Carmella Dolmer
she/her, 26, Filipino-Canadian
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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.
Current Exhibitions
September 10th - October 20th
Fruit Punch (Group Show), Merit Brewing, Hamilton, ON
Solo Shows
2024
- Baby Steps, monday press studios, Hamilton, ON
Group Exhibitions
2024
- Painting Showcase, NSCAD University, Halifax, NS
- Total Eclipse of The Art, The Hamilton Artist Inc., Hamilton, ON
2023
- Reset, monday press studios, Hamilton, ON
- Circle 2023, CICA Art Museum, Incheon, South Korea
- Moma Dada: Room To Breathe, Centre[3], Hamilton, ON
- Get Zine-y: An Evening of Zine Reading, Art Gallery of Burlington, Burlington, ON
- Art at Atlas Volume 1, Creamy Atlas, Hamilton, ON
- Golden Hour, Paul Elia Gallery, Hamilton, ON
- Places We Live, Gallery Omata (Online Exhibition)
2022
- ODD Gallery: Yukon SOVA, ODD Gallery, Dawson, Y.T.
- SOVA Class of 2022 Year End Exhibition, SOVA Gallery, Dawson, Y.T.
2021
- Mid-Year Rundgang, SOVA Gallery, Dawson, Y.T.
Collections
Work permanently in the collections of:
- Art Gallery of Burlington's Living Library
Arts Organizing & Curatorial
2024 - Ongoing
- Organizer & host of Freeplay Workshops, community drop-in events, Monday Press Studios, Hamilton, ON
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 & host of Freeplay Outdoor Art Group, Weekly Public Art Event, Gage Park, Hamilton, ON
Publications
2023
- Carmella Dolmer, Kitchen Table Quarterly, Autumn Issue xxiv.i
- Boxes & Blotches, LetterPile, Poetry
- "You Don't Have To Choose", Rattle, Ekphrastic Challenge
- The Light Is Important, The Ear, Issue 26
- Colors in Market, and the ways they touched you, Beaver Magazine, Spring-Issue Six
- To Win the Game, Peatsmoke Journal, Spring 2023 Issue
- burn this fucker down, The Quarter(ly), Quarter Press, Vol. V, pg.26-27
- Puzzle. Riddle. Puddle., Quibble Lit, Issue 9
- Carmella Dolmer, Red Ogre Review, Issue Sixteen
- January 2023 Issue, Artmagazineium, pg.21-24
2022
- Artist Of The Month, UPWARDS Quarterly, pg.17
Awards
2024
- Arts Champion Award, City of Hamilton Municipal Arts Awards, Ontario
Studio & Gallery Experience
2024 - Ongoing
- Guest workshop host, Monday Press Studios (monday)
- Painting studio assistant, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (NSCAD)
2023
- Guest programmer and workshop host, Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB)
2021 - 2022
- Gallery worker, Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture (KIAC)
Education
2023 - Present
Honors BFA in Fine 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.