Cecilia Charlton

Which 3 words best define how you would like your art to be perceived?

TACTILE

EVOCATIVE

ENERGETIC

What creative challenge have you faced and overcome that has transformed your art practice?

In 2016, I was really struggling with my relationship to materials. To this point, I had made acrylic paintings because as a material acrylic paint behaved in a way that was conducive to my artistic expression. It allowed me to create hard-edge abstract paintings, with a flatness within the colour fields. But I found myself less and less interested in acrylic paint as a material -- it is essentially plastic, and once I started thinking about it from that perspective I found it hard to relate to even if it resulted in interesting compositions.

Through pure chance, I discovered bargello which is a style of embroidery that results in gradient-based patterns. This approach to artmaking drew upon my family history with sewing and allowed me to explore my interests in colour and composition -- and by using wool yarn, I was able to transition to natural materials. This discovery fundamentally changed my work.

What tools do you use as part of the preliminary stages of your process?

My preliminary work is mostly done in my imagination. I generally make some very rudimentary sketches ahead of embarking on a work, but this is mostly just to remind myself of the vision I had in mind. Because the works take a long time to make, it is important to record my thoughts at the beginning so I don't forget them along the way.

How do you usually start an art session - any habits or rituals?

In the morning, I usually just get up, make a coffee, and go straight to work. My rituals typically take place at the end of the day. Around 5pm I stop work to do some self-care, either yoga, gua sha, ELDOA stretching -- or all of the above.

With which intentions do you infuse your art making?

My hope is to instill my works with creativity, a dual existence of diligence and joy. Also a sense of history and nostalgia, as I am drawing on legacies within my family and meditating on personal experiences while creating the works.

How do you deal with doubts and fears?

I find it very useful to learn about figures in art history, in order to understand that no artist's path is completely straightforward.

For example, I was recently looking at the Tate catalogue from Anges Martin's 2015 retrospective. I noticed that the earliest painting of hers included in the publication was created when Martin was in her 40s. This reminds me that, while I am excited about the work I am making now, there is a lot of growth yet to come. It reminds me that life is a marathon, not a sprint! And when I am feeling doubts and fears I try to remind myself that the solution is to just keep going, step by step.

Do you specifically schedule time for your art practice?

I recently quit my 4-day-per-week job, which allows me to be in the studio every day. Within my studio I do schedule different tasks for different days, for example I schedule days where I can dive completely into the work and not feel responsible for admin tasks. Then, alternatively, I schedule days that are devoted to admin tasks -- in this way I can organise my brain most effectively towards whatever type of work is needing to be done.

Where do you draw your color inspiration from?

My use of colour is completely intuitive. I cannot really explain where it comes from -- I have always enjoyed playing around with unexpected colour combinations. I wonder if it is an inherited trait; my sister loves using colour and pattern in her sewn garments, and my mother as well.

What do you like and dislike about your work?

I love the process of making the work -- my favorite days are the ones where I just get to sew all day. I also love the materials, the fabrics, the yarn, the lace -- as the daughter of a seamstress I have always been surrounded by these materials and I find them so inspiring.

Sometimes I dislike the adjectives that are used to describe my work, like 'trippy' or even 'beautiful'. It is not that I disagree with the accuracy of these adjectives, they just make me a bit uncomfortable -- I am not really sure why. Perhaps they seem a bit reductive, and fail to capture the nuance of the work?

What brilliant piece of advice were you given on your creative journey and would be happy to share?

I remember in 2012, I was about to move to NYC to attend Hunter College for my BFA. I really had no idea where my creativity would lead me, I kind of thought I would end up making found-object mixed-media installation art. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would make the work that I am making now.

I discovered online the work of an artist that I really enjoyed, I forget her name actually! I remember paintings of cakes, like Wayne Thiebaud but with the humour amped up. I emailed her, just asking if she had any advice for a young artist moving to NYC.... she very kindly wrote back, saying that her most important piece of advice was 'never compare yourself to anyone else'. This has been so so so important to remember as I have navigated my path in the years since.