CHARLOTTE DURIE
I AM HERE
'The process of creating is like going on a forest walk; one strikes out with energy before getting lost and redirecting; the new path hooks us in and a place and feeling are evoked - unique to each viewer.'
Charlotte Dury
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"The process of creating is like going on a forest walk; one strikes out with energy before getting lost and redirecting; the new path hooks us in and a place and feeling are evoked - unique to each viewer. I am drawn endlessly to the effects of chiascuro and the mystery of the inbetween; the intrigue in the shadows; in the wilds of both metropolis and forest.
For commission work or the various studies I have made - it is the desire to explore the innate of each subject and bring forth its spirit. In terms of the medium I use, I am most familiar with pastels. however having a dedicated workspace allows me the freedom to use different types, experimenting and allowing my work to develop. Often, the subject matter dictates the medium."
Charlotte Durie, 2024
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I AM HERE reflects my profound connection to the wilderness in both metropolis and natural jungle, embodying feelings of discovery, excitement and enrichment.
My childhood was split between Norfolk and London - convent boarding school proceeded by a London comprehensive - a dichotomy evident in my work. My mother had remarried and lived in the house of renowned painter Edward Seago, complete with his effects. My father had returned to London to follow in his celebrated father’s footsteps and write. My father’s love of the arts and his circle of writers and painters shaped my desire to create. This was honed by becoming a life model for Jan Pienkowski when I was 16. Subsequently, I modelled for the artists RB Kitaj and his wife Sandra Fisher, Franta Belsky and Rodrigo Moynihan, all of whom gave me an art education second to none.
Other early influences included Film Noir and New Wave French photography, both of which excited me with their chiaroscuro effects. I loved the cityscapes of Edward Hopper and the less-is-more ethos of Alfred Hitchcock, in which he honoured the viewer's imagination.
in my early twenties, I moved to a hill in Wales to raise my children. I sold my first painting at the Aberystwyth Open in 1992. All my early works depicted horses - an exorcism of sorts as my teenage alter-ego had been a racehorse. During these years I exhibited with the Society of Equestrian Artists at London’s Mall Galleries and in Newmarket. A brief foray into budget film-making heralded a pictorial return to the London streets in which I'd walked to school and delivered newspapers. The landscape of the metropolis beguiled me: part theatre, intrigue and history - stories permeating its thoroughfares blended with my own memories. My fascination with noir added to the drama.
My early introduction to the northern forests of Minnesota came thanks to a cabin my great grandfather had built on the shores of Lake Superior. Spending time there enabled me to see a similarity between metropolis and the tangled woods. Teeming with indigenous and pioneering stories, and secretive wildlife, its thoroughfares are every bit as mysterious as the city alleyways - where would the path less travelled lead? What adventure awaits us in either world?
In I AM HERE, I hope to convey a sense of all these places which offer deep and rich mysteries. It is also an unequivocal and bold statement for my fleeting presence at Green & Stone. No matter where "here" is, it is a soul deep connection.’
Charlotte Durie, 2024
