BRONZE SCULPTOR CHARLOTTE TØNDER
The raw poetry of craftsmanship
“I am attracted to the uncontrollable will – and wildness – of bronze! It challenges me along with the many processes of bronze casting. The masculine forces and the feminine energy working together and against each other. Creating bronze sculptures is hard focused work that requires mental strength and physicality. The self-governing will of the material against my will and my ideas demands me 100% – and I love that!
Mastery of the craft, the inherent art history, the present of craftsmanship and the narrative of posterity come together in one expression when bronze and I unite in raw poetry. Fighting and united”
Charlotte Barrels
...a reflection of my inner...
My creative play is fluidly flowing between expressions and contrasts. Between humor and the classic. Between the figurative and the non-figurative… Between the easy and the difficult. Between the hidden and the revealed.
I am drawn to open spaces and unlimited possibilities. And I wriggle in limitations. I’m constantly searching, both as a person and as a creative soul.
A bronze tale.
Aesthetic grips with depth
My embroideries, of which I do all the processes myself, are everything I am: classic, humorous, strong-willed, fierce, warm, thoughtful and explorative. The works express layers and spaces in me, which are created when the fluid materializes in solid form and becomes a language.
The works can be read as commentaries on the world and society without ever becoming unambiguous in the individual’s experience of them. In my classic sculptures, which can be enjoyed in a single aesthetic glance, there is also an active relationship with “today’s world”; with the climate, social development and the conditions of psychiatry, among other things. My humorous vegetable sculptures are not only a casting challenge by using real vegetables in the casting process, but also a reminder to us all to embrace the joy in life. About remembering laughter and feeling what humor and joy, even in the moment, does to us. To (re)meet the playful in us and feel the life-giving energy.
Expression and narrative – for time and eternity
In terms of molding, I work with the “Cire perdue” technique. A technique where the bronze is poured into a cavity formed by melting a figure in wax. Bronze is an ongoing journey for me, where I pay attention to details and subtleties. Where the rustic expression is at once refined in the sense of lightness and at the same time gains new depths in my work with the storytelling patination. The patination that dives into the polished purity, the dark depths or the classic green story. Do I consistently work on how I achieve impact, emphasize expression and meaning? Nothing is random.
I am aware of the history of brozesculpture. And working with a material that carries “time and eternity within it”. The contrast between the fleetingness of the present and the timelessness challenges me in what I want to convey as an artist and in the creation process itself. Posterity is inherent, one day the work will stand alone with the story. That’s a commitment! To good craftsmanship and to WANT something with my art.
