Caroline Thomson

A sense of absence and loss is the unifying theme of Caroline Thomson’s work, often depicting what is no longer there, as is the case in the missing birds series, a group of paintings which express the sense of unease engendered by the decline in wild birds. Or the paintings that draw on images of suburban domesticity, that are embedded with a sense of loneliness. The minutiae of daily life becoming loaded with regret and foreboding.

 Her most recent paintings however depict woodland scenes as if stumbled across. These paintings initially set out to explore the allegorical nature of the forest as a place of retreat or sanctuary, a hiding place in times of trouble or threat. Working from personal snapshots of woodland walks, the images exploit the filmic slippages inherent within photography imbuing the paintings with a sense of false mystery. Scale and place are not necessarily apparent. These images of enclosure and escape seek to offer a sense of possibility, freedom and relief from the failings of modern life but in turn suggest a counter sense of displacement and uncertainty innate in these strange worlds.

Biography

Education

Chelsea College of Art and Design MA- Fine Art 2003

Chelsea College of Art and Design Postgraduate Diploma - Fine Art 2002

Kingston University BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting 1998

Group Shows

Artsway07, Group Exhibition, Artsway, New Forest, 2007. 

Salon 07 , Seven Seven Gallery, London 2007

Artsway06 , Artsway, Sway, London 2006

Future First History Last, The Residence, London 2005

The Housewarming , The Residence, London 2003

A Walk in the Woods , House Project Space, London 2002

Showcase 2 , The London Institute, London 2001

Schism , Pelican House, Camberwell Artsweek, London 2001

A.I.R , Hortensia Gallery, London 2000

Awards and Residencies

2003 Shortlisted for Red Mansion Prize

2000-01 Artist in Residence, Kensington & Chelsea College, London