Carol Phillips is a fine artist from the U.K. Her artistic practice is based in Chaos Theory, harnessing the wind to create drawings that are pure energy. Although they are not meaning-based, they are certainly meaning-full, rich with emotion and poignancy. One of her most recent pieces, the second to last image below, is an emotional punch to the gut once you discover what its hieroglyphs actually mean.
I hope you enjoy her unique and powerful work and the story it tells.
I use Chaos Theory as a starting point in my work, trusting that the entropy caused by experimentation and play will eventually lead to order and form.
For me, the process and conclusion share equal importance.
I’ve been drawing by harnessing wind and other forms of energy for a while and have been surprised by how touching the results can be.
As a piece is in motion it goes through disturbances of equilibrium but as in life, these invariably refine and settle, revealing new paths; which is what creativity is all about.
Lockdown raised its own particular challenges for everyone.
I couldn’t paint or go out at all for a few months due to a damaged nerve and broken ribs from an accident.
But I could watch the wind draw and feel a connectivity to the natural world.
We have all been almost hidden during the pandemic.
That led to ideas around witnessing the unseen and making connections; culminating in a project about Femicide in the U.K. during lockdown.
By using the wind to draw unique, space-restricted squares under specific conditions, i could illustrate the unique, space-restricted women who are losing their lives in confinement; documenting each one, combined with exposing undertones of unstoppable force.
“The drawing above will be finished when lockdown has ended and will be available to buy, to the highest offer. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to: https://www.womensaid.org.uk/
The wind, unlike us, wasn’t confined and unexpectedly, it wasn’t chaotic. The drawings had grace, power, form and pattern.
Watching for suitable weather became a ritual, which became an anchor.
By completely surrendering to a process, I became more productive in isolation and contentedly connected to a disconnected world.
Thank you for sharing your powerful work and story.
You can view a video of Carol’s process here ~ it’s a larger file so give it a moment to load. You can find more of Carol’s work on Instagram at @itsjustallabouthepaint
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