Dorothy Carr took part in the first UK exhibition of serigraphs at the ‘Folio Society,‘ London and her first solo show at the ICA in 1970 was entirely inspired by the process. She says “it lent itself beautifully to my chosen subject ‘The Human Aura’, on account of the ease with which it could create vibrating lines which could be overprinted adinfinitum”.

Dorothy Carr’s earliest prints made use of opaque overlays of pigment as in ‘Green Bottle with Onions’ (1950) and ‘Night Tide’ (1959). As she explains “although the hands on look that came with printing through organdie was slow and hazardous, it revealed, by chance, a bonus; misaligned printing of the same stencil gave interference patterns similar to the ones that can be achieved today through computer imagining”. Such was the accessibility of the medium, that she could take contemporary events like the then extraordinary space projects and make a ‘space’ print there and then – as with ‘The First Satellite’ (1968). Discovering ‘photostencils’ and colour blending led to adventurous large-scale works which she printed onto canvas. Sometimes this was combined with painting. Her work reflected a mixture of influences upon her life at that time, including popular cultural images.

During the late 50’s and early 60’s, the government established Cotton Board promoted industrial and interior design, which became an ever expanding and lucrative market in the UK. Dorothy Carr was part of the influential group of artists who were to change the direction of textile design during the 60’s. Entrepreneur Jack Worthington, director of interior design at Heal’s Fabrics Ltd, was looking for young British artists who could bring a new dynamic to the textile industry to run in parallel with it’s already established classic designs. He was particularly taken by the vitality and novelty of Dorothy Carr’s prints at the Folio Society, London. He bought one to include in his contemporary collection, later shown at the Brussels World Fair, 1958. Entitled ‘Oak’, it broke new ground and caused a stir in textile circles.’ The Daily Telegraph’ design critic wrote, “It expresses the modern trend of ‘tachism’ or action painting. It is a perfect picture of the bark of an oak tree showing strength and almost the movement of the years in its trunk.”

Dorothy Carr was instrumental in changing the method of transferring images photographically onto cloth, through the screen printing process, which in turn changed the mould of traditional textile production technology. She produced ‘Moiré’ ’64, based on marbled paper, as part of ‘Time Present’ fabric collection commissioned by Hull Traders Ltd. It was most probably the first halftone textile image of its kind and as such was later acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, Department of Modern Textiles.

Other commissions include ‘Exeter’ for Exeter University by textile firm Primavera and a number of bold wallpaper designs for pioneering manufacturers Coles Wallpaper Ltd in 1964. Further examples of her textiles can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum, Department of Modern Textiles.

By the 80’s, using her own recycling techniques, Dorothy Carr had moved into creating ‘book art’, handmade paper installations, reliefs and collages. Her ‘book art’ series was exhibited nationally and internationally and is represented in the Victoria & Albert Museum. In 1996 she formed ‘The Paper Group’ to promote the imaginative use of handmade paper and recyclables and to bring awareness to this very basic everyday material. The Group exhibited and successfully toured a number of innovative shows and events.

Dorothy Carr is now engaged in ‘art for well being’ as she firmly believes in the power of art to promote healing and change. As a parallel involvement she has also started on a series of paintings concerned with ‘energy’ and is researching into some of the most exciting recent cosmic events.