Daily Inspiration: Meet Caroline Bell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Bell

Hi Caroline, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Caroline Bell, and I am from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I grew up overseas in Singapore. I have lived and traveled around the world, which has greatly influenced who I am as a person, artist, and educator. I am currently living in Grand Rapids, where I am finishing up my degree in Art Education at Grand Valley State University. I plan to become an international art teacher to continue to help others flourish and grow in the arts globally.
I have been fortunate enough to have had such incredible and inspiring teachers over the years. Some of them have helped me the most, including Mr. Koltutsky, my middle school art teacher at Singapore American School. Without Mr. K in my life, I would never have pursued art as seriously or even considered the potential of becoming an international art teacher. In high school, I was grateful to have Mr. Szpieg as my art teacher and mentor – I found my haven in the art room and would spend my free time working on projects there. I transferred my senior year to Interlochen Arts Academy to pursue a Visual Arts degree, my most challenging but rewarding year of art making. I fell in love with printmaking and photography, which reignited my creativity in ways I never would have imagined through the help and guidance of Kyle Peets. Forming the incredible friendships I made with artists from around the world and studying under some of the best professional artists and educators I have met challenged and helped form me into the artist I am today. I’m forever grateful for that experience.
In college, I went through a myriad of hardships that pushed me into a deep depression that only worsened with the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, I regained my sense of self and creativity through the help of professors who helped guide me and offer support when I needed it most. I want to thank Brett Colley, Timothy Fisher, Christine Lenzen, and Max Spitzer for being some of the most prominent beacons of light I have ever had that revived me into a better person, artist, and educator. I am currently in my final semester at Grand Valley State University. I am fortunate to look back on the hundreds of art pieces I have made and the lifelong friendships I have made during my time in higher education.
I work from home in my studio and am planning several creative projects centered around uniting activism and the arts to inspire empathy and change in the world. I am looking to collaborate with any artists locally and am always open to traveling to meet and collaborate with any artists or activists. One artist and friend I am beyond thankful for and excited to collaborate with is Alex Lynn, who continues to inspire me daily with his passion for creating. I hope to ignite this passion for the arts on a global scale and continue to meet students and artists who inspire me and inspire those in return.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the biggest things that has affected my life was experiencing complex traumas that include long-term abusive relationships and the emotional turmoil and psychological damage that comes from being sexually assaulted. Experiencing this at a young age shifted my perspective on what relationships should be and fractured my view of what love is supposed to be. In February of 2021, I got out of the most damaging and abusive relationships I have ever been in, and I am fortunate I was able to get out when I did.
I have dedicated my art-making in recent years to telling my story and advocating for survivors of abuse and assault. For my piece, Accountability (2023), I sculpted a life-size bust out of basket weaving reed and tracing paper based on my body measurements. Once the body frame was complete, I rigged the inside with UV light strips to create an internal fluorescent purple glow. On the exterior of the body are opaque white hand prints placed along parts of my body that I recounted from past sexual assaults. When the handprints are lit up and examined with an attached UV flashlight, the audience members will see the handprints change to a bright neon blood-red color. This was done to illicit how, during the day, abusers can be seen and described as “promising, charming, intelligent,” and so on, but when darkness falls. When the proper time is taken to investigate and take a closer look, it is clear to see whose hands have blood on them and are full of guilt for damaging their victims.
In my experimental short film, Some Day You’ll Be Gone (2023), I provide a narrative that makes commentary on navigating abusive relationships and acts as a love letter to myself and victims of assault and abuse. Ensuring that survivors will be a new person, regenerated through time, and that while the damage cannot be undone from the abuse, they are going to undergo a series of beautiful transformations when healing. In the black and white footage in the film, I am 19 years old and had that footage shot by my abuser, who assisted me in my early filmmaking. During this relationship, I was told if “I ever told anyone, I would never have a name or face in the film industry.” This footage in black and white allows me to associate these memories as clearly being in the past and continuing to grow and heal. The vibrant red footage on top is superimposed, shot in 2022, and reflects how those past traumas still affect me daily. The visuals are paired with my written narrative and offer reflection to the audience members to create their internal voices when reading through and viewing the film. I hope that this piece reaches survivors of abuse and assault and offers insight into how they are worth so much more than their abuser ever made them feel. I hope for this because that is what I needed most after the times I was abused or assaulted, and I hope to provide empathy and care to those who need it most.
