About

“Though always with a great affinity for natural forms, my work is foremost an intersection of various interests and influences through an expressive abstract interpretation”.   Caraballo’s paintings, bright and vivid with complex overlays of color, resonate with allusions of organic forms.

For Caraballo, making art is a process of discovery.  “Most often, I don’t begin working with an image in mind, but rely on the work itself to guide me”, and frequently use techniques of abstract expressionism or conceptual art to negotiate the process", though as she readily admits, will use whatever techniques the work needs. Her usual mediums are oils or acrylics, but she also uses sgraffito where she scrapes back some of the paint or etches into it delicate striations. She has also used wax to create resists that retain the painting’s history, sometimes buffing the painting with it to achieve a deep glow that highlights the depth of the colors.

Caraballo frequently works in series, which allows her to develop a language from one painting to the next.  The Out of the Blue series works with Blue as metaphor, sign and emotive connotation.  Another series, this of abstract landscapes, is entitled Small Bodies of Water, and another series, entitled In the Language Of-  harkens backing  to her field of research in Aboriginal art in how writing and art can overlap in underlying structures. 

She also makes sculptural Constructions using common building materials such as joint compound and concrete to create flowing, movement-filled works that transcend the rigidity of the medium.  For Caraballo, “It’s a form of drawing in dimensional terms.”

Born in Germany, Caraballo moved to Chicago and then to Maine where she eventually earned a Masters of Education degree in Art and Writing from the University of Maine in 2003.  She taught art for a number of years and now works primarily in her Dogtown Studio located in the woods of Maine.

Caraballo’s work can be summed up best when she states: “I don’t paint what I see, but what I see influences my work”.