About
Artist Bio
Carlee Schafer is a Senior pursuing a BA in Studio Art at Hope College, where she concentrates in oil painting and mixed media. Born and raised in Washington, DC, her practice explores conflicting identities and self-perception through distortion of the human figure, while her ongoing research into Trickster mythology examines how these characteristics can be represented in contemporary visual culture. Schafer’s paintings have been featured in Hope College’s Annual Juried Student Exhibition, where she has received multiple awards. In February 2026, she presented her solo exhibition, Of Distortion, at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.
In the summer of 2026, Schafer received an artist grant to assist and create a body of oil paintings and screenprints alongside painter Katherine Sullivan. Schafer’s professional experience includes several years of graphic design as well as assisting practicing artists across a range of media, which she continues while studying in New York City through the New York Arts Program. Schafer is currently expanding her research, developing her studio practice through the New York Arts Program Studio Residency, and assisting artists Barbara Friedman and Maggie K Barrett.
Artist Statement
I am a collector. A collector of textures, colors, and myths. On my canvas, I collect universes. This way of seeing has led me to Trickster; global and historic mythological beings that inhabit the in-between, remain adaptable, and shape cultural fabric. Through distortion, overlap, repetition, and hybridity, I explore Trickster as a contemporary figure, creating creatures and worlds that reflect their myriad of characteristics.
My way of making is rooted in those characteristics as well, allowing chance, mimicking, and adaptability to guide both form and content. I approach the figure through layering, fragmentation, and texture; curious about the interaction of incompatible mediums. It is this curiosity that guides my work. Grounded in research across museums, avant-garde films, literature, and visual culture, digital collages become the source for my paintings. It’s where digital meets physical and, like tricksters, I dwell in that in-between. From canvases, I coax new universes and number it in my collection.
