Featured Artist: Paulina (Goff) Stovall

San Jose-based professional pumpkin carver, Paulina (Goff) Stovall, started as an artist in high school. After graduating, she discovered a passion for pumpkin carving when she was commissioned to live carve pumpkins at a high-end party. Since then, she has fallen in love with the practice and continued developing her craft with CarvedFX.  Her carvings blend artistry, imagination, and precision, transforming a seasonal tradition into a highly technical art form. Depending on the starting form required for different sculptures, Paulina also includes other vegetables such as butternut, carrots, sweet potatoes, and zucchini. Each varietal adds a different texture and form to her sculptures.

While most of Paulina’s carvings are commissioned to reflect a customer’s branding and vision, she always attempts to tie a piece of herself into her work. Inspired by mythical creatures and sci-fi horror films from the ’80s and ’90s, Paulina shares, “when I have the opportunity to carve for myself, I bring in things that inspire me, which tend to have a lot of teeth and look more scary and movie-inspired.”  Even on family-friendly pieces, Paulina stays true to the spooky origins of pumpkin carving by including subtle elements such as bugs and critters. Paulina’s favorite works are standing 360-degree sculptures that make audiences question whether it was carved from a pumpkin.

“when I have the opportunity to carve for myself, I bring in things that inspire me, which tend to have a lot of teeth and look more scary and movie-inspired.”

Aside from carving pumpkins, Paulina has dreams of expanding her practice across mediums. “If I could branch out to another medium,” Paulina muses, “I’d love to start carving more with stone.  Get into a permanent medium instead of a medium that rots.” That dream was sparked by interacting with a world-renowned stone sculptor who inspired her and made her feel like carving stone was meant to be. For Paulina, pumpkin carving goes beyond the practice and tradition. It’s about creating joy and lasting memories for people and their loved ones. Through her work, she hopes to inspire others to make art, pursue what they love, and remember the emotions they felt while watching her work or seeing the final piece.

This interview was done at The Tech Interactive during their 2025 Techtoberfest: Science of Beer and Brews. Paulina and her team, “Team Poisonous Perfection,” won Season 15 of Halloween Wars 2025 on Food Network, where cake decorators, sugar artists, and pumpkin carving experts battle it out as they create Halloween-themed edible displays.

Follow Paulina on Instagram at carvedfx and on the web at crvdfx.com