Angie Carafas

"There was a point where I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions without ever liking any of them enough to follow; I would become lost.  I kept on working through it all and it kept my mind and hands busy until I was able to figure it all out."

As an artist who likes to try her hand in many types of artistic media, 
Angie Carafas is no one trick pony. She has proved herself to be a true storytelling via the means of both animation and photography. While her cartoon characters act out the wacky, comedic adventures drawn from her imagination, her photography narrates a history of a lost people and offers to its viewers a contemplation of time.

GE: Considering you’ve worked in an extensive variety of arts media, which medium do you feel most comfortable with and/or plan to pursue a career in?


AC: I suppose for me it's not a matter of comfort. I like to think I'm fairly comfortable with any medium I’ve tried. Whether I'm very good at them is another matter, but being a very task oriented person, as long as I'm creating something, I'm happy. What I love most is drawing. Somehow my method or love for the medium has led me to animation. Oddly enough, I think I first became aware of it as a creative option in my attempt to stave off boredom in my liberal arts classes. I'd draw pictures on the edges of my notes and then try to make them "move" by quickly flipping through the pages. One thing led to another and suddenly I found myself wanting to make a career of it.



GE: Do you feel there is any hierarchy in different arts media - that a specific medium is considered a “higher” art than another form?

AC: I am not of the mindset that any type of art holds certain superiority over another. In my opinion, graffiti can be just as aesthetically valuable as any painting or sculpture. In terms of material worth in the art world, perhaps this doesn't hold true, but I believe different types of art influences people and society in different ways - you can't look at everything through the same lens. I try not to be prejudiced against any media; however, my own opinion of what I define and consider being art probably ends up leading me down that road.



GE: Your shiny-eyed, pig-tailed animation character – where did that concept come from?

AC: That creature came about as a series of doodles on an expo-marker board in my kitchen. It’s supposed to be used for notes, but I only doodle on it and this character in particular actually started out as a stick figure. It slowly involved into a stick figure with teeth and then a stick figure with a large mouthful of teeth and buggy eyes until it formed into a short pudgy creature that exclaimed whatever messages I needed to write down at the time. I didn't intend to develop a usable character from it, but I ended up forming something akin to an obsession. One day I decided to sit down and draw it out on paper. I suppose because of the length of time and amount of "drafts" it took me to develop it, the creature acquired a strong presence I sought out in my animated characters. Because of its comical proportions I decided to design an animation short around it. 

Essentially the story goes that you see this creature walking along a forest path. It stops when it finds a cupcake on the ground. It keeps walking and finding cupcakes until it stumbles upon a unicorn in a meadow where it watches the unicorn poop out the very same cupcakes it's been eating throughout the short. I can't even begin to tell you where this story concept came from or what the story infers about my mind.



GE: What animations from history do you admire most?


AC: Everybody and their mother would probably tell you Disney is it, as far as animation goes. Their movies are so iconic and account for a lot childhood memories. For me, though, I've always held a special spot for the old Looney Tunes animated by Chuck Jones. Looking back now watching Jerry shatter a wine bottle on a table to stab Tom in the bum probably isn’t kosher for a kid to watch by today's standard but I still love watching those same shows years later. 



GE: Your images of archaic columns have a mysterious nature to them. Can you discuss how these were created and/or what your goals were with these images were?


AC: This image is part of a series of photographs I created while in Venice for a summer abroad program I was accepted into through the Marist College Art Dept. The layout of Venice is both beautiful and kind of sad. It holds a lot of memories and the imprints of times long past. I think coming from New York makes the impact a little more intense – you’re coming from an extremely modern metropolis to a comparatively tiny area that still struggles with the idea of television. Walking through the decaying and aging streets of Venice put into perspective for me the issue of time and the human condition. I wanted to convey the reaction the architecture stirred in me to people back home, namely its relationship between time and the cycle of life and death.

GE: Do you like to share your works in progress with an audience/ fellow artists, or do you prefer to wait until a work is completed to present it to others? Do you think its important get feedback from others while a work is in progress?



AC: I suppose it depends on what I'm trying to do. For my animations I love getting feedback all the time. The most vital part to an animation for me is the crowds’ reaction. So to have different opinions throughout the whole process on the characters I'm developing or the composition of my storyboard panels, helps tremendously. In other instances like with a drawing or painting and sometimes with the technological side of animating I might try to keep the project close to my chest if know people won’t understand or see it in the manner I'm trying to portray until it develops further. In some cases everything doesn't come together until the near end and then I'll have people critique what works and what doesn't and work on from there. All in all though, constructive criticism is an important part of my work process. It doesn't necessarily mean I'll listen to what people have to say but I like knowing others thoughts all the same.



GE: How do you feel you’ve grown as an artist since beginning your professional studies?

AC: I suppose I’m more confident and driven in a way. When I first started out, I was timid and shy - maybe even a little fearful when it came to my work. I was scared to make mistakes. I remember the common worry of the time was, “What if it doesn’t come out right”? 

 I recall becoming really discouraged if a piece didn’t turn out exactly the way I intended. The problem was that I was too close to my work; I couldn’t step back and separate myself from it. I became to easily attached and it impaired my ability to experiment and thus learn, consequently blocking me from working on anything at all for periods of time. It’s been quite the process of trying to loosen up over the years, but I’m better for it and that “fear” has long since been abolished, though I’ll admit at times the old habit returns. My overall mindset, however, toward my methodology has changed and when those obsessive moments occur I can catch myself. It’s also helped a lot that I now have an idea of what I want to pursue. There was a point where I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions without ever liking any of them enough to follow; I would become lost.  I kept on working through it all (even knowing then that the majority of what I produced was probably crap) and it kept my mind and hands busy until I was able to figure it all out.  So yeah, I’d say I’ve grown… maybe a better appreciation for my abilities and what I want to become and strive for in this life.