California-based artist Andrée Carter invites us to see cities through the eyes of an artist, where texture, color, and needlepoint come together to tell layered and evocative stories. Fiber Art Now was fortunate to catch up with Carter for this interview as she returned from her recent artist residency in Key West, Florida, where her curiosity and artistic vision continue to shape her Roots of a City series.
In this Q&A, Carter reflects on her creative process, the materials that define her work, and how she reimagines cities as vibrant narratives waiting to be discovered.
My materials have been a part of my voice for some time. I use my own needlepoint designs and create my own colors with dry pigment, marble dust, and gesso. Textures come my way through the use of mark making and using actual collage elements, like paper or other textiles that I collect. Since color is the most emotive element of design, I feel it has the power to determine the essence of each city. Each city in the series has a specific color palette determined by my response to the location. For instance, the blues of Paros (Greece) cannot be used in the Promenades (New York). The same goes for certain textures. The netting used in Paros is fish netting from the island itself. It would make no sense for me to use it in any other painting in the series.
Detail of Promenades
Promenades
Paros
Detail of Paros
Color has always been a dominant force in my work. When I choose a color, it is for its effect on the content of the art. Color sets a mood. Color has temperature and sound. It reflects the specificity of what I am trying to convey. This is why it is important for me to mix my own colors.
Since I have always been a process-oriented artist, I also gather traditional and non-traditional textures and store them in the studio. Sometimes people give me things that they think I would like, such as buttons or beads. When I feel it is appropriate to use these materials for a composition, I will bring them out.
Andrée Carter working on LaLa Land
Well, I was trained academically but I have always been interested in the journey and not the finished project. So, I tend to drift away from my training and go to my inner child. This discovery has led me to believe that my work is a metaphor for how our lives unfold. Most of us really don’t know where we are going, but most of us want to continue the journey. What I mean is that life is more interesting if we can take what comes our way and convert it into something more meaningful. This is what happens in my process. If I decide to change a color, a shape, or the direction of a line, then all of a sudden the work has gone in another direction. If I embrace that change, I may like the composition even better or at least, follow that change.
The element of water seems to be a recurring theme in all the cities in the series, from New Orleans to New York. This was not a conscious decision, but it was brought to my attention by a recent studio visit. I was born in New Orleans and spent 51 years there. New Orleans is not a typical American city. It is an enigma of the South. It is a port city, with both a major river and a large lake, a city of immigrants, fabulous music, and great food. Growing up in an environment that was close to a European sensibility influenced my thought process. Most of my life, I have relied on my gut instincts to make many of my choices. It has led me to keep an open mind. My curiosity about people and places has never wavered. I paint what I know, just as a writer writes about what she knows. My choice of coastal or island environments must feel familiar to me.
Detail of Crescent City
Detail of Crescent City
Combining the craft of needlepoint with artists mixing their own colors before synthetic colors were discovered has been a part of my voice for a long time. I am reaching back in time with both of these techniques, but I am bringing them into contemporary times through my color choices and present-day materials. I am also flipping the hierarchy of “high” and “low” art. The needlepoint is now as important, if not more important, than the paint. By combining these two elements, I am creating a narrative that visually explains each location. I am abstracting architectural details with specific colors that reflect each place in a unique way. The colors of Promenades (New York) cannot be used for Mosaics (Barcelona), just as the architectural details of Crescent City (New Orleans) cannot be used for Emerald City (Seattle).
Crescent City
The unique challenge of combining disparate elements to tell my story goes hand-in-hand with the journey itself. I get excited knowing that I can somehow force these elements to come together. As the process moves along, the excitement builds into a crescendo and then the finale. Out of what may seem chaos comes unity.
I haven’t visited Naples yet because my show isn’t until May, but it’s coming. Key West is in process now and I have already created all of the smaller pieces for the painting. Greece was in the late fall of 2023 and the month I spent there turned into Paros (Greece). Many people have viewed this piece, and they are astounded at how much it reflects the islands of Greece. When I feel I have reached an audience and they bring their interpretation into the work, I have achieved my goal. I can see this series expanding for a long time. Many other cities are simmering in my subconscious that will eventually become a part of Roots of a City.
Detail of Emerald City
The series is deeply personal, but I want viewers to interpret the work with their personal experiences. For example, anyone who has lived in Los Angeles, California, recognizes the painted graffiti or the needlepoint freeway signs in Lala Land (Los Angeles). The same can be said for Crescent City (New Orleans) with the French Quarter architecture and the above-ground cemetery in the needlepoint. I hope the viewers can recall their own sense of memory or place through my visual clues. My next Roots of a City piece is in the planning stage and is based on my artist-in-residency from Key West. I have already done all the needlepoint components and now I am ready to turn these parts into a cohesive composition. As long as there are cities and places for me to love and cherish, the series will continue.
Andrée Carter’s Roots of a City series transforms urban landscapes into stories rich with texture, color, and emotion. As she continues to expand this vibrant collection, we look forward to seeing how her unique vision captures the essence of cities yet to come. Explore more of Carter’s work on her website to dive deeper into her artistic journey.
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Cami Smith is the Fiber Art Now media manager, community engagement coordinator, and a mixed-media artist.
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