Red Emma’s

Artist Statement by MC Carey: Art was never in my prospects. As a young Black, Jewish, queer and trans kid growing up in the DMV, I knew I wanted a full life where I could help people, take a stand, and change the world. I thought I would become a lobbyist or a social worker—one who admittedly loved all thing creative. I grew up in the arts, but focused on singing, playing instruments, and theater—badly—but I loved it. I went to university to study Political Science and Women and Gender studies and it wasn’t until my senior year of college, at Chatham University, that I took my first visual arts class since middle school. In Fall 2017 I enrolled in printmaking, and I had no clue just how much that class would change my life. I fell in love immediately with the process of intaglio—preparing the zinc plates, painting on the hard ground, etching my (poor) designs, tapping on the aquatint, burning my chewed up anxious fingers in the acid, burnishing the plate and then the rigorous effort of smearing on ink and then meticulously wipping it off before it was pressed into damp paper under the pressure of an ancient etching press. I was in love and I was changed the moment I walked into the print studio.

Printmaking saved my life. After graduating with a degree in Political Science and Women & Gender Studies, I worked for 6 years in the domestic violence /rape crisis field as a violence prevention/sex educator and community advocate—as a survivor myself. I started teaching myself linocut at home during my first months on the job knowing I needed a physical and artistic outlet, aching for access to a printmaking studio and deciding not to give up when materials and access were inaccessible. Printmaking because an essential way for me to manage the intensity of my work while allowing me to come home to a creative self that felt lost prior to finding the medium. Coming home to my small desk studio was my only salvation, as my mental health depended on the tactile nature of carving away and carving a new. Printmaking, and particularly Linocut, helped me process my own trauma with gender-based violence and the overwhelming consistency of gender violence against Black, queer and trans women and femmes I saw every day at work and in the news. Linocut offered not just me, but my community an opportunity to heal. I began bringing in this artistic technique to the survivors and youth groups I was running. Sharing my passion while helping others explore both a new outlet and a new way to carve their futures.

My art has always been about healing and storytelling—using symbols in nature, visions of Black joy and whimsy, and texture to explore my inner world. Part of my process of creating healing art is to be active in my avoidance and challenge myself to make art that touches on the messages I need in order to work through my own blocks. It brings me so much joy to share my healing with others hoping to tend to their inner worlds. Keep an eye on my Instagram @femmeprints for updates on my newest works and process and check out my website www.femmeprints.com to make a purchase or sign up for my newsletter.