Self-fulfilling prophecy: a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true. If there were ever a person who is good evidence for the truth in this theory, it is Candy Depew, multimedia artist and creator of CandyCoated. “I’ve been tortured by my name my whole life,” jokes Candy. “People’s eyes would light up when they heard the word ‘candy,’ and then they wouldn’t believe it was my name.” Now, Candy is using her unique title to bring to life her dream of changing the world through her art. “I’ve always loved decorative arts, so my career is about ‘CandyCoating’ surfaces, and by that I mean I decorate them with my motifs. I get to travel to different countries and make artwork and go to their museums to study how their art is used for domestic environments.”
It was Candy’s love of art and appreciation for its powerful influence on her life that lead her to pursue a PhD in Humanities from the London Tate Consortium. She is now near completing her written thesis proposal. To summarize her ideas for her project, Candy explains, “Decorating the world spreads beauty and that beauty affects you positively, which in turn makes for a better world.”
She turned this view into work that she has been observing the effects of for years. “I believe that how you decorate your environment affects you subconsciously. You can subtly control your environment so that it releases good vibes that create a sort of preventative medicine for you.” Candy’s long-term project of “CandyCoating” embodies these beliefs. “I wanted to create a magazine on decorative arts that focused on how and where they were made and how the pieces created are usually given as handmade gifts and thus hold a stronger value to recipients because they’re made and given out of love. The object and the meaning it carries affect owners daily in their lives.”
Candy received a Pew grant to research her idea and CandyCoated, her passionate project, was born. “I make art for residences, I teach other artists printing techniques for their work, and I create my own work to display in exhibitions based on decorative arts or concepts of beauty and the female role. I am offered commissions for those exhibitions that are held at museums and galleries or private homes.”
Candy’s sweet and genuine personality shines through from the minute she begins speaking, and thus especially qualifies her to share her gifts in multi-media art and design with others. “I’ve probably taught about 2000 people in 10 years, and all of those people are part of my human network. Just by learning the skills of silk-screening and ceramic medium, they learn to make meaningful expressions to give to others and themselves. Also, all the statistics of people learning and growing from this CandyCoating will be used to apply for future grants.” As former students return to her and share how her gift of passing on her experience in design has improved their lives, Candy gathers all the information for the book she will complete by the end of this year. “It will be based on all my experiences, all the people I’ve met, and what has happened as a result.”
The Studio School of Decorative Art & Design, she created in remembrance of her father now offers a private Masters program, and Candy maintains a grateful attitude for being able to do and share a work she is so passionate about. “In this economic time, tons of people have lost their jobs, so I’m just lucky to be able to find what works. We’ve done all kinds of stuff—at one point we taught 300 people how to print awesome Dracula T-shirts in 3 hours at the Rosenbach Museum and Library. My income comes from commissions, teaching classes, and giving talks at universities based on my experience with receiving grants and residencies. I also have some pieces available on Etsy and skill trade a lot; all my dental, hair, and a lot of my clothing are traded for artwork.”
Despite the economy, Candy has no plans of slowing things down with CandyCoated. “Applying for grants, designing classes so that people can learn and continue printing at home really integrating art into their daily lives, and planning to do a fashion show. We are also creating intermediate level classes for the school, and hold some specialty workshops in a 6000 square foot fashion studio in the North East.” Through all of it, Candy knows that her heartfelt attitude of paying it forward will greatly expand her future successes.