Caroline Marg Elliott Greater London, United Kingdom
I am an artist working with painting and photography. My focus is to explore patterns and shapes in the natural world which emerge through movement, repetition, and chance. A starting point might be movement of leaves in the wind, chance outlines of branches, fleeting shadows, or patterns in the light. We respond to these phenomena in an emotional way, and this is what I am really exploring.
My photographs of trees, woodland, and other natural features, are taken at night, and show restlessness, movement and flux. They are lit either by street lights, or moving artificial lights, under a long exposure time. I welcome the role of chance, accidents and imperfection. I am interested in the sense of disorientation, strangeness, beauty and pathos, created by the wind moving branches, or by lights moving as the photograph takes place.
My paintings are made using leaves as stencils, and they often incorporate spray paint or crayon areas to increase the sense of depth, or disorientating space and layers. Sometimes I think of my paintings and photographs as separate areas of work, and at other times I am building up connections. Further ideas which I am interested in include:
Movement and change: The philosophy of Heraclitus has been summarized as “everything is in a state of coming into being, and dissolving into nothingness. The only absolutes are strife, motion and change” . The idea that matter is constantly changing through destruction, disruption, rebuilding, renewal, accumulation, and that every state is only temporary, and transient, is an important idea underpinning my work. My paintings are composed of many layers built up over time, each one changing the layers below, while earlier layers are often visible, but partially obscured. My photographs often show restlessness, movement in nature.
Chance: I welcome the role of chance, accidents and imperfection in my paintings and photographs. Generally my work is not specifically planned or composed, but it evolves and happens in ways which I could not foresee. I am interested in the long tradition of artists using chance, and allowing imperfection in their work, including the 19th century blot paintings of Alexander Cozens, Fluxus, John Cage, automatic drawing, the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, and others. It is also interesting that accidents occur by chance in nature too, such as in the corruption of DNA.
Repetition: Repetition is fundamental to the natural world. We see repetition in our daily routines, life cycles, circadian rhythms. Repeated forms are found everywhere in nature, such as cells, seeds, stones, leaves, molecules, or particles which occur billions of times over. Repetition is also found in the inner world of thoughts, memories, and ideas. These ideas underpin my fascination with repeated natural forms.
Projects and exhibitions
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Spring Show 202415/03/2024 — ongoing A group exhibition selected from an open call |
AKA Contemporary, Cambridge | Details | |
EmpowerHER14/03/2024 — ongoing This is a group exhibition organised for International Women's Day. The catalogue can be seen here: CasildArt Brochure - EmpowerHER (canva.com). Casildart have launched a new gallery space at 32 Connaught Street, W2. It runs from 14th March - 31st March 2024. |
CasildART, London | Details | |
Silence09/03/2024 — ongoing An online and physical photography exhibition on the theme of "Silence". The exhibition was curated from international entries to an open call The online exhibition is available here: https://www.ph21gallery.com/silence-24 |
PH21 Gallery, Budapest | Details | |
Through the Looking Glass, Swanfall Art28/08/2023 — 02/09/2023 Group exhibition selected from an open call |
Mall Galleries, London | Details | |
Botany12/07/2023 — 12/08/2023 Selected group exhibition on the theme of plants |
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield | Details | |
Abacus (digital exhibition)16/06/2023 — 29/06/2023 International selected online exhibition in response to an open call |
Fresh Salad Gallery | Details | |
Botanical12/05/2023 — 20/05/2023 Selected open printmaking exhibition in response to an open call |
44AD Gallery, Bath | Details | |
Ferens Open Exhibition15/02/2020 — 26/04/2020 Selected open call |
Ferens Gallery, Hull | Details | |
Winter Group Exhibition16/12/2019 — 31/12/2019 I exhibited some recent photographs of trees at night |
Avivson Gallery, Highgate, London | Details | |
Royal Birmingham Society of Arts Prize23/09/2019 — 22/06/2019 |
RBSA Gallery, Birmingham | Details | |
Contemporary Photography 201919/09/2019 — 04/08/2019 |
CICA Museum, Seoul, South Korea | Details | |
Glitches and Defects05/07/2019 — 15/07/2019 |
Millepiani Gallery, Rome | Details | |
COMPOSITION 2, Lichfield Festival Exhibition 201901/07/2019 — 31/07/2019 |
Lichfield Cathedral, Lichfield | Details | |
Urban Lights26/06/2019 — 04/07/2019 |
Millepiani Gallery, Rome | Details | |
Dreams24/05/2019 — 07/06/2019 |
Art Number 23, Biscuit Factory, London | Details | |
Bath Open Art Prize24/05/2019 — 09/06/2019 |
44AD Gallery, Bath | Details | |
Stranger than Fiction02/05/2019 — 14/05/2019 |
Millepiani Gallery, Rome | Details | |
Positive Emotions06/04/2019 — 30/09/2019 |
Kunsthuis Gallery, Crayke, Yorkshire | Details |