June Carey is a longstanding printmaker and was also a member of the Edinburgh Printmakers studio for many years. She takes inspiration from a range of sources, in particular decorative and graphic art forms such as Mexican art and tattoo artistry. Her work often features bold colour, as is evident in this etching.

“I would describe my work as figurative and autobiographical. It deals with my personal thoughts and feelings, some of which are subconscious. I usually don’t know what my pictures are about until they are finished.

 

My preferred form of printmaking is etching. This is because it is sometimes difficult to see the final image during the process of making an etching. I like this way of working, because it encourages me to draw in a less inhibited way and results in a more spontaneous and exciting print. My images always centre around a solitary human being, who is unable to speak. I therefore have to convey his/her thoughts using a symbolic language. This sometimes takes the form of written words and images on the body. I try to make thoughts visible, which are of course, invisible.

 

Whilst I am trying to explain to the viewer what the picture is about, I am also trying to conceal part of this message. For whatever reason, it is important to me that something is still hidden; left unsaid.

 

Foreign travel and different cultures always inspire new ideas. It always amazes me what eventually comes out in my work after being exposed to external influences. You never really know what you have absorbed.”

June Carey

Biography

June Carey began her Art Education in the 1960s at Glasgow School of Art. In 1982 she became a member of Edinburgh Printmakers and began a lifelong love affair with printmaking.

She has had seven solo exhibitions to date and has been invited to show her work in more than fifty prestigious group exhibitions at home and abroad. Co-publications of her prints include Glasgow Print Studio and Edinburgh Printmakers.

She has been elected to serve on the councils for most of the major Scottish Societies since 1989.