Carroll Cradock

Artist Statement

As a textile artist for several decades, my inspiration comes from the ordinary world I see and live in every day. My mission in life is to make visible the often-invisible, good realities around us. Through tapestries, I highlight moments of beauty and hope that emerge in unexpected places—living details from daily life that are easily overlooked. It’s rare to find a stone wall without a small plant pushing through a crack, reaching for light and life.
This one of a series of tapestry stone walls was inspired by seeing sprouts poking through a split in a wall of rusted steel and by lyrics in Leonard Cohen’s song Anthem: “There is a crack in everything. That’s where the light comes in.” Often, those who see these tapestries later tell me - or show me a photo---of a plant they would have never noticed, such as a sprout growing out of a sewer lid.
The rough texture of these stones is intended to elicit an urge to touch them, as do stone walls. The color, shape and texture of each stone varies as do those in walls, yet together they create beauty and a background for hope. The strong, tiny plants push through and out of cracks to the light they need.