Carrie-Ann Stein is a London-based artist whose studio practice reimagines art historical imagery through digitally hand-painted collage and image transfer. She holds an MA in Print from the Royal College of Art (2023). Her work addresses themes of inheritance, belonging, and psychological endurance through processes of disassembly, reconstruction, and quiet resistance.

Beginning with reinterpreted historical scenes, Stein digitally repaints compositions using stylus and screen before cutting them apart and physically reassembling them. These reformulated images are transferred onto wooden panels, where they are pressed into wet acrylic, embedding the image within a surface that holds both control and accident. The paper backing of the print is carefully rubbed away by hand, a process that is both delicate and abrasive. This removal lifts some areas of ink while leaving others permanently embedded in the paint film. The resulting surfaces carry traces of effort, erosion, and persistence, echoing the way memory retains certain impressions while letting others slip away.

Stein engages with art history as a stable reference point from which to challenge and reconfigure received narratives. Drawing on her background in theatre design and a deep affinity for emotionally charged storytelling, she reimagines historical imagery as a space for contemporary reflection. Her visual strategies are informed by psychoanalytic ideas, including Winnicott’s concept of the holding environment and Bion’s theory of thought under pressure. The work is also shaped by Hannah Arendt’s reflections on responsibility and the moral act of sustained attention.

Across these methods and frameworks, Stein offers viewers an encounter with the restorative potential of image-making, where acts of reconfiguration become a pathway to insight, care, and continuity.