Lores by Bec Smith & Charlotte Swiden
Opening at Melbourne’s No Vacancy Gallery on 15 February 2022, Lores ruminates on creative life in lockdown while expanding on the stories that connect us.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Graham Alderton
‘What drew me to Bec’s work in the first place was her storytelling. Her visual communication feels very familiar to me, maybe because we are both designers by trade,’ says Bec Smith. Photo: Graham Alderton
‘Certain classical stories with their enduring symbolism is the thread of our works, and this word ‘Lore’ encompassed myth and legend, as well as fables and fairytales and also something geographical,’ says Bec Smith. Photo: Graham Alderton
Melbourne-based artists Bec Smith and Charlotte Swiden's collaboration unfolded through the city’s harsh lockdowns. Now in 2022, the collection of works created purposefully for the exhibition pose a reflection on this challenging time and how creativity — despite the odds — thrived.
Bec and Charlotte first found each other’s practice through social media. They discovered an alignment of creative motivations and personal values plus a shared approach and attitude to their practices.
Charlotte first reached out to Bec as designers by trade, successful artists, and mothers to young children, questioning ‘How do you do it all?’ in 2020. ‘I don’t think I had anyone around me that understood the creative pursuit and motherhood at that time, and Bec was exactly the person I was missing,’ Charlotte reveals.
‘I had admired her work for a long time. For someone who is as busy as Charlotte, she is more grounded than any person could ever be!’ Bec adds.
The result of this meeting, and all the subsequential conversations and discussions had in 2021, is reflected in Lores – a series of artworks within themes of storytelling, individual and collective narratives, and mythologies.
Inspired by Modernism and design sensibilities, both artists’ work follow a similar aesthetic focused on shape and pattern, referencing mysterious and quirky stories. However, the approach varies from minimalist and primary colours for Bec and maximalist in earthy tones and texture for Charlotte.
“For me, engaging in these exchanges with Charlotte unlocked some memories I hadn’t thought about for a long time. I visited them again from my perspective as a grown adult woman and wanted to again ‘try on’ the messages within them. ”
‘Although I felt a lot of similarities in the way we think and approach our art making, I also really admire how different Bec’s output is. Her work is so minimalistic, mine so maximalist,’ says Charlotte Swiden Photo: Graham Alderton
‘Something I love about my adopted country is the openness and curiosity towards different cultures and ways of being. I feel as though all my friends here in Australia have a mix of traditions from their various heritages,’ says Charlotte Swiden. Photo: Graham Alderton
‘Charlotte’s paintings use an earthy palette of colour and texture, a multiplicity of layered forms and pattern. They are like dreamscapes with the retelling of her experiences enmeshed with traditional symbolism,’ says Bec. ‘While mine is classic 60s, 70s and 80s storybook colours from the publications I grew up with alongside my own interpretation, then abstracted, reduced to the bare feeling.’
The two artists muse on traditional notions of storytelling, books from Bec’s childhood or the Scandinavian myths Charlotte grew up with in Sweden. The collaboration also allowed them to work through grief attached to climate change after Charlotte considered the role and celebration of the environment and seasons in Swedish culture and folklore.
‘Making art and chatting to Bec helped me work through some of that and find some new meaning in what I do,’ says Charlotte. ‘We were able to create how we wanted to; we can bend the (self-imposed) art making rules and change our own tales for how we want to live.’
Inviting their audiences to muse on Lores, the artists craft a reframing of the past two years and the challenges they brought. Instead, the exhibition inspires hope, change, and connectivity — mantras for a, hopefully, post-pandemic world.
Mother, Sister, Sister, Self I & II by Bec Smith. Photo: Graham Alderton
Tonight You Are Invited By by Charlotte Swiden. Photo: Graham Alderton
“What drew me to Bec’s work in the first place was her storytelling. Her visual communication feels very familiar to me, maybe because we are both designers by trade.”
‘Being an artist can be a lonely business at times, but nothing like a year of lockdowns to really peak that feeling. Our year of painting became a year of conversation, a sharing of books, documentaries... and emotions (lots of emotions!) It perhaps wasn’t how we’d planned things - but to tell a story, we realised you really need someone to share it with,’ says Bec Smith. Photo: Graham Alderton