Carmella Dolmer
◆ ◆ ◆
she/her, 26, Filipino-Canadian
I am an emerging multidisciplinary artist, with roots in both Hamilton, Canada, & Bicol, Philippines. With personal struggles restricting my young life, in my adulthood I just try to move and play freely—with free play being my main artistic practice.
I think that art & beauty already make up our everyday lives, and that artmaking-rules & conventions ruin the perfection of what is already naturally demonstrated by children who play freely: something pure, raw, honest & unafraid. I think that free play can produce / act as a study of that raw beauty.
With this, my goal is to unlearn all conventions built into my art making, with the hope of someday becoming exactly like a child.
Artist Statement
Having spent most of my life restricted by anxiety, my practice is centered around play as therapy.
I try to engage with free-form art without rules or expectations, even if I’m afraid, and even if it turns out badly.
The purpose is to develop self confidence by using play to push past the self-doubt and into the execution.
When self-doubt prevents me from starting, then the act of trying becomes an act of self-trust,
with these pieces emerging as embodiments of one’s hopeful struggle towards self confidence.
Education
2023 - Present
BFA, Interdisciplinary Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, N.S.
2021 - 2022
Honors Visual Arts Certificate, Yukon University - School Of Visual Arts, Dawson, Y.T.
Upcoming Exhibitions
April 12 - 13, 2024
Total Eclipse of The Art, Hamilton Artist Inc., Hamilton, ON (Group Show)
Exhibitions
2023
- Reset, monday press studios, Hamilton, ON (Group Show)
- Circle 2023, CICA Art Museum, Incheon, South Korea (Group Show)
- Moma Dada: Room To Breathe, Centre[3], Hamilton, ON (Group Show)
- Art at Atlas Volume 1, Creamy Atlas, Hamilton, ON (Group Show)
- Golden Hour, Paul Elia Gallery, Hamilton, ON (Group Show)
- Places We Live, Gallery Omata (Online Exhibition)
2022
- ODD Gallery: Yukon School of Visual Arts, ODD Gallery, Dawson, Y.T. (Group Show)
- SOVA Class of 2022 Year End Exhibition, SOVA Gallery, Dawson, Y.T. (Group Show)
2021
- Mid-Year Rundgang, SOVA Gallery, Dawson, Y.T. (Group Show)
Arts Organizing & Curatorial
2023 - Ongoing
- Co-founder & host of Light Lounge Poetry Series, Bi-Monthly Poetry Event, Into The Abyss Records, Hamilton, ON
2021 - 2022
- Sole curator of Freeplay Creation Space Series, Installation and On-Site Performance under the student-run SOVA SkillShare Artist Collective, SOVA Gallery, Dawson, Y.T.
2021
- Founder & organizer of Freeplay Outdoor Art Group, Weekly Public Art Event, Gage Park, Hamilton, ON
Publications
2023
- Carmella Dolmer, Kitchen Table Quarterly, Autumn Issue xxiv.i, October 2023
- Boxes & Blotches, LetterPile, Poetry, July 2023
- "You Don't Have To Choose", Rattle, Ekphrastic Challenge, May 2023
- The Light Is Important, The Ear, Issue 26, May 2023
- Colors in Market, and the ways they touched you, Beaver Magazine, Spring-Issue Six, May 2023
- To Win the Game, Peatsmoke Journal, Spring 2023 Issue, April 2023
- burn this fucker down, The Quarter(ly), Quarter Press, Vol. V, April 2023, pg.26-27
- Puzzle. Riddle. Puddle., Quibble Lit, Issue 9, March 2023
- Carmella Dolmer, Red Ogre Review, Issue Sixteen, February 2023
- January 2023 Issue, Artmagazineium, January 2023, pg.21-24
2022
- Artist Of The Month, UPWARDS Quarterly, December 2022, pg.17
Awards + Scholarships
2024
- 2024 Arts Champion Award Shortlist, Hamilton Arts Awards
2023
- Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship, NSCAD University, Halifax
Gallery Experience
2023
- Arts Workshop Programming, Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB)
2021 - 2022
- Gallery worker at Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture (KIAC)