festival of the Arts (Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo, Ohio) among others. She currently serves as Vice President of the Toledo Craftsman’s Guild (Ohio), of which she has been a member since 2006.

Artist Statement

My work explores the relationship between our consumable, disposable society and the sentimental nostalgia of the past. The influences of history as well as the environmental impact humanity has on the earth are prevalent through my recycled found object and vintage-inspired art works.

I have always been fascinated by objects.  As a child, I always had numerous collections of accumulated found treasures.  Often, I wondered about the story behind an item and would often imagine vivid stories of how that item came to be discarded, only to be discovered by my observant eye.

That is what truly inspires my art, to pay tribute to the past and a much simpler way of life.  I am passionate about recycling and repurposing and can frequently be found scouring flea markets and garage sales looking for new additions to my art.  In today’s world of excess, it’s important to me to seek out those old, discarded and once-loved things of the past that are destined for a landfill and breathe new life in them through my art.  My current body of work explores the effects of our consumable society on the natural world, particularly textile and clothing waste.  In each piece, I use fabric from damaged sweaters, along with found objects and paint to create a dream world, unaffected by our declining environment.