“I didn’t know how to say goodbye.”
–Excerpt from documentary: Ellis Island – History of Immigration to the United States | 1890 – 1920, on view in the St. Louis County Historical Society Immigration Room
Abstract artist Carole d’Inverno weaves history together with her imagination, building work that embodies her impressions of a region. In Duluth, d’Inverno describes feeling anchored to the Lake; its vast horizon melts into the sky and dictates the landscape and history.
I Didn’t Know How to Say Goodbye illustrates the long story of immigration, from the first arrivals post-Ice Age to the subsequent migrations through the centuries. Each group carried their own story, adding their journey to a collective history. Each person left behind a piece of themselves and chose what to carry: colorful bundles of necessities and homeland memories. D’Inverno captures the physicality of both and filters them onto large-scale canvases.
Duluth is a region of contrast: dark, cold times surge into a spring explosion of life. This divergence is mirrored in d’Inverno’s sizeable paintings, where gentle muted palettes are accented with pops of color. Matted vinyl emulsion paints and colored pencils build into meditative landscapes that invite one to pause and reflect on stories both personal and universal.