Cara Lynch

Cara in her Ridgewood studio.

Cara Lynch is an artist based in New York who studied at Columbia University (MFA 2020) and Adelphi University (BFA 2012). Working in sculpture, installation, and print, she is currently making windchimes, lamps, and aromatherapy machines.

Lynch has exhibited in various solo and group exhibitions in the NY area. She recently had a solo exhibition at Morris Jumel Mansion Museum in New York City, and has participated in group exhibitions at Urbanglass, IPCNY, and NYU Medical Center Gallery. In addition to her studio work, Lynch has created many commissioned public projects. In 2016, she installed a permanent glass installation for the NYC MTA. She has also created large public works for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, and NYC Department of Transportation. 

Can you tell us a bit about the process of making your work? 

I collect, make, accumulate, and assemble. My work emerges from play and experimentation in the studio. It is a back and forth process, a conversation between my subconscious and conscious self. Right now, I am trying to make work with a particular affect or feeling as a starting point. I am working on small installations in my studio that will become part of a video work, that will be a part of another installation. I’m thinking a lot about popular music and heartache. The final work will be a duet in a sunroom.

Shell Hand, installation view, 2019.

We’ve had the pleasure of being in your studio and seeing your installations, sculptures, and prints. Can you talk about your practice and the ability to be playful in the studio?

My work is personal and I try not to judge myself or my motivations while I am working or thinking about the work. Play is a huge part of my practice. I believe in the intelligence of intuition, and working in this way keeps the process exciting and interesting for me. In some ways, my work is a way for me to hold up a mirror to myself, in an attempt to understand the complexities of the world I exist in.

What are some references you draw upon in your work? Are there any themes in particular that you like to focus on when creating?

I’ll Be Back Someday, Installation, 2020

This changes all the time for me, depending on what I am working on. I am deeply interested in craft processes and objects that exist in domestic environments that might not necessarily be art objects. I have been making wind chimes for a while now, considering contemporary spirituality, a sense of identity or self, and the wellness industry. Currently, I’m also working on singing sculptures, and thinking a lot about foreboding and feelings of pining or longing.

You were the first person to propose curating a show to us, and we fell in love with your idea! Can you tell us how and why you came up with Eternal Flame, which will open on January 1st, 2021?

Thank you guys for having me! I am so excited about this show.

Cara Lynch, Acorn Eyes, 2020.
59 x 6 x 13 inches (149.86 x 15.24 x 33.02 cm).

I was talking with a friend about some things in my own studio actually. We had some exchange about how my sculptures are always crying and it somehow concluded with the phrase "Eternal Flame." I love this metaphor- our emotions and hopes and beliefs always burning within us. It immediately reminded me of the Catholic religious imagery of the Sacred Heart, and the yule log we played in our living room during the holiday season. These days, during Covid-19, I feel like I am operating in a more literal way, and that is how I curated the show. Maybe that is all I can handle right now! But I think curating in this way allowed for the works to function in their own ways. The works in the show flicker for a love lost, memorialize a moment of ritual, burn with desire, warn us of impending disaster, remind us of our own mortality, and offer new possibilities as we rise from the ashes.

Where are some of your favorite spaces that support contemporary art or design? Now that the art has an online presence has that changed?

My favorite museum is Mass MoCA - because of their commitment to allowing contemporary artists pursue enormous, insanely ambitious projects. My favorite museum in NYC is the Folk Art Museum. I definitely love to use Instagram to keep up with what my friends are making or where they are having a show, especially now that I can’t see things IRL as often. 

I am a huge believer in public art. I think especially now, engaging with art in public spaces can help people get through these pretty difficult times, even if it changes their day in just a small way. 

Do you have any shows coming up? Anything else you would like to share?

The show I’ve curated, Eternal Flame, will open on January 1st! The show includes 16 artists so please be sure to check it out!

Cara Lynch’s work is included in our show “In the Cool of the Evening,” Oct. 30th – Dec. 30th. She is also the guest curator for our next exhibition. Visit her website or Instagram (@cara_lynch_) to see more of her work.