Caroline Wayne

About

American b. 1984   —   In meticulously beaded sculptures Caroline Wayne pulls from her own autobiography to illustrate stories of family trauma, sexuality, intimacy, and healing. She uses couture millinery and embellishment techniques to communicate through craftsmanship. Detailed stitching and cyclical patterning emphasize the consistent labor in the repetitive motion of hand-sewing, that which mirrors the emotional and psychic labor expended in order to manage the suffering a body can accumulate over time. To effectively heal our collective traumas we must commit to understanding not just the traumatic event itself, but the lifetime of learned survival mechanisms that follows. Using a soft palette and playful imagery as an entry point, Wayne’s sensibilities guide past the paralyzing shock of humanity’s ugliest taboo, incest, and through to empathy and understanding for its victims, providing the space to heal in daylight without stigmatic branding or misplaced judgment.