Charles Wilcox - Artist - Sculpture - Paintings

From a young age, a hunter-gatherer ideology has influenced Charles Wilcox’s life and work, from free-diving for seafood to collecting driftwood and reinstating old junk to new glory. “My sculptures are a reflection and representation of everything I love about the sea, adventure and travel. I hike, dive and explore the most rugged and remote coastlines of eastern Australia. Travelling as far as Cape York where I charter light aircraft to give me access to the most isolated beaches. I select materials that are shaped by the harsh elements of the environment to use in my artworks. Washed-up driftwood, flotsam and jetsam found by chance on secluded beaches that survives a journey across vast oceans, corrugated iron and other salvaged building materials scorched by sun and hammered by storms – I love it all. Featuring these items and their story in my art is a real motivator for me”.

Artist Statement

Born in Melbourne, Charles Wilcox developed a passion for art during his school years and went on to gain qualifications in engineering and graphic design. Charles’ work is a reflection and representation of his love of the sea, adventure and travel. Whilst living off-the-grid in Yackandandah, the Victorian High Country, Charles began experimenting with sculpture and painting using materials he’d collected. From a young age, a hunter-gatherer ideology has influenced his life and work, from free-diving for seafood to collecting driftwood and reinstating old junk to new glory. “My sculptures are a reflection and representation of everything I love about the sea, adventure and travel. I hike, dive and explore the most rugged and remote coastlines of eastern Australia. Travelling as far as Cape York where I charter light aircraft to give me access to the most isolated beaches. I select materials that are shaped by the harsh elements of the environment to use in my artworks. Washed-up driftwood, flotsam and jetsam found by chance on secluded beaches that survives a journey across vast oceans, corrugated iron and other salvaged building materials scorched by sun and hammered by storms – I love it all. Featuring these items and their story in my art is a real motivator for me”. Charles’ paintings capture the energy and often unpredictable nature of the sea and are highly textural, using thick impasto to produce bold strokes that add texture to the paintings.

Education

• Chisholm Institute Design Award Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design  | Chisholm Institute Diploma of Graphic Arts and Design  | Chisholm Institute Certificate IV in Arts – Applied Design | Chisholm Institute Young Designer’s Preparation Program – Studio 108 |  Monash University Certificate I in Engineering  | Chisholm Institute

Recent Exhibitions

• 2018 - Summer in Flinders Manyung Gallery
• 2018 - Coolart Exhibition Somers
• 2017 - Summer Exhibition Without Pier Gallery
• 2017 - Of The Sea, group exhibition Manyung Gallery
• 2017 - Deep Water, solo exhibition Studio Six Victoria
• 2017 - Mansfield fine Art Gallery Easter Exhibition
• 2017 - Art Redhill
• 2017 - ARC The Gippsland Sculpture Exhibition
• 2017 - Summer group exhibition Without Pier Gallery Victoria
• 2017 - Summer group exhibition Manyung Gallery Sorrento
• 2017 - Coolart Exhibition Somers
• 2016 - Group exhibition Manyung Gallery Sorrento Victoria
• 2016 - Australia Wild, group exhibition, Sherbrooke Art Society, Belgrave
• 2016 - VIC Beaches, Seas, Sport, group exhibition, Manyung Gallery, Sorrento
• 2016 - VIC Stranded on Coastlines, group exhibition, Manyung Gallery, Sorrento VIC
• 2015 - Blues of Summer, group exhibition, Manyung Gallery, Sorrento VIC
• 2015 - Urban & Iconic, group exhibition, Manyung Gallery, Mount Eliza VIC