CLARKSVILLE, TENN.- “This body of work is not simply about the Civil War. It is about an emotion: the layered, all-encompassing emotion that accompanies a life lived. It is about being passionate enough to fight, compassionate enough to grieve, honest enough to be open. It is about ghosts and hopes,” states Dane Carder of his paintings currently hanging at the Customs House Museum. The suite of works on wood panels and paper are reminiscent of the people of the Civil War era. In sepia tones, blurred black and whites, and faded vintage wallpaper patterns, Carder’s art speaks of the human spirit. Dane has created haunting images that give the viewer a voyeuristic moment into the lives and trauma of the people who made up America’s history. Even without clear facial details, one feels a personal and emotional connection to the figures.

Dane Carder was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1972, and he still calls it home. He studied fine arts at the University of Georgia and Middle Tennessee State University. Dane has exhibited in numerous galleries and alternative art spaces, and is currently represented by Cumberland Gallery in Nashville. He is represented in Los Angeles by Art for Humans Gallery.

The artist has said, “When I was sixteen years old, my father passed away, and since then I have felt an unflinching familiarity with the Spiritual. Ghosts and hopes have been the raw material that I have worked with in art for over fifteen years. It was in rediscovering Civil War imagery that my creative voice found volume and a proper vehicle to express the depths of this Spiritual life.”