The paintings I make are always of the landscape, placid and most recently photorealistic. What is depicted figuratively within the composition is often a single building or piece of street furniture. Why are we looking at this house or this building or this tree? There is never a real response to that, nor do I want there to be. There is a building, that is all. But there is more, there is the sense from the viewer, their own ideas, the possible ideas of the artist and how it is positioned in contemporary dialogue.

The work has always been inspired from seeking new landscapes, placing myself in unknown environments, cultures and countries such as Japan, France, Berlin and Switzerland. It was never enough to simply visit these places, I lived and worked and engaged fully within all of these places. Only through that whole experience did I begin to see the strange and forgotten corners and spaces. Overlooked and secondary those spaces became important to me for that very reason. The lines and curves they offered gave me something to work with in paint.

Now I have returned to my birthplace by the sea and come to realise how the edge between the promenade and the water inspires me and the city. It is the space for contemplation, it is vast and peaceful during the winter months, crowded and full of life during the summer. The space transforms throughout the day, the year, the seasons and the weather and for each individual who walks, runs, plays, sits or swims through it.

http://www.charlottebrisland.com/