MAY 2022
CENTER AND SOUTH GALLERIES
After Image | Carla Klinker Cope
Carla Klinker Cope is an artist living and working in Homer, Alaska. Carla is a long-time board member of Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer and a founding member of Mother/Artist/Alaska, a statewide collective. She’s worked for local schools and community organizations designing and painting murals and engaging kids in creative exploration. She earned her BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2003.
I acknowledge the Sugpiaq, Dena'ina and Aluutiq people who have been in community on these lands long before occupation by settler culture. Untangling the mythic romanticism about what it means to be “Alaskan” is a driving force for my creative and social work. I commit to learning with an open, humble heart.
Artist Statement
After Image begins with a question. “What happens when the other shoe drops, when the fairy tale is over, when the line breaks and the boat is cast adrift?”
Looking inward for equanimity, this work has become my answer. After Image buoyed me through a pandemic and the extended storms of global, political and personal crises. This is how I’ve navigated the shifting tides of identity and belief.
I find my salvation in the studio. Creative inquiry and experimentation are my guides to exploring the honesty, beauty and tragedy of life. Through this work, I chart a course towards becoming whole in regard to myself and in relationship with others.
I grew up fishing salmon in Cook Inlet with my family as part of the commercial drift fleet. My work is informed by ocean extremes: abundance and scarcity, joy and fear, beauty and brutality. Salmon– from flesh to bones to scales– spawn a potent personal symbol which embodies life cycles and the search for home.
So, what happens when the other shoe drops, when the fairy tale is over? We must look inward. With acceptance and a willingness to adapt, I learn that I am seaworthy. After Image is simply an opportunity to begin again.
