Carri Degenhardt Burke is a Jersey City artist working in mixed media and oil. Her large-scale originals pair bold color with figurative, semi-abstract imagery, while a parallel series of smaller works captures the streets of her city — brownstones, storefronts, and rowhouses painted from life around Jersey City. She shows her work directly to the public, painting live at events including the Jersey City Art & Studio Tour, and sells through her online gallery at carridegenhardtburke.com. Her Instagram is @cityswipes.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I create modern allegories — big, colorful work about identity and presence — and quiet, small work about the streets I walk every day. The large pieces are mixed media and oil, built up in layers until the figure or scene pushes forward. The small pieces are Jersey City itself: the brownstone on the corner, the shop awning, the rowhouse block. I want people to feel something when they stand in front of a painting, whether it's a 48-inch canvas in a lobby or a 12-inch storefront scene in a hallway. I paint live whenever I can, because watching a painting happen is the fastest way to fall in love with one.