Charlotte Serena Johnston

Degree: Drawing PGDip
University: The Royal Drawing School
Graduation Year: 2017

New Blood Art Commentary

Nature’s most subtle and significant changes have been deftly documented at the hand of Gray's School of Art graduate, Charlotte Serena Johnston.

Johnston describes herself as being "captivated by Hampstead Heath ponds," made evident by her array of bewitchingly immersive studies ’Hampstead I’ and ’Hampstead II', which both feature Hampstead Heath’s ponds captured in lush Indian ink.

Johnston’s other works are equally as enchanting, focusing on the depiction of rural life utterly unkempt and ever-changing…

Artist Statement

I studied Fine Art Painting at Grays School of Art and I moved to London to develop my drawing practice. During the Drawing Year I was making work everyday in the museums and galleries or outside on Hampstead Heath. I grew up in the Highlands of Scotland and have been involved with a residency situated on Loch Awe, West Coast of Scotland.

Subtropical botanical gardens have provided sources for me to work from where I use drawing as a form of research to investigate the physical rhythms and structures in nature. In the studio I take condensed versions of landscape and further explore them in the studio in a cyclical group of large drawings and paintings which aim to give the viewer an immersive, sensual experience. The paintings are derived from observational drawings and are a re-ordering of my experiences using a more abstract language of mark making.

Solo Exhibitions

(2020) Loch Awe, Taychreggan Hotel, Argyll

Group Exhibitions

(2023) Nowhere In Particular, Elgin Library, Moray

(2023) Spring Exhibition, Darl-E & the Bear, Woodstock

(2023) Winter Show, Compass Gallery, Glasgow

(2022) Ink & Wire, showing with Rosie Brown, Darl-E & the Bear, Woodstock

(2022) Winter Exhibition, Darl-E & the Bear, Woodstock

(2021) Moving Forwards, Digital Gallery, Online

(2021) Artistic Impressions, World of Interiors Magazine, London

(2020) Symbiosis: Art and Nature, Darl-e and the Bear, Woodstock

(2020) Winter Group Show, Compass Gallery, Glasgow

(2019) A High Hang, Ecclestone Project Space, London

(2019) Exceptional, Graduate Show, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London

(2019) Fundraising Show, Bee Urban, London

(2018) Long Time No See, Bow Arts Trust, London

(2017) End of year show, Christie's, London

(2017) End of year show, Royal Drawing School, London

(2016) Winter Group Show, Compass Gallery, Glasgow

(2016) Lines to Paint, Arts Centre, Aberdeen

(2016) New Generation Show, Compass Gallery, Glasgow

(2016) Qualia, Gallery 17, Aberdeen

(2016) Degree Show, Grays School of Art, Aberdeen

Competitions, Prizes & Awards

(2016) Jen Beattie drawing memorial prize