Biography
Isabela Castelan is originally from Brazil but lives and works in London, where she has her studio. She has a BA (Hons) in painting, from Chelsea College of Arts and Design, followed by an MFA (painting) at the Slade School of Art. Her work encompasses, painting, performance tools and digital photography. She has exhibited in UK, Brazil, Germany and recently in South Korea, with works held in public and private collections. She was part of the first group of artists from Chelsea College of Arts to have work acquired by the University of the Arts art collection.
Isabela Castelan is originally from Brazil but lives and works in London, where she has her studio. She has a BA (Hons) in painting, from Chelsea College of Arts and Design, followed by an MFA (painting) at the Slade School of Art. Her work encompasses, painting, performance tools and digital photography. She has exhibited in UK, Brazil, Germany and recently in South Korea, with works held in public and private collections. She was part of the first group of artists from Chelsea College of Arts to have work acquired by the University of the Arts art collection.
Alejadinho's brain, acrylic, oil, household paint on canvas, 150 x 220 cm, 2001
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Self portrait, 2013
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Artist's Statement
My work is primarily based on automatism of the psyche. Automatism refers to the performance of actions without conscious thought or premeditated actions, especially using mechanical techniques or subconscious associations. This is a simple process, but only possible if there is a contemplation of a very momentary time and space. From this process the painting tools appeared, these are accessories to make lines that almost always superimposed creating textures, undulations. Many tools do not function to paint with but act to enable or possibly disable the body. In this sense I am exploring suggestions of spaces that are extensions (or corruptions) of the body and the mind. |
Prato Marajoara, acrylic on canvas, 110 x 90cm, 2012
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ABOUT THE WORK
For artist Isabela Castelan, the work of art is intimately imbricated with the body. Her paintings explore the process of motor sensorial automatism in her work, foregrounding the subjective and inter-objective experience, for both artist and viewer. