Opalescence - Original Painting

Biography

Carol Young's work reflects on the shifting fabric of the American landscape, focusing on barns whose weathered forms embody both resilience and vulnerability. Once icons of rural life, these structures now stand as silent witness to change. Young is captivated by the way light and shadow move across their surfaces, where contrasts become metaphors for the passage of time and what is lost. Through bold, amplified use of color, she transforms the familiar – barns glowing in reds, blues and golds – into contemporary meditations on place and impermanence. Her paintings fuse nostalgia with vitality, inviting reflection on what endures within the American landscape, and to see the hope for preservation in color, light and shadow.

Artist Statement

"My work primarily explores the shifting fabric of the American landscape through the quiet, weathered presence of barns and rural structures. Once icons of everyday life, these buildings now stand as vulnerable, fading witnesses to change. Through the use of bold color and light, I aim to transform nostalgia into something both contemporary and reverent. The structures are intentionally simplified and imperfect, serving as metaphors for age, resilience, and time’s passage.

"My fascination with light and shadow comes in to play with each execution, and I use it as a tool to create interest and mood. The structures I paint beg to tell a story of their past and I hope to keep them alive by capturing them on canvas. Each piece becomes a meditation on place, memory, and the enduring dialogue between the past and the present."

See inside Carol Young's Connecticut studio in our Inside the Studio feature on the blog.