Memories Reflected in Collaged Abstract Expressions: Rekindle Series

Charlotte Wensley
Jun 1, 2022
4 min read

Abstract painting with colorful geometric shapes and patterns in red, blue, orange, and teal tones. Circles and lines create dynamic movement.

The mind will freely wander into unexpected places when time and energy is spent focused on the physical process of making and creating.

'Rekindle' is about working in the present moment yet simultaneously existing in a space of memories, both visual and emotional.

This series began as an inquiry into a new working process.

Spending many hours becoming familiar with printing from a Gelli plate resulted in a pile of experimental prints that had no particular destiny at the time they were created. The vibrancy of colour and interesting layered textures that emerged, often randomly, provided the perfect opportunity to explore using these pieces for collage in a new body of work.

As my working process developed I became aware that a form of meditation had begun to co-exist with my making.

Intuitively responding to lines, shapes and colours as I worked, occupied my hands and allowed me to let go of the present moment and let all manner of thoughts drift intangibly through my mind.

At a singular moment in time, during the making of each of these pieces, a specific memory caught and began to reflect itself in the painting, guiding the story of each work and the visual narrative that emerged.

The resulting artworks are complex in their presentation which is for me a visual manifestation of the challenging process of unearthing significant formative memories that have lain dormant for many years.

Each of these paintings tells a story about historic experience and sentiments from long ago that, as part of my life journey, rose to the surface to be captured and described, lest they remain unacknowledged and lost forever.

There are 5 diptych's in this collection.

| A Tale of Two Truths

I feel unfamiliar warmth as the day begins and the sunlight happens upon the ripples in the bay. The distant sounds of the festive fishing boats leaving the harbour reach me as I breathe in this place; so different from where I am told I belong. I know then that this fleeting moment has created a memory that will forever resonate. A strange and sensory experience, physical and tangible but dreamlike all the same. Prospects become entwined with history and clarity shimmers before me, as this new world unfolds.

Mixed Media on Paper

59cm x 84 cm

Original - SOLD

Prints available on request (see below).

| Submerged

Tales and folklore held within this ancient lake whisper at the mystery of a forgotten village above which I surely float. Suspended below the surface I am bobbing gently this way and that, feeling those stories floating beside me; ripples and rain above, a glimpse of blue between the clouds, I am in an other-worldy place beyond reach. The faraway sound of the wind disturbing the woodland is filtered like a promise as I drift among the supine reeds.

Mixed Media on Paper

59cm x 84cm

Abstract collage with vibrant blue and green geometric shapes, circles, and patterns. Dominant vertical lines create a lively, dynamic feel.

Original - SOLD

Prints available

| The Crossing

Leaving now aboard this floating behemoth, I let go of the homely shore without a backward glance. Alone but not adrift, destined for adventure, a new horizon awaits. Opening my arms to freedom and independence, I am a singularity in this place, amid the bustle of purposeful passengers. I am making my way towards an unknown and oh so willingly I go. A timely rite of passage sailing away from all that has gone before.

Mixed Media on Paper

59cm x 84cm

Original - SOLD

Prints available on request (see below).

| The Sub Way

As the sliding doors open, I feel the mesmerising and electric energy of this place. I am surrounded by life force in abundance, a magnetism suspends me here in this alternate reality. Diversity on a scale unparalleled in my experience; constructed, deconstructed, polished, tarnished, fragile, robust, evident all at once. I sense a fork in the road; new pathways and journeys reveal themselves with every step I take. Do I stay or do I go?

Mixed Media on Paper

59cm x 84cm

Abstract art with bold geometric shapes in yellow, red, and orange. Patterns of circles, lines, and dots create a vibrant, dynamic scene.

Original - SOLD

Prints available on request (see below).

| Threads

Towers of expectation stand sentinel against they sky, an act of resistance against the winds of change. In the dim and dusty halls, manufacturing monoliths now motionless whisper to me of once productive days and unsurpassed purpose. That men dared to dream and conceive of such things captivates me and makes me wonder. As I step back out into the sunlight and the smell of iron begins to dissipate, a profound curiosity for inventions settles into my subconscious.

Mixed Media on Paper

59cm x 84cm