Chelsea Davine

Artist Statement

I work and live in a city, Barcelona, and grew up in London before I moved to Lyme Regis in Dorset as a child. Whilst I crave the serenity of being by the sea with its ebb and flow of the tide and the passage of time, I equally love the energy and architecture of the city.

As well as recording visual sculptural details such as the connection between the helix of a staircase to an ammonite on Monmouth beach I’m also fascinated by the repetition of elements and Palladian’s theory of harmony in space.  Light, urban decay and renewal, nature’s constant reclaiming of abandoned spaces and I try to grasp the fleeting beauty in all of these aspects: the grey of the city and Blue Lias in Lyme through to the golden glow of a church in Barcelona. This is manifested in quickly-created sketches, studies on canvas or printed photos that I scatter on my table in the studio.

Sometimes the ideas can take years to become fully realised into a piece, distilling them down into the simplest representation. Copper, steel, canvas, paint, seawater, oil, gold, silver and copper leaf are my base materials. The canvas I use is either primed or un-primed. Steel with all its industrial and urban connotations once weathered becomes inert but equally beautiful. Copper when straight from the factory glows a deep red which I’m obsessed with recreating into sticky, sweet, highly glossed abstract paintings. Then the green/blue patina that forms over months of subtle treatment is redolent of the salty sea.

The Hunter’s Moon is still a primary source of fascination after all these years. Photography and Sculpture tie many of these elements together. The simple elegance of a B&W photograph is still the most satisfying photography of all. It is timeless and in my monochromatic paintings I try to realise the same feeling.

I've recently become fascinated by the technique of using Chiaroscuro from the Renaissance. The interplay and intensity of the use of light and dark such as in Caravaggio's work suits my way of working perfectly. I build up multiple layers of thin washes of oil paint and suspend gold, silver and copper leaf in between. Then using ageing varnishes I create darker areas that throw the lighter areas forward giving the sense of depth.

I am currently developing a new body of work titled 'Reflection' which explores both physical reflection and metaphorical reflection.

I am including a recent testimonial from a collector.  I hope you are doing well. I am delighted to share ‘El Bosque Nevado’ installed. It is absolutely breathtaking, Simple yet elegant. The layers and textures of the painting change with the angle of light, incredible. What was once a blank canvas is now a stunning dining room…please share these amazing photos with Chelsea without her amazing talent, I would have missed the beauty which I have received’