Caroline Perkison is interested in exploring living parts of the past, such as old buildings and their interiors. Memories they evoke are both reminding and teaching. She sees these places in real life, in dreams and through stories. They are dreams of searching and confusion, and of bitter sweet memories that have become warped over time.  She searches for used objects that fit with these places (anything from small pieces of jewelry to knickknacks to forgotten papers to jewelry boxes)—and follows them to an idea for her works. She examines the sentimental value of these objects, exploring those both special and overlooked.

Perkison creates images of interior spaces through installation, sculpture, textiles, printmaking, painting, and photography. She focuses on making eerie and offsetting interiors of houses—or an aspect of a house—such as beds, TVs and rugs. She uses distorted shapes and angles, most commonly triangles—creating prints, paintings, textiles. These odd angles—anything straying from a standard ninety degrees make the viewer think of instability, and lack of control—like a warped floor, or walls caving in. Triangles have also taken the form of a dark green attic—a room Perkison made to represent both the exploration of old forgotten objects that will bring memories, as well as to capture the feelings of sadness and of being trapped, like in a nightmarish dream.

Symbols that often show up in Perkison’s work are eyes, jewelry boxes, holes, triangles, and doors. She repurposes materials that look worn as they come with stories to tell.  Perkison is interested in archways—as a spiritual door that allows one to pass to a different realm. Going up into an attic is almost like going into another world because the things up there are of the past. She brings this essence of finding into her work.

In her process, Perkison visits a lot of estate sales, garage sales, and thrift stores. She also use materials from around her house—such as remnants of childhood with specific memories attached to them. She uses deep colors and angled lines to create a dreamy and disorienting aura. Perkison strives for a muted and muffled; whimsical and forested; and fragile and nostalgic vibe.