“I have an open and free-wheeling approach to technique and materials: hypothesis, experiment and conclusion…I am intrigued by the innate nature of different types of materials and the nature of things.”
- Carol Bennett
EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWS
Carol has been featured in many solo and group exhibitions throughout US. Her work is in the permanent collection of The Contemporary Museum, and Academy of the Arts in Honolulu, Hawaii. She has completed over 100 public art and corporate commissions.
She lives and works in Koloa, on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
ABOUT CAROL BENNETT
Carol Bennett’s paintings and works on paper are a poetic retreat from ordinary life, and an immersion in life below the surface – or specifically, as in her subject matter, below the surface of the ocean.
She takes the viewer underwater for a meditative journey where she seeks to find a state of being in “flow” – the suspension of self and of life as usual to a place where time slows down and the unexpected floats to the surface. For Bennett, in the way, the act of swimming underwater is similar to the process of painting.
Bennett’s approach results in multi-layered surfaces that are intricate, textured and unpredictable. She is constantly experimenting with her pieces: adding, subtracting, sanding and recoating. She experiments with various media, methods and materials combining ink, paint, mica and wax on wood and other surfaces to create images that are of the moment and unique to each piece.
Like the multiple layers that evolve into completed works, Bennett is inspired by the various ever-changing, interconnected details of her life and how they come together and affect the “big picture.” By revisiting these details, her artwork constantly reinvents itself.
Carol Bennett Solo and Group Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018 Networking and Water, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
2010 Current Motion, Elisa Contemporary Art curated exhibit at Saint Peters Church, NYC
2008 Flow, New Works, The Contemporary Museum Honolulu, HI
One thing leads to Another, Timespace Gallery, Kauai, HI
2006 Art at The Bean, Kauai Hawaii, curated by Alison Wong of the Contemporary Museum, HI
1996 Carol Bennett / Wayne Zebzda , Roy’s Poipu, Kauai, HI
1993 Waters’ edge, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
1991 Work in progress, Stones Gallery, Lihue, HI
1990 Recent paintings and works on paper, Fiona Whitney Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1988 New Works, Stones Gallery, Lihue, HI
1985 Recent Works, Roark, Los Angeles, CA
1983 Summer Show, Stones Gallery, Lihue, HI
1982 Underwater Colors, Stones Gallery, Lihue, HI
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 Surfing Hawaii, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Hawaii, HI
Making Waves, The Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
Men, Hawaii State Art Museum, Honolulu, HI
Her Window to the World, Elisa Contemporary Art, CT
2017 Affordable Art Fair, Elisa Contemporary Art
2016 Aqua Art Miami, Elisa Contemporary Art
Dive In, Elisa Contemporary Art, NY
Pulp Fiction, Elisa Contemporary Art, NY
2015 Immersion, Elisa Contemporary Art at The Design Studio, Bridgehampton NY
Hamptons Designer Showhouse, Sag Harbor, NY
2014 Elisa Contemporary Art at Aqua Art Miami, Miami FL
Pacific Swim, Elisa Contemporary Art at New York Design Center, NY
2013 Westchester Designer Showhouse, Scarsdale, NY
2012 Strength and Grace, Elisa Contemporary Art, NY
2011 Swimming in Colour, Eisenhauer Gallery, MA
Splash, Elisa Contemporary Art, NY, NY
2010 Embody, Elizabeth Eisenhauer Gallery, Martha's Vineyard, MA
2008-9 Holiday Show 08, Timespace Gallery, Kauai, HI
2008 ConTempoRarities, Neiman Marcus, Honolulu, HI
2006 Exhibition of Public Art, Hawaii State Art Museum, Honolulu, HI
2005 Summertime, Hawaii State Art Museum, Honolulu, HI
2005 Reflecting Hawaii, Hawaii State Art Museum, Honolulu, HI
2004 Academy of the Arts at Line Kuna, 15 Kauai Artists, Honolulu, HI.
1999-2002 KSA annual, Lihue, Kauai State Foundation purchase award
1998 Kauai Artists, Kinipopo Gallery, Kapaa, HI.
1996 Artists of Hawaii, Honolulu Academy of the Arts, Honolulu, HI.
1995 Kauai Museum, KSA. Show, Lihue, HI.
1993 Islanded, Honolulu Academy of the Arts, Honolulu, HI.
Kauai Society of Artists Invitational, Kauai Museum, Lihue, HI.
1991 Kauai Museum, KSA. Show, Lihue , HI. State Foundation Purchase Award
Fiona Whitney Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
American Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
1988 Toluca Group Show, Toluca Lake Gallery, Burbank, CA.
Stones Gallery, Lihue, HI.
Hui Noeau Visual Arts Center, Makawao, Maui, HI
American Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Fiona Whitney Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
28 Ways to Love, Mohair, Pasadena, CA.
1987 Stones Print Show, Stones Gallery, Lihue, HI
1986 Toluca Lake, Burbank, CA.
1983 Valentines Day Show, Frameshack Warehouse, Honolulu, HI
Monoprints, Art Space, Los Angeles, CA.
1982 Signs 1983, Invitational, AMFAC Plaza Exhibitions, Honolulu, HI
Stones’ Summer Show, Stones Gallery, Lihue, HI
Women’s’ Show, Kauai State Building, Lihue, HI
1978 Hollywood, Cedar Sinai Hospital Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA
1974 KSA Show, Kauai Museum, Lihue, HI
Selected Commissions
Over 100 Public and Corporate commissions from 1978 – 2012
Trigger Picasso Energy, 48 ft x 8 foot hand-painted colored vitreous enamels fired on float glass with gold leaf and photovoltaic solar cells, at the Hawaii State Art Museum, 2012
Sculpture Garden, HI. Commissioned by Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and Art in Public Places, 2010- 2012
Water: A Point of Departure, two acrylic on recycled sails paintings (triptych and polytych), 8 ft. x 26 ft. and 8 ft. x 52 ft. Installed in Foyer and Passenger Queuing at Pier 2 Terminal, Honolulu Harbor, Honolulu, HI. Commissioned by Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and Art in Public Places, 2008- 2009
Selected Collections
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI.
Persis Collection, Honolulu, HI.
Honolulu Academy of the Arts, Honolulu, HI.
State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, HI.
Art in Public Places, Honolulu HI.
Kauai Judiciary Building
Honolulu Convention Center, Oahu, HI.
Honolulu International Airport, Oahu, HI .
Hadafi Hotel, Saipan,
Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills , CA.
Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, NV.,
Nairobi Hilton, Kenya, Africa
Hilton Hotel, Stamford, CT.
Education
1978 B.A. Art Center College of Design , Los Angeles, CA.
1974 B.A. University of California, Santa Barbara , College of Creative Studies
