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Carolyn Quan is one of fine art’s most innovative, photographic artists. Launching a career in fine art just after 9/11, Carolyn Quan has been celebrated by art collectors worldwide from Germany to Japan to Australia.
With more than 20 years of professional experience in the commercial art field, Carolyn transitioned seamlessly into fine art, applying her refined sense of design, composition, color, and technical expertise to the art that she creates. A prolific artist, Carolyn is best known for her fine art photo collages that are a unique combination of her own original photographs that are creatively and artistically blended together and transformed into imaginative works of fine art. Her art is inspired by spirituality and the beauty that she finds in nature and humankind.
An Artist since childhood, Carolyn Quan grew up in Toronto, Canada and earned a degree in Commercial Design and Photography from the Ontario College of Art and Design. She was the recipient of a full-tuition scholarship for her fourth year of studies awarded to her by City-TV/MuchMusic, Canada’s MTV, along with a summer internship.
After working as a designer in television for 3 years, she moved to New York City to pursue her dream of designing album covers. In NYC, Carolyn was a music industry Art Director and designed album covers for many celebrities, including Barry Manilow, Carly Simon, Aretha Franklin, Yes and the Grateful Dead, to name just a few. She is the recipient of 4 gold records for her creative achievements in the music industry. In 1992, Carolyn started her own graphic design company which specialized in the entertainment industry. Clients included PolyGram Video, CBS Radio, Black Entertainment Television, BMG, Sony Music, EMI and Warner Music Int’l, amongst others. Recording artists included INXS, Lionel Ritchie, Sarah Brightman, Placido Domingo, and Kiss, to name just a few.
In 1997, Carolyn diversified her business and launched a glossy multicultural magazine, Urban Mozaik, which promoted cross-cultural understanding and celebrated diversity.
In the year 2000, Carolyn moved to Maui, Hawaii. After the life-altering events of 9/11, she began focusing her creative endeavors on her fine art.
In 2004, Carolyn opened her first art gallery and studio in Lahaina, Maui. In 2005, it transitioned into The Quan Gallery, a co-op art gallery featuring six local artists, and moved to bustling Front Street in Lahaina.
Serendipitously on September 11, 2007, Carolyn opened The Quan Gallery in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, in the heart of Waikiki. The Quan Gallery in Waikiki was her first solo/signature art gallery. The same year, two of her nudes (one male and one female) were added to the permanent collection of art at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction founded by world-renowned sex researcher Dr. Alfred Kinsey, in Bloomington, Indiana.
Her artwork has been shown in Rio de Janeiro; New York City; Los Angeles; Taos; La Quinta; Riviera Maya, Mexico; Toronto, Canada; and throughout the Hawaiian islands as well as at art festivals throughout the country. Her art is in private collections around the world including Australia, Germany, Canada, Mexico, the U.S. and, Japan.
She has been featured in over 20 publications as well as on radio, television and in film. In 2010, she was the recipient of the “Best in Show” award at the Castro Street Fair in San Francisco, which was founded by Harvey Milk in 1994. For 9 years in a row, from 2012 – 2021 Carolyn has been honored with a total of 19 American Art Awards, founded by Tom Bierdz, a fellow artist and daytime television celebrity from the Young and the Restless. The awards are juried by 25 fine art galleries and museums across the U.S. In 2015, she was honored with the Award of Merit in the photography category at the 33rd Annual La Quinta Arts Festival, one of the most prestigious art festivals in the country. She has also won numerous awards at various fine art festivals across the country including St. George, two in Chicago, and Beverly Hills. In 2020 and 2021 she won two nominations in the prestigious international Fine Art Photography Awards.
She is currently based in the American Southwest.