“It feels otherworldly. It’s very hard for me to understand and believe still that they are here to see my art.”
Ballymena born artist Carly Wright said it was ‘surreal’ to have her own art exhibition inside the Braid Arts Centre.
Carly Wright started her career as a tattooist, but as her work was shared, more and more people came to know of her fantastic talents. One of Carly’s biggest supporters was TUV Councillor Timothy Gaston.
“I got tagged in a post on Facebook. I came across Carly a number of months ago, when she did the mural in Ballykeel and there’s quite a bit of media traction also with that and to be honest with you, everybody in Ballymena would have then started to take note of Carly’s work” Gaston said.
Gaston added that when he saw the post, he found a ‘gem’. “I seen somebody, a gem, a hidden gem within Ballymena who needed support and certainly when Carly’s dream was to have an exhibition here in the Braid, being a local Councillor I thought that was something I could help with”. “It’s great to see we have the facilities in the Braid where we can host such an exhibition”.
“That’s what we’re here for at Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, to discover the raw talent and give a platform that, that person needs to succeed in life. I believe Carly will be professional; and she will live off the proceeds of her work for years to come and I think will go on to be a real household name in not just Ballymena, but Northern Ireland”.
Carly said that it felt ‘otherworldly’ to have her own exhibition. “It feels otherworldly. It’s very hard for me to understand and believe still that they are here to see my art. And even when I see all my art, it’s still not ringing that it’s all my show. It’ll probably take a few days to kick in, but the gravity of it all and the magnitude has really shook me a lot but has really opened my eyes a lot to the possibilities and the magnitude of what I am and who I am. So, I just want to keep trying and keep opening more doors for the other artists as well”.
“It feels like I’m not on the planet, it kinda feels like something otherworldly. It’s the only way I can describe the feeling inside me, even though the show is already over. It was one of the most magical things that could happen to me. It opened my heart more to see love from people and from humans that I didn’t know was still possible in humans anymore”.
“I don’t necessarily have a favourite because every painting has a trait of a situation or an emotion that I’ve went through and dealt with, so to me, everyone is an accomplishment because I’ve dealt with an emotion of trauma through them”.
“The one that would sell the most and the one that people tend to know me for would be the Autism one, I am no less. People tend to know that one more”.
Carly’s exhibition is available to view until June 10th in the Braid Arts Centre. Carly’s work is available to see on her various social media platforms, or at her website carlywrightart.com.
