Artist Interview: Carol Mackiewicz

This artist interview is a bit different, because Carol Mackiewicz is an artist who uses her talents as a form of counseling through art therapy. I think it is critical to understand that artists are linked to many different fields through diverse specializations, not only the art market. Enjoy!

Coffee and the Beatles, 2007

Oil on Canvas

Tinneburg Abbey, 2008

Oil Pastel

Name: Carol L. Mackiewicz                       

Current City: Santa Fe, NM           

Hometown: Wales, MA

Preferred Medium: Oil painting and oil pastels

Education: University of Dallas, Art/Painting, Expected MA in Art Therapy/Counseling at Southwestern College 

Website Link

Tell me about you paintings in one sentence:  My work conveys themes of personal emotions explored through color and texture of paint, oil pastels, and/or symbols.

What is your favorite forum/method of sharing information about art?  I love to educate other people about art; I currently work with girls ages 5-12 in an afterschool program and love teaching them art methods and the history behind why artists did what they did and how it affects their current world.

In what period of your career did you feel most aware of the needs of your audience, if ever?  I felt the need for art to convey healing qualities not just for the artist but also for the viewers when I was a junior in college.  We were studying German Expressionism and my icon of painters, Wassily Kandinsky wrote in his Concerning the Spiritual in Art, that it was the time for artists to carry the energy of change and progressive ideas for their own cultures.  I saw myself, at the time, as one of those artists who could bring something to the table to share with others, through my paintings and willingness to help facilitate change.

What is art therapy? Great question! Art therapy is the use of art as a modality in which to facilitate therapeutic methods to individuals, couples/families, and groups.  Basically, it is an expansion of traditional “talk therapy” into the realms of artistic expression as a means of uncovering layers of unconscious thoughts, symbols, behaviors, and emotions.

What made you realize that your talents could be used in this way?   I realized that art could be used as a healing modality when I realized my joy in painting happened through the use of colors and abstract images.  Such pictorial depictions spoke to the deeper, darker, unseen self within me.  I knew if such art could affect me, it could also affect and help others.

Did choosing to become an art therapist overshadow your own career as an artist? If so, does it matter?  My career as an artist is to be an art therapist.  There are times when I think, gosh, I do not have time or energy to do my own paintings, but I satiate my art desires through the art making process with clients and class directives.  I did not feel comfortable being a gallery artist, because I felt that the direction in which my art would go, would not be fulfilling sitting in a gallery, but rather in relationship with people.

The art world right now is experiencing a newfound medium of exchanging information virtually. Do you think that this has affected the relevance of galleries, studios, and museums? I think people will always find ways to provide convenience for viewing art.  However, there is something very important and intimate about viewing art in galleries, studios, and museums.  There is a life force surrounding each art piece, no matter its medium or presentation, and to engage in this relationship with the art firsthand, is in my opinion, the Truth of sharing art.

Would you rather have your work well known in the art community or well understood in the general population?  I would rather have my art well understood in the general population because those are the people I work with on a daily basis, providing an avenue to deeper understanding and appreciation of their daily lives that seem at times, so daunting and hopeless, but can change through art and the process of art.

Its 2012 and as the Mayans predicted, the world ends. Every cultural link is destroyed, but luckily there are few survivors. You are among them and are selected to document our cultural past. What artifact/artwork would you choose to record first?  There are so many! I would have to say, based on personal preferences, The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli.  It is a stunning example of an archetype portrayed in a balanced, technically clean painting that carries value over centuries both before its time and after.