A B O U T
I paint images of the body; my current work explores the intersection of women’s bodies in particular with the conflicting demands of society. I am interested in depicting the body representationally to access its utility as a vessel, shorthand, or instigator for emotional and cultural baggage. In depicting the female form, I work within a tradition that has historically centered male gaze and desire. However, I do not seek to create docile, sanitized and sexualized images that exist to satisfy those ends. Rather, I question the standards set forth by this tradition and its legacy in media representations of women.
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Carly Bodnar is a painter working in mixed media and oil on canvas. Born and raised in Oregon, USA, she now paints in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Bodnar graduated from Portland State University in Oregon. She has shown in Portland, Los Angeles, and New York City, and been juried into shows by pop-surrealist icon Ron English and the Seattle Art Museum’s Barbara Shaiman. She was awarded an Artist Grant from the Vermont Studio Center in 2017 and named one of Brooklyn Art Council’s Featured Artists in 2013. Her work has been published in a Average Art Magazine and Period. Sex.
