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Artist Statement:
Beauty seems to me to have
become a thing that is greatly
undervalued. Sometime in the
twentieth century it became
assciated with a wealthy
elite, a rarefied posturing
that did not speak to ordinary
people. I think the reverse
it true. Beauty is the most
egalatarian thing there is.
Everybody can appreciate it
regardless of age, sex,
education, colour, religion,
or status. Everyone has their
own idea of what is beautiful
and nothing can change that.
But beauty also serves a vital
function. It can uplift or
transform the viewer. It gives
faith and strength in a world
which is ridden with ugliness
that it is worth struggling
on. Those moments that each of
us occasionally have when we
are momentarily lifted into a
purer world are moments we
treasure. And my work hopes
to refledt that.
All the pictures I do are
meticulously constructed
whether it be a very complex
work such as one of the
figures from folklore and
mythology, or a relatively
simple one such as a flower.
Everything is studio based and
photographed in black and
white. I then process and
print the film myself before
hand colouring each print with
special photographic dyes.
This means ...
Further Information
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Artist Exhibitions:
FORTHCOMING SHOWS
2003 - WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL,
LONDON
SOLO SHOWS
APRIL - MAY 00 - "FOLKLORE
FAIRIES AND FABLES 2" , THE
ICE HOUSE, HOLLAND PARK
NOVEMBER 99- MARCH 00 -
PHOTOFOLIO, SALTS MILL,
SALTAIRE, SHIPLEY
NOVEMBER - MARCH 99 -
BROADCASTING HOUSE, BBC,
MANCHESTER
APRIL 1998 - "FOLKLORE,
FAIRIES, AND FABLES 1" THE ICE
HOUSE, HOLLAND PARK,
KENSINGTON.
...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Reviews for Caroline Blackburn:
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Myth Maker – from The Express, April 22, 2000 by Jane Warren
When she was 6 years old her father read Caroline Blackburn a series of extravagant bedtime stories – the entire libretti of Wagner’s ring cycle. With its tales of Scandinavian and Teutonic mythology, it captivated the little girl who was already fascinated by the myths of ancient Greece and Rome. She and her older sister mined their fertile imaginations, inventing a private language and creating complex histories for their families of paper dolls.
Today, Caroline – after a varied and expressive career which had even included a stint as a fire-breather – is drawing professionally on her continuing fascination with all things metaphysical to produce the most exquisite photographs. These are no ordinary snapshots, freezing a mere passing moment in time, but elaborate supernatural tableaux that take months to create.
An exhibition of her work, a series of 20 hand-tinted photographs portraying British Mythological figures and six images commissioned for a season of opera a London’s Holland Park Theatre, begins on Monday. Every element of her “hyper-realistic” constructions is meticulously researched, sourced, and created by Caroline. The work is so labour intensive she only manages to produce 6 or 8 a year.
Ten prints of each are made and hand-tinted for sale, as well as a number of more affordable reproductions. “Before I create the picture I do the research and decide what I ant to say,” explains Caroline. “Each mythological figure represents an eternal aspect of human nature, so although the pictures have a medieval feel they also contain symbols from modern-day life.” For example, in Herne the Hunter one of the trees is an upright rusty car exhaust.
With message determined, Caroline then embarks on seeking out “all the things I need.” For the beautiful but disturbing image of a mermaid swept ashore in a fisherman’s net she filled her flat with half a ton of sand and for the mermaids tail she cut out 500 silver fabric ovals, glued them on individually and constructed an over-skin of wire and chiffon.
Her Swan Maiden required a white feather cloak, so she spent days washing and grading turkey feathers before going through 30 machine needles sewing them all together. To portray Woden, an Anglo-Saxon god, she went in search of ravens and crows.
“I eventually discovered some stuffed crows in the Manchester museum educational department,” smiles Caroline. Other obscure items are found rather more easily from “magpie friends.”
Her studio is actually a room in her house. “I turn the living room into a variety of wildernesses,” she confides. “The most fun thing was turfing the front room. Grass is such an evocative summery smell.”
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Didsbury Myths – The Courier, October 1997, by Alison Hall
A single room in Didsbury is the setting for the creation of legends as local artist Caroline Blackburn uses self taught photographic talents to turn modern society into the stuff of ancient mythology. Boasting no artistic background, it was after completing an English degree that Caroline assigned herself the task of transforming her small living room into spectacular sets as she aims to produces a series of 17 photographs portraying British Mythological figures.
Caroline told me “I feel our mythological history is being forgotten and the symbolic nature of the figures is still relevant to our daily life. I’ve placed subtle anachronisms in the photographs to portray this.”
Each photograph takes weeks sometimes months to complete as Caroline creates everything for the sets herself. Collecting and altering items from railway embankments, cutting branches off trees at her parents’ home and spending weeks sewing costumes make up just part of the preparation. Her use of local models mean many of Didsbury residents have also been transformed at her hands.
And it’s to only her home town of Didsbury that’s been privy to her talents. Exhibiting all over the country Caroline was one of 30 young artists chosen a few years ago to display her work with North West Arts Open, an organisation which produces travelling exhibition displaying the work of up and coming artists.
However with a long year and vast expense resulting in approximately 6 pieces, why is it Caroline, also a talented painter, favours the less profitable and less recognised art of photography?
“Photography is seen as the poor relation of painting because everyone thinks it takes very little time; it’s something anyone can do and it’s not unique in the sense that more than one copy can be reproduced. It’s not seen as being particularly creative either. That’s not the case. Photography has its own place in the art world. I produce 10 copies of these works, and ech one is hand tinted differently. This gives me total control of colour to create different effects.”
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