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Carmella Jarvi’s Artist Statement, July 2010
I am best known for my paintings of women in pools. This life-long fascination with water and the human form is seen in my ongoing exploration of figures in water. Water has been part of my artwork for many years. I am simply obsessed with it. Water is ubiquitous & yet personal. Almost everyone can connect with the act of swimming.
I do not paint swimming in the traditional sense. Instead, I often paint a solitary woman moving through water, a private moment of introspection captured. These paintings of submerged female figures are powerful and sensual, not to mention vulnerable. Sometimes the women seem to be unaware of anyone else.
In my studio I paint from photos, but also study live models and real water sources. I spend each summer with different swimming pools, shooting pictures from outside and underneath the water (with underwater camera, weight belt & goggles). Whether with figures or in landscape, I am equally intrigued with other water sources like rivers and raindrops.
When asked “Why water?” I usually explain my earliest memories involve water. There were beach trips, my grandparent’s lake house, and time playing in swimming pools or escaping in a bathtub. For most of my life, I have been into water.
I have painted with pastel and oil for years. Whatever the material or color palette, my goal is to capture the depth and movement of water with layered marks… I want the viewer to feel the water.