BFA in Printmaking - Universities of the Arts
MFA in Printmaking - Rhode Island School of Design

For over ten years, Carmela Venti has been creating “Map Portraits” which examine person/place relationships and explore issues of cognition and identity. Maps interest the artist because they are an accepted abstraction, which symbolize nature and a vast amount of information about time and space. Venti’s work merges the figure with different maps (geographic, topographic, road maps and nautical charts) creating a metaphor for the complexities of human nature. Although the artist considers her work personal, interpretations can range from psychological to socio-political.

Venti’s personal political experience has ranged from speaking at local town meetings against the landfill expansion to protect the aquifer and future water supply to globally exploring her family’s immigrated origins. Recently the international adoption of her son and daughter has also exposed her to global politics. And her son’s autism spectrum disorder has added new challenges, travel, research and perspectives for her work. Carmela has seen the field of Cartography evolve similar to Printmaking from hand drawn images to computer/ digital prints. Her images use a range of print media.

She has taught Printmaking at the University of Hartford Art School and Central Connecticut State University as a visiting artist. Her work has been included in Map Art Exhibitions at the Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois, the Louisville Art Association, Kentucky, the Turman Gallery, Terre Haute, Indiana, and the DeCordova Museum in Massachusetts. She has shown her work internationally at various Cartographic Congresses in Interlocken, Switzerland; Vienna, Austria, and Stockholm, Sweden. Venti is former President of Connecticut Women Artists, Inc., and has been affiliated with Southern Graphics and the International Map Trade Association. She maintains a print studio, Ckarma Graphics in Waterford, Connecticut.