In one of my most experimental pieces, The Exorcism of What Once Was, 2022, I was inspired by Louise Bourgeois’ Arch of Hysteria (1993), and I wanted to make my adaptation that recounted my experience healing and ‘exorcising’ past abuse and traumas. I modeled the wire skeleton after my proportions, similar to Accountability, but sized it down slightly to seem more childlike. Sculpting the skeleton took at least a month and left my hands sore and bleeding at times. During this act of endurance sculpting, I thought back to how the pain sculpting this piece was only a fraction of the pain I experienced during the relationship I based this work on. After I finished sculpting the skeleton, I rigged it with a set of dimmable lights that my past abuser had gifted me. While I was fortunate enough to receive the gift, it does not excuse the duration and level of abuse that occurred. Tying this element allowed me to reflect on the light that I saw in my previous relationship and act as blinders towards the abuse and act as an extension of the soft light of myself I still had left inside after the relationship ended.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As an art educator, I have to pick up as many art skills as possible to teach students of all ages a breadth and depth of visual arts. I have been training myself to be a human Swiss army knife regarding the visual arts. Whenever I can pick up a new skill or medium, I will jump at the chance. In recent works, I have experimented with installations, sound art, experimental film, sculpture, painting, drawing, and photography. Culminating a wide range of skills and mediums, I never really know what I’m known for! Besides that, I never leave my studio and always want to learn and experiment with something new.
I am most proud of collaborating with one of my biggest inspirations, Cassils, this past year with the Etched In Light performance piece that happened on Trans Day of Visibility in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall. It’s one of the world’s largest Cyanotypes, created with artists worldwide to help advocate for the visibility and rights of trans individuals. Collaborating with such an incredible team of individuals was one of the most rewarding experiences of my lifetime. The ripple effect this piece has had on my life, and others has been unmatched, especially when we need it most in a society that continues to commit erasure on trans lives and refuses to acknowledge our identity is just as important as theirs. I was fortunate enough to see the exhibition opening at SITE SANTA FE and was overcome with a flood of emotions when experiencing the work in person. I plan to continue collaborating with artists who value inspiring and advocating for change when marginalized communities need it the most.
At the end of the day, I am still an artist and human, but I have no fear in my heart for experimentation. Whether it’s when I have been given some of the highest expectations for fabricating art for Yale’s permanent collection or coming up with ideas for immersive installations, the sky is merely the limit. The worst thing that could happen is failure, and I still see that as a positive in the grand scheme. If you fail at something, you are building resilience and have to get back up to learn and make something better than you could have before. I embrace failure by all means necessary; if I haven’t failed at one point during a project, I’m probably not learning the most I can. I emphasize this in my teaching philosophy as well. While I never want to fail a student, I always encourage them to take new risks and embrace the challenge of artmaking. We may never create masterpieces if we do not take risks or fail.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risk-taking is vital to culminating creativity and artmaking. If we don’t take risks, we will continue to create the same thing repeatedly, which numbs the brain and stunts creativity. Risk-taking helps form your artistic voice, push through creative boundaries, break traditional conventions, investigate new ideas, and innovate your entire artmaking experience.
One of my most significant risks was applying to Interlochen Arts Academy. When I learned about how incredible an arts program they had to offer, I decided to apply and challenge myself to create art that required risk-taking in the creative process. I was overjoyed when I learned I was admitted to the program with a scholarship. Attending that institution was one of the most significant risks I took, and I reaped the most benefits in my growth as an artist, individual, and educator.
The world needs risk-takers now more than ever, especially with our rapidly changing climate. If we do not push for innovation and foster creativity from an early age, we are dimming the potential of geniuses we can have in the future. Creativity is a foundation for fostering intelligence; without it, we would live in a bland world that continues the same daily cycle. In my teaching, I push students to take creative risks so that they step outside of their comfort zone. Without this push, students may risk stunting their personal artistic growth. At the core of being an artist, you may be uncomfortable trying something new in your practice, but you will be rewarded more than you could imagine by the end! Never settle for the same routine, always push boundaries, strive to create something new and bold, and act as an extension of your creative soul.

Pricing:

• $50/hr Photography
• $250-500 Video Editing
• $100-1000 album covers
• $25/hr Graphic Design
• $10-150 Fine Art Prints

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carolinebellart.com/#/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caroline.bell/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialcarolinebellart/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cpbell99

Image Credits
Caroline Bell, Meredith Bell, Destin Nordyke