Brilliant Disguise: Artist Patty Carroll Shines Brightly in Louisville Photo Biennial

By Kevin Murphy Wilson Photos Provided 

In recent weeks, the 2025 Louisville Photo Biennialhas overtaken more than 50 participating venues (including many noteworthy galleries, museums, colleges and cultural organizations) in the area. This time around that sprawling event features some rather stunning bodies of work such as “Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise” — a solo exhibition by renowned practitioner and art educator Patty Carroll. As the show card proclaims, “Carroll’s Anonymous Women series playfully explores the complex relationship between women and domesticity. By cleverly disguising her figures in drapery and household objects, Carroll transforms the ‘Anonymous Woman’ into both a mystery and a muse—inviting viewers into a witty game of visual hide-and-seek.” Since that exhibition remains on view at Kentucky College of Art + Design’s 849 Gallery (located at 849 S. 3rd Street) through Dec. 4, we took the opportunity to catch up with the artist for a quick conversation about her creative journey.

VOICE-TRIBUNE: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what it was that put you on the creative path in the first place?

Patty Carroll: “I am from a newspaper family. My parents owned and ran 10 suburban newspapers outside of Chicago, so news, graphics, photography, and advertising are probably in my bones. I was supposed to grow up, marry, have a few kids, and run the newspapers. However, I wanted to be an artist. I have no idea where it came from, but there it was. When it was time for college, my parents and I compromised on me majoring in graphic design, instead of writing or journalism. Later, that turned into photography, and then my life was good! I did a BFA at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in Graphic Design and then an MS at the Institute of Design in Photography. I then began teaching photography right out of grad school. I have somehow always been interested in the fine line between reality and fiction. My family, especially my mother, found humor in most things. Any tragedy, situation or even something silly turned into a moment for hilarity and sarcasm. For instance, my mother was the editor of our newspaper. People would call her to give her gossip updates and other juicy bits for the paper. She always said she couldn’t print that sort of ‘news.’ So she started a column, called ‘Scoop Says,’ which was supposedly written by our dog, Scoop. It had a picture of Scoop wearing glasses, reading the Park Ridge Advocate. So you can see that craziness and creativity were constant in our household. Hopefully, humor shows up in my imagery, as [that] is part of my goal.”

VT: Are there any specific artists that inspired you or that you wanted to emulate, or alternatively were there any that you knew you did not wish to be like?

PC: “I once met Lisette Model, a wonderful photographer and teacher to Diane Arbus. We were able to visit her in her New York basement apartment. It was a surreal experience! The hallway entrance was painted black with tiny, shiny shapes covering the walls and ceiling. Lisette declared, ‘Oh, that is my husband; he is an artist.’ Somehow, the imagery of that meeting stayed in my mind, and I wished I were one of her students, and that I would be able to live a truly integrated life of art, photography, and love. 

Lisette believed that art is an exploration of the world, and not a replication of what was already in place. I believe that truly. Although she was a street photographer, that idea applies to, certainly, all photography. There are several artists that I would not like to emulate, but I will not mention them here. All I can say is that I do not like ego-driven artists who are so full of elite ‘artspeak’ that others cannot relate to them or their work. I believe it is important to make work that is understandable as well as relatable.” 

VT: What is special to you about the “Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise” work currently on view at KyCAD’s 849 Gallery? 

PC: “The ‘Anonymous Women’ series began when my husband and I moved to London, England. After being raised and mostly living in the Midwest of the USA, it was a big culture shock for me. I had a small identity crisis, mostly because people kept referring to me as ‘Mrs.’ as in Mrs. Jones. My husband’s name is Tony Jones, and I am very happy to be married to him; however, I had spent a lifetime trying to establish my own identity as an artist, woman and independent person in the world. It made me think about how most women are still only known through their domestic status. So I began photographing a woman in my studio with domestic objects on her head, which hid her identity. The ‘Anonymous Woman’ was born then. She continued to evolve when we moved back to Chicago. The work has a life of its own, and now I am not sure if it follows me or I follow it! I am happy that it [the current show] is part of a larger photography event – the 2025 Louisville Photo Biennial. Hopefully, the exhibit will make more people aware of KyCAD and bring them to see the very professional operation that is the school. The work I selected to show here is part of a larger series that addresses women’s relationship with the home. These particular pictures are all about eating and drinking. The rest of the series includes many activities and obsessions with cleaning, decorating, arranging, or other domestic chores. Since this is mainly an undergraduate audience, I thought that the students would relate more to this issue, as we all eat and drink every day.” 

For more information visit PattyCarroll.com or LouisvillePhotoBiennial.com.