Scarlett Bowman

Scarlett completed a BA in Classics at Newcastle University before undertaking an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design. Scarlett is a London-based multi-disciplinary artist, who uses the process of collage and assemblage as a metaphor for recording information.

Highly tactile, her work is formed by the basic attributes of collage; juxtaposing various parts to make a whole, putting one thing together with another thing. Through a playful engagement of material exploration, her process is a mix of intuition and deliberate placement. Fragmented shapes loosely resembling everyday ephemera are removed from their original context and re-assembled to create entirely new narratives, enabling multiple references to be weaved into a single narrative.

Inspired by movements such as Arte Povera and Outsider Art, Scarlett takes an archeological approach to make work. Selected found materials are chosen both for their formal value (shape, colour, texture) and their autobiographical value (history, use value). From these various sculptural fragments, visual signs of contemporary life are juxtaposed against more abstract forms. This ‘Fragment’ series give way to Scarlett’s paintings, as large swathes of treated recycled canvas, are sewn together into 2-dimensional ‘Patchwork Paintings’.

Scarlett has exhibited widely including : Generation Y, Platform Foundation; A Room of One’s Own, The Koppel Project Central; Paper Cuts, Saatchi Gallery; The Lotus Eaters, Aindrea Contemporary; Love In A Cold Climate, The Dot Project; Stuff, Lubomirov / Angus-Hughes, London; BFAMI 70th Gala, Christies, London; Polymer, Fold gallery, London; Sunny Side Up! Rook and Raven, London; Dysfunctional Alterations, Balzer Projects, Switzerland.