Born in Baltimore, Carlton’s childhood was steeped in odd jobs and jazz, experiences that built resilience and character. Time spent with his mother on construction sites—painting homes and absorbing the tools of labor—unintentionally equipped him with the very materials and perspectives that would later fuel his practice.

 

Portraiture and spatial composition anchor his work, inviting intimacy, distance, and presence. Influenced by the layered clarity of Alex Katz, the vibrant worlds of David Hockney, and Kerry James Marshall’s nuanced depictions of community, Carlton reimagines life through gesture, color, and space—offering new ways of seeing beyond fixed narratives.

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Carlton experiments more with process than material, painting on anything that fits in his presence. His practice is driven by a restless curiosity and a guileless mentality that allows inspiration to surface from anywhere and everywhere.

For Carlton, art is more than expression—it is survival. In his words, “we are the last of a dying breed.”