"The process of choosing my subject matter is a simple one. I am attracted to certain colors and shapes. They are both natural and human made. In my travels I have found it difficult to find a landscape that is not altered by humans. Some of the most interesting landscapes I have found in the Mid West are natural landscapes with city skylines, smoke stacks or silos poking up into the sky. Most of my career I have painted from life because nothing in my imagination has come close to what I have seen. I can’t make up what nature and humankind have given me in color, composition, texture, beauty and ugliness. Nor do I deny the process of my imagination and invention as a major influence on how I make art.

My still lifes are taken from the tradition of Dutch paintings and Masters such as Chardin with a contemporary twist. I started with a series called “Good Habits and Bad Habits” back in 1999. Today my still lifes continue that theme investigating instant satisfaction and materialism. Some of my very first paintings I did were still lifes. Back then my choices were based on color and shape. That is still true today, though I love the contrast of the theme versus the pleasing aesthetics. This is the root of my other investigations in art making.

I also have a fascination with new media and how that influences our world. Recently some of my artwork has involved electronic devices that create an interactive element. Like my subject matter that deals with the contrasts of the landscape and still life, this new media has enabled me to involve elements of movement in conjunction with traditional and non traditional elements of picture making. Movement has always been represented in art in one form or another. Miniaturization and mass production has enabled me to explore this idea by way of acquired, appropriated and found materials.

A perfect balance of these ideas is what I seek in myself as an artist. My goal is to create first rate art of the highest quality that also challenges our concepts of who we are and the environment we live in today." 

John Davis Carroll received his B.F.A. in Painting from Swain School of Design in New Bedford Massachusetts and his M.F.A. from Parsons School of Design in New York City. He has lived in Kansas City Since 1993. Mr. Carroll is represented by the PI Gallery in the East Crossroads. His work is owned by numerous individuals and several corporations throughout the country. Currently he teaches drawing and painting at Johnson County Community College and life drawing for the M.F.A. Theatre Design program at UMKC.