Biography

Quite literally a dreamer, Lana Carrera paints the images that come from her frequent dreams of being chased. She is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finishing her Bachelor’s of Arts in Studio Art. Her works have been shown in many group exhibitions including “Exquisite Corpse,” “Exploring Techniques in Paint,” “Paint your own Style” and “Linoleum Cuts” at the Hanes Art Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Artist Statement

My work is inspired by the intense dreams I have about being chased, whether it be in an amusement park in outer space, with Elvis or by an evil chipmunk. I often wake up with a painting in my head. I combine hard-edge painting with paper collage elements to focus on the images that make each dream unique. When my dreams leave me with strong emotions rather than specific images, I create various abstract compositions of bubble shapes with oil glazes to represent feelings such as passion, motivation or irritation. I find that painting my dreams is like capturing the hazy sliver of imagination and making it a tangible image in the real world. While this series is mainly a self-exploration of my dreams, I am currently expanding on this theme by painting other people's dreams and revealing this aspect of their lives.

Cooper River Bridge

24in X 36in
Acrylic and Oil paint
2009

Trippy Hippies

18in X 20in
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2009

Evil Chipmunk

16in X 20in
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2009

Warehouse Stairwell

14in X 18in
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2009

Elvis Concert

20in X 24in
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2009

Willow Tree

14in X 20in
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2009

Outer Space Amusement Park

14in X 18in
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2009