We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lindsay Carraway. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lindsay below.

Lindsay, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

I have always known that I was going to be an artist. I had big plans to move from Vicksburg, Mississippi to New York and get as far away as I possibly could from my hometown. I wanted to see and hear and learn and experience all of the different ways that people were able to live. I wanted to bathe in art and bask in the beauty of the world. To break away from the southern stereotype and make a living doing something other than that which was monotonous and boring, and looking like a freak in a sea of hillbilly Gap knockoffs. The art scene was that of cows and chickens and magnolias. And I was proud to not fit in.
With the help of a trusted and guided mentor and teacher I was able to make my dreams of New York come true. At 17 I went to Pratt Institute to study Industrial Design. It was a great experience until it wasn’t. I enjoyed working with the machines in the wood shop and building with my hands, sanding and planning and even the detailed task of drawing 500 circles on lines on newsprint front and back as daily exercises. But it didn’t speak to me. It was devastating and painful. I was so lost. I thought surely I had picked my forever job and I had failed. I was in New York where I had dreamed of being, and it was cold and harsh and distant. I was alone and lonely. I fell into a deep depression and soon left to come back to my home in the south. I felt like I was defeated. I took some time off and went to a nursing home with my mom, she was a RN then, and just volunteered everyday. I drew the patients and told and listened to stories and grew up some. Eventually I returned to school in Savannah, GA to SCAD. (For Metals and Jewelry) I stayed on for a few years and decided that wasn’t my passion either. I also was having trouble with my mental health. I came home and was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia.
Since then I have been a self taught painter and collage artist. Through therapy and work I have found that by truly understanding and freeing myself to focus on the things that matter most to me I can achieve the best possible art from within.

Lindsay, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

An artist from Vicksburg, Mississippi, Lindsay Carraway went to study at Pratt institute in Brooklyn and then to SCAD in Savannah, GA, before eventually flunking out and becoming a self taught painter and mixed media artist with 22 years of experience in her artistic explorations in abstract paintings, and collage works.
“My artwork reflects social, cultural, and political issues mixed with dreams and visions of my schizophrenic mind.”
Telling stories from my life in the south, dealing with mental, sexual and physical abuse, and being a woman, where I fear my rights as a female are slowly being erased, are my sources of inspiration.
Moving through from the past to the future I use a series of images, symbols, and visions or dreams to form the stories I want to convey. These stories are usually ideas that are on my mind or subconsciously pulling at me. Showing symbolism of the south, sexuality, family, and religious nods, along with peeks into the future, and remembrance of the past,together the painting and collages showcase a glimpse into my mind as i sketch with paper and paint, the ideas I have from within.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

In today’s world we are starting to conform more than ever to ideas that equality should look like the same thing. We have forgotten that within the foundations of unity stands individuality. So focused on faux paus, politically correctness and over the top misunderstood hurt feelings, we are causing ourselves to suffer the consequences of sameness. I am a believer in the empowerment of women, and the importance of women uniting to make a change in the world and the future. The world is not a safe place for us now. There is a segregation of women and men and races and of beliefs. More than ever all women need to stand together and fight for their rights. And for the right to be heard.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

As an artist, for me, the most rewarding thing is to know that I have a voice through the lens of art. The “tools” or paint or paper or whatever are my way to breakthrough the barriers of uneasiness and get a conversation started. You don’t have to agree with me, or the person standing next to you looking at the work, but if you’re talking about the work, and the work has a central idea that is rooted in information and warning or knowledge or experience or foreshadowing or forward thinking, and you’re talking about it, that’s a conversation worth having, and also a win for the artist as well. The idea is to have an idea and to get people thinking for themselves and talking!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @geezealouisea
• Other: [email protected]