Exhibitions + Collaborations by Charlotte Swiden

‘WONDER MACHINE’ SAINT CLOCHE GALLERY
DUo SHOW 2024

A captivating fusion of marvel, reverence, and devotion evoked when embracing the transcendent state of ‘awe’ within the mesmerising Pas De Deux envisioned by Charlotte Swiden and Natalie Synnott.

“To quiet a racing mind, stepping in to the world from a child’s perspective.
Feeling the magic and sublimity in the mysteries of the earth.
The power of awe shifting consciousness to an expanding realm of possibilities, feeling like a tiny cog in an indescribably powerful machine; this experience of smallness that is both terrifying and transcendent.”

DUAL EXHIBITION:
with Natalie Synnott

Saint Cloche Gallery

‘RETAIN, REPAIR, REINVEST’
PUBLIC HOUSING FUNDRAISER 2024

The state government has recently announced the demolition of all 44 high-rise public housing towers despite no publicly available study being conducted into the refurbishment of the existing buildings. OFFICE, working with the local residents and professional consultants, intend to conduct their Retain, Repair, Reinvest strategy on an estate to accurately understand the refurbishment potential of the high-rise buildings.
Having already completed a study at the Ascot Vale Estate and Barak Beacon Estate this work has given the local residents proof of an alternative approach and a tool to advocate to the state government.
To secure funding for the independent high-rise study OFFICE are organising a fundraiser at their studio in Collingwood. This silent auction will include a range of donated works from local creatives and are available for purchase to the highest bidder. All money raised will go towards the production of a feasibility study and public advocacy report.

GROUP SHOW:
Office; a non-for-profit charitable research and design practise.
Candelabra collaboration with Hermon Blue

‘ESCAPADE’ SAINT CLOCHE GALLERY
GROUP SHOW 2023

Exhibition curated by director Kitty Clark. Featuring 19 artists embarking on a contemporary odyssey exploring colour.

“Mesmerised by the ever-changing colourscape of the descending sun, I watch the landscape transform like an animated colouring book, swiftly replacing our familiar greenery with hues from a fantastical world. Slowly it swallows all blues and drench it in warm tones, dissolving our sense of depth and perspective. A cosmic play of light marked by the waning of all cold tones.”

GROUP SHOW:
Saint Cloche Gallery

‘TRACING CHANGE’ MODERN TIMES
group show 2023

An exhibition that invites both artists and audience to trace back through thoughts and experiences, and experience a gratitude or curiosity for the ability to grow, transmute and transform.⁠

GROUP SHOW:
Modern Times

‘ETHERIUM’ saint cloche gallery × TIFFANY & CO
group show 2023

Exhibition curated by Kitty Clark director of Saint Cloche at the Tiffany & Co flagship store in Paddington, Sydney.

“In my artwork ’The Answers Always Change.’, I explore the interplay of two identities and cultures, and the tensions that emerge from their coexistence. The painting reflects the soft discord that exists between these different worlds. Objects and figures intertwine, fracture, and layer upon one another, symbolising the complexities and challenges of navigating dualities. It evokes the experience of feeling both enriched and divided, embodying two women within one.”

GROUP SHOW:
Saint Cloche Gallery

‘point to point’ saint cloche gallery × the design files
group show 2023

The journey from the roots of our nature, as part of nature, celebrating diversity in every way but also paying homage to our essence, the oneness is the thread that unites us from point to point.

“POINT TO POINT is about connection to me. In both life and art, our emotions serve as the bridges that unite us. The resonance within the hearts, are the threads that bind us all.
In Ancient Greece, the Myrtle crown was worn during celebrations. A plant sacred to the goddess Aphrodite, myrtle was a symbol of love.
In old Swedish tradition, a mother would grow Myrtle on her windowsill, envisioning its use in her daughter’s future wedding. The Myrtle crown symbolised hope, love and happiness for the wedded couple.”

GROUP SHOW:
Saint Cloche Gallery & TDF Collect

‘Affect’ SAINT CLOCHE GALLERY
SOLO EXHIBITION 2023

In AFFECT, Charlotte reflects on – What is home? Our cultural and physical spaces constantly change through life, yet some people will always be ‘home’ to us. Friends that journey with us, kin that we carry in our hearts. The beauty of human connection that transcendences time and borders. AFFECT is a love letter to the people that shape us.

“When I came to Australia to make a life in my twenties, I had no thoughts on how the cultural differences were going to affect me. Over time I have started to feel more assimilated, and more separated. I think much of my work has been a reflection on that interplay and conflict of identity.
A while back we moved from the inner city to the coast, and I experienced a second degree of separation. At the same time, I found deeper human connections, fired and wired together above life’s changes.”

SOLD OUT SOLO EXHIBITION:
Saint Cloche Gallery

‘A GENTLE UNWINDING’ MODERN TIMES group show 2022

Exploring the relationship between relaxation, tension and the various stages of unwinding resulting in more than 80 artworks spanning a variety of methods and practices.

“Punctuated with bright colours, graphic forms and expressions of dynamic movement. I see a bold and surprising expression of confidence, in a time of so many unknowns. I’m heartened to be heading into 2023 with the vibrancy and optimism conveyed in A Gentle Unwinding.”
Amy Malin, co-director & founder of Modern Times

GROUP EXHIBITION:
Modern Times

‘COAST TO COAST’ SAINT CLOCHE GALLERY
FUNDRAISING EXHIBITION & AUCTION 2022

‘Coast to Coast’ is a major fundraising exhibition and auction in aid of the recent QLD and NSW Northern Rivers Flood communities and the Ukraine Crisis, whilst also drawing attention to the impacts of climate change. Funds raised will be donated equally to UNICEF’s Emergency Ukraine Appeal and GIVIT to help people displaced and profoundly impacted by the devastating floods in QLD & NSW get back on their feet.

Works have been generously donated by artists and galleries from around the country, ‘Coast to Coast’ will feature works by 70 artists and there will be over 100 artworks exhibited at Saint Cloche and available to bid at silent auction. The works together demonstrate the strength and resilience of art in our communities in the face of immense, unrelenting crisis.

SAINT CLOCHE GALLERY:
Fundraising Exhibition & Auction ‘Coast to Coast’

‘Stiltje’ Shortlisted
SAINT KEVIN’S OMNIA ART PRIZE 2022

The Omnia Art Prize is one of Australia’s premier art awards for contemporary art. Since 1971, artists and art enthusiasts have been coming together to celebrate art at St Kevin’s College in Toorak. The Omnia Art Prize is regarded as one of the top art awards in Australia.

This event was founded by Audrey Culliver, a St Kevin’s College parent and arts advocate to help landscape and still life painters showcase their work to new audiences. Over its 52-year history, the exhibition has grown in size and artistic excellence, but money raised continues to support the important charitable work of the St Kevin’s College Foundation.

SAINT KEVIN’S:
Omnia Art Prize

‘LORES’ NO VACANCY GALLERY
duo show 2022

“What are the stories we tell our children and ourselves, and where did they come from? There are tales we have outgrown, and there are those that tell us more about ourselves than we are fully prepared to acknowledge. During times of uncertainty which narratives can we rely upon?”

Charlotte focuses on generating her own stories in her work. She does this by drawing on the respect and love for our natural world, holding nostalgia for stories that were once celebrated in ceremony and ritual.
“With Lores I wanted to explore the pagan tales where Mother Earth was a hero in a world filled with sprites that you treated with respect and a grain of fear. A lost narrative within our modern society that now deems our green mother be ruled over, controlled and exploited. I’ve been combining fragments of mythology and folklore from my homeland, together with my own experiences and reflections, re-imagining symbols and motifs.”

DUAL EXHIBITION:
with Bec Smith
No Vacancy Gallery

SORRENTO MURAL
x SIMONE HAAG INTERIOR DESIGNER 2021

Mural for interior designer Simone Haag in the Sorrento house by Jost Architects

SORRENTO MURAL:
Simone Haag
JOST Architects

‘FOUNDATIONS’ Modern TIMES
SOLO EXHIBITION 2020

“Foundations is about returning home and letting my inner voice resurface. It’s a journal of human behaviour, roots, new leaves and a longing for nature.”
Charlotte Swiden

Charlotte’s disciplined approach to composition and colour, honed as a graphic designer, has transmuted into something softer and closer to nature with this series of abstract paintings that pulsate with motifs of plants, primitive figures and intimations of landscape, rendered in a muted earthen palette.

SOLD OUT SOLO EXHIBITION:
Modern Times

‘CHROMATIC RETREAT’ MODERN TIMES
GROUP SHOW 2021

The black and white palette is moody, evocative and nostalgic. Chromatic Retreat showcases the work of 16 Australian artists exploring their practice within the limits of a largely achromatic palette.

It is fundamentally abstract. It suggests rather than describes. And it has a long history in art – for reasons that range from the conceptual, to the technical to the spiritual, artists have long experimented with the power of removing colour. Chromatic Retreat is a homage to this tradition.

GROUP EXHIBITION:
Modern Times

‘ME AND UOOUOO’
150 ANNIVERSARY ART TRAIL RCH 2021

100 artists commissioned by The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Foundation to paint a sculpture as part of Me and UooUoo: The RCH150 Anniversary Art Trail, commemorating the hospital’s 150th anniversary. The trail is centred around UooUoos (“you-you”), a wombat-like imaginary creature designed by Victorian artist Alexander Knox, who’s five-storey sculpture, dubbed Creature, is a beloved fixture of the hospital’s atrium. The walking art trail looped through laneways, parks and public spaces around Melbourne and Geelong.
The aim of the trail is to foster community and discovery, especially among the young. At the conclusion of the Art Trail in March, each sculpture will be auctioned to raise funds for the RCH.

FEATURED IN:
Broadsheet / January 2021

‘TALISMANS, RAFTS, MEMENTOS’ MODERN TIMES
GROUP SHOW 2020

Showcasing the work of the entire community of Modern Times artists – both new and old, emerging and established – with 150 works by 56 artists that span painting, photography, ceramics and sculpture.

Throughout 2020 artists used their practice to make sense of what was happening around them. Talismans, Rafts, Mementos celebrates this rich vein of creative output representing both the psychological and physical artefacts that have surfaced during this time. From deep exploration of isolation, trauma and struggle to gentle musings on just having a slower pace of life and time to explore personal interests, the work in this exhibition reflects the spectrum of individual experience.

GROUP EXHIBITION:
Modern Times

COAST RUGS
x LINUS DEAN 2014

Made in Nepal, the Coast rugs are individually hand crafted using environmentally friendly dyes, safe working conditions, a strictly no child-labour policy and the utmost care and pride. The rugs are 100% ethical and the manufacturer is registered with ‘Good Weave’ ensuring the weaving villages are safe, clean and child labour free.

COAST RUGS FEATURED IN:
Green Magazine / March 2014
The Design Files / April 2014

WINTER FRUITS
CRAFT VICTORIA 2013

A collaborative exhibition by Swiden & Coco Flip

Winter Fruits showcases new work in development by two Melbourne-based design practices, Swiden Design & Coco Flip.
Swiden’s illustrations reminisce on carefree summer holidays spent road-tripping by the ocean.
Coco Flip’s range of playful ottomans are named ‘Puku’ after the affectionate Maori word for a chubby belly.

Coco Flip / Kate Stokes
Craft Victoria / Melbourne