ARTIST STATEMENT:
My practice is grounded in painting, but extends into mosaic, sculpture, and large-scale floral installations. Across these forms, I explore how meaning shifts over time—how images, materials, and cultural references are continually reinterpreted through individual points of view.
My paintings often begin with historical source material, particularly old-master compositions. I approach these works not as static artifacts, but as living documents. I am interested in how they were once understood and how they might be seen differently today. Meaning is never fixed; it evolves with cultural context. By reinterpreting these images through a contemporary lens, I invite viewers to participate in an ongoing dialogue between past and present.
Formally, my paintings are built through interlocking fields of color. From a distance, the image coheres into a recognizable composition. As the viewer approaches, it dissolves into abstracted shapes and chromatic shifts. This perceptual transition is intentional. It reinforces the idea that understanding is shaped by proximity, movement, and personal experience.
This interest in transformation carries into my other bodies of work. Floral installations constructed from second-hand garments and mosaic-like compositions made from paint chip swatches reframe familiar materials, asking viewers to reconsider what they think they see. Whether working with time-honored painting traditions or overlooked everyday objects, I process the world through a personal filter while leaving space for others to do the same.
There is no singular authoritative interpretation of my work, not even my own. Each encounter completes the piece differently. Ultimately, I aim to create work that invites viewers to reflect on the fluid relationship between history, perception, and meaning.
My practice is grounded in painting, but extends into mosaic, sculpture, and large-scale floral installations. Across these forms, I explore how meaning shifts over time—how images, materials, and cultural references are continually reinterpreted through individual points of view.
My paintings often begin with historical source material, particularly old-master compositions. I approach these works not as static artifacts, but as living documents. I am interested in how they were once understood and how they might be seen differently today. Meaning is never fixed; it evolves with cultural context. By reinterpreting these images through a contemporary lens, I invite viewers to participate in an ongoing dialogue between past and present.
Formally, my paintings are built through interlocking fields of color. From a distance, the image coheres into a recognizable composition. As the viewer approaches, it dissolves into abstracted shapes and chromatic shifts. This perceptual transition is intentional. It reinforces the idea that understanding is shaped by proximity, movement, and personal experience.
This interest in transformation carries into my other bodies of work. Floral installations constructed from second-hand garments and mosaic-like compositions made from paint chip swatches reframe familiar materials, asking viewers to reconsider what they think they see. Whether working with time-honored painting traditions or overlooked everyday objects, I process the world through a personal filter while leaving space for others to do the same.
There is no singular authoritative interpretation of my work, not even my own. Each encounter completes the piece differently. Ultimately, I aim to create work that invites viewers to reflect on the fluid relationship between history, perception, and meaning.
BIO:
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, Carlton Scott Sturgill is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, mosaic, and installation. His work examines the evolving nature of meaning through reinterpretation of historical imagery and the transformation of everyday materials. His site-specific installations have been displayed in settings as diverse as the Drifter Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, Pegasus Bank in Dallas, Texas, and as part of the New York City Arterventions public art program, through which he was awarded a grant to create works to be displayed along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.
Sturgill’s work has been exhibited in galleries, museums and art fairs both nationally and internationally, including the Cornell Museum of Art in Delray Beach, Florida, Temple Bar Gallery in Dublin, Ireland, the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, and the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art in New York City. Most recently his work was included in the Young Masters exhibition in London, where it was honored with the Ruddock Foundation for the Arts award. In 2025 his work was added to the Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection.
After living in Ohio, London, and New York, Sturgill relocated to Louisiana in 2015, where he lives with his wife, Nicole. He is represented by Ferrara Showman Gallery in New Orleans.
Click here for a full CV
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, Carlton Scott Sturgill is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, mosaic, and installation. His work examines the evolving nature of meaning through reinterpretation of historical imagery and the transformation of everyday materials. His site-specific installations have been displayed in settings as diverse as the Drifter Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, Pegasus Bank in Dallas, Texas, and as part of the New York City Arterventions public art program, through which he was awarded a grant to create works to be displayed along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.
Sturgill’s work has been exhibited in galleries, museums and art fairs both nationally and internationally, including the Cornell Museum of Art in Delray Beach, Florida, Temple Bar Gallery in Dublin, Ireland, the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, and the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art in New York City. Most recently his work was included in the Young Masters exhibition in London, where it was honored with the Ruddock Foundation for the Arts award. In 2025 his work was added to the Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection.
After living in Ohio, London, and New York, Sturgill relocated to Louisiana in 2015, where he lives with his wife, Nicole. He is represented by Ferrara Showman Gallery in New Orleans.
Click here for a full CV