Rose-Marie Caldecott
ROSE-MARIE CALDECOTT at Carey Blyth Gallery 8 Woodstock Road OX2 6HT (wed-sun 11-5 pm)
November-December 2019
Painted sur le motif, en plein air, Caldecott is captivated by the beauty of the Oxfordshire landscape that surrounds her. The Cotswolds, beloved by so many, appear richly farmed bestowing a bucolic sense of peace and order. Yet these compositions bear witness to the contradictions that rumble beneath our feet…
Most wildlife emerges at dusk avoiding the harsh reality of our presence on the land. Thus in daytime the fields appear bare, bar the plethora of pheasants reared for the pot. At dusk however, the deer, hare and badgers come out to drink, to hunt and feed, at one with the natural rhythm of the earth. That diurnal/nocturnal dynamic of polarisation is played out by Caldecott in many ways across her canvas. Abstraction and figuration echo the extremes that run through her paintings. The sky, unruly and ever-changing, threatens above fields that are regimented and manicured. Verges, hedges and tree lines run wild between oversized fields that are primed for harvest, at odds with her silver-nitrate clouds that remind us of the unfettered power of nature. However hard we try to tame and contain it, it will have the last word determining the success of the harvest. The land may be tamed but the weather and the climate cannot be controlled.
Fractal patterning has been a feature of Caldecott’s landscape painting for some years now. Observed in the minutiae of lichen, the branching of coral and trees, fractal patterning occurs from micro to macro observed from satellite in the patterning of shorelines and river deltas across the planet.
In her Trinity series, Caldecott has employed the golden rectangle – so satisfying to our eye. Each portal is a golden rectangle in its own right and her act of framing echoes for her the parameters that we set to deal with the challenges that life throws at us. Life is a balancing act for mind, body and soul. There is a beginning, middle and end, and ultimately a holy trinity.
Rose-Marie Caldecott : ‘Creating these paintings reminds me that underneath every decision I make, every action I undertake, lies the reality of something I can’t entirely plan for. Nothing we do sits in isolation, all things are connected; and all things are subject to change. I hope that my paintings remind the viewer that they need not always flee from this truth, by accepting it fearlessly, one can discover the heart of beauty.’
ROSE-MARIE CALDECOTT
THE MAGIC OF THE TREES
11 FEBRUARY - 13 MARCH 2015
Rose-Marie Caldecott’s work explores the relationship between patterns in nature and humanity’s ordering instinct - the endeavour that man makes to establish stability and constancy within the ever-fluctuating reality that we are bound to.
During her degree at Falmouth University (2011-2014), she was drawn towards the theme of gardens, a topic that continues to inform her practice. Exploring the correlation between painter and gardener, her interests have for the last few years looked at the debate between the formal gardens, such as Versailles, and more informal romantic styles. Rosie has gravitated strongly towards 18th Century English landscape gardens, particularly those conceived and created by Capability Brown, at Blenheim and across the UK. For her, they perfectly articulate the strange dichotomy between our desire to leave nature untouched in all her splendour, and to compose her into that which can be better understood, viewed and inhabited.
Rose-Marie Caldecott returns to Art Jericho’s “Magic of The Trees” with an interim show complementing the exhibition that she is taking part in at The Palace Gallery,yes” Blenheim titled ‘Blenheim in a New Light’ (13 Feb - 2 May).yes”
Rosie works from her studio not far from Blenheim Palace
The Radiance of Being
1 - 31 August 2014
Art Jericho : 6 King Street Oxford OX2 6DF
“All my work is essentially rooted in the human experience of reconciling ourselves to a surrendering of control. In allowing the medium of print or paint more freedom to react and compose organically, I wish to encourage the viewer to recognize the beauty and meaning that can be born out of letting go”.
Rose-Marie Caldecott graduated from Falmouth College of Art this year with a First Class Degree in Fine Art. She is a recent Saatchi Sensation Nominee and this is her first one man exhibition at Art Jericho from 1 - 31 August.
Rose-Marie’s work appears to hang in the ether. Her preoccupation is that space between what is designed and orchestrated viz-a-viz nature unfettered. Her compositions are a magical blend of the two, which although polarised, marry together to create a sense of ‘other worldliness’.
Whilst contemplating the metaphysics of reality, Caldecott has also been exploring the process of letting go, observing the occurrence of fractals in nature - those self similar patterns that reoccur whether in the formation of clouds, trees and plants, crystals or shells. On canvas, that has translated to the artist allowing the paint to find its place on the page, and composing that natural occurence together with fine draftmanship.
The motifs she uses to infer man’s interference with nature, range from paths through the woods, to the neo-romantic folly above that was so very characteristic of 18th Century landscaped gardens. In her prints, she has included greenhouses as an expression of our attempts to capture an idealised form of nature.