Charmaine’s work is autobiographical drawing on social and political issues which are translated into artworks brimming with subjectivity. Working intuitively to create artworks permeated in an anonymous dramatic narrative clouded in mystery. Predominantly the artworks are reliant on existing elements, personal and compelling, to create a narrative acquiring multiple interpretations. Amid such distortion this process ultimately produces work unrevealed to her personally. Working intuitively and instinctively with an intentional meeting of the mind and body to create work in a physiological space filled with tension.
Charmaine works from photographs and news articles, transforming them from their original source material into paintings. Using her imagination to express vulnerable moments consumed by desires, violence or issues marked by political and social injustice to ultimately engage in a world accompanied by all its diversities.
Working in mixed mediums such as painting and video, each artwork is predominately striped from colour to create a palette of sundowns and midnights which appends to the mood of yearning. This creates tension, uncanniness, unease, an ominous feel which is evocative of the atmosphere which inturn articulates perfectly unspeakable moments which Charmaine is seeking to translate.
Gesture further enhances this personal connection and plays a vital role in expressing gentle or vigorous tactile brush marks converging for the viewer to experience these emotions visually. The awkward figural depictions and body language add to the narrative and the traces of how the work is created depicts layers of personal, emotional and physical marks with sufficient distance through everything created. This is an important intersection where the viewer can have their own personal experience whilst exploring important issues as a means of self discovery and self identity so the mystery for the viewer and the suspenseful rhythm has a lasting thought provoking impact.