In conversation with artist Carrie Broomhall
Carrie Broomhall is a mixed-media contemporary artist, creating bright, organic, joyful, and unique works from her home studio in Christchurch. For the next six months, her first solo exhibition, COLOUR & LIGHT, transforms Queenstown’s Gallery 6 into a kaleidoscope of colour.
How did you find your style?
My style is definitely not passive and it seems to be constantly evolving. I think I sometimes battle to fit into a niche of a particular painting aesthetic because of this.
For some strange reason, I’m often compelled to paint flowers, which I think must have less to do with the subject matter and more about the varying intensity of their colours. I find it funny because I’m not a ‘floral’ kind of girl at all, but for the last few years, I’ve been obsessed with painting them! Go figure.
Generally, when I paint, it’s less about the end goal but the summation of how I’m feeling at any given time. Whether it’s the genre of music I have playing in my studio (which can seriously vary), the weather outside or the colour palette I’m drawn to – they all play an important part.
Sometimes I just get completely immersed in the way different paint settles on the canvas and the effect the different colours have on my mood. The way I paint and what I paint can be so dependent on how I am feeling on any given day. By just allowing myself to enjoy the process, taking risks and being prepared to fail, my style seems to naturally emerge.
Tell me about the balance of colour within these works. How have you translated Queenstown into these kaleidoscopes of colour?
Colour is the starting point for all my art and it governs the direction I take my paintings.
For this selection of works, I wanted to touch on the eclectic nature of this magnificent place. Queenstown can be like night and day. The rugged landscape and natural tones were an obvious inspiration for my colour choice but I also wanted to incorporate the vibrant lifestyle that coexists here – from the bright fluoro ski gear on the slopes in winter to the summer buzz of the locals and tourists that brings this incredible place to life! I love playing around with unexpected colour combos and imbuing the unexpected into the calm.
Tell me about your creative journey. I understand it took a while to take the leap into painting/being an artist?
I have always been drawn to every facet of the ‘arts.’ My parents were avid collectors of contemporary art and we were lucky to grow up in a home where every inch of every wall was covered by paintings from various New Zealand painters.
At high school, I received scholarship marks in painting and printmaking but deferred my entry to the Canterbury Universities School of Fine Arts to pursue the life of a ‘scarfy’ in Dunedin.
Despite studying computer graphic design and colour science there, my interest in a more hands-on approach to creating was always eating away at me.
In my early twenties, my husband and I moved to France to live. We spent three incredible years immersed in French culture and I think it was here that my love for expressionism emerged. Fast forward to a huge health scare and lockdowns which acted as an ‘if not now, then when’ boost to my motivation, I decided to follow my dreams and explore my passion for art once more.
Have you had any key mentors as an artist? Who inspires you?
That’s a tricky one – there are so many!
I’m inspired by greats like Dutch artist Willem de Kooning with his loose, yet active approach to painting and Geoffroy Pithon’s massive impulsive abstract works. More locally, Euan Macleod’s landscapes are so easy to get lost in. His rough, raw and almost aggressive strokes somehow end up almost dreamlike. It’s hard to explain, but when standing in front of his larger works, they are just so impressive. There are female artists, too, like Joanna Braithwaite, who seems to have a wicked sense of humour within her works and Francis Upritchard whose imagination is completely unhampered.
I also have a healthy appetite for fashion and architecture which often inspires the composition and colours in my more abstract works.
Art has “shaped the way you express yourself when times are tricky”. How has art benefited you when times have been difficult?
When I was 34 years old I was diagnosed with aggressive muscle-invasive bladder cancer which resulted in my entire bladder, ovaries, uterus and parts of my bowel being removed.
I have spent so many days in hospital since as my body continues to struggle with its new ‘plumbing’. I’m often in crippling pain and unable to leave my bed at home or in hospital.
In describing how art has helped me to express myself, I feel really emotional. My fragile body and the frequency with which it takes me away from the things I love takes a huge toll on me and those close to me. It’s very easy to get caught up in the frustration and sadness of my reality, but painting motivates me to get out of bed, it encourages me to create vibrant artwork to make other people happy, and it’s the conduit that allows me to express my feelings through colour and gestural marks and it has driven me to succeed as a full-time artist.
Do you have a favourite piece in your Gallery 6 exhibit?
‘Arrowtown’ is one of my favourites. It’s a great mix of neutral brown tones and flickers of punchy brighter ones.
What is your advice to other artists wishing to exhibit their work?
Start your planning early, create a vision board, don’t doubt yourself and just go for it!
New Zealand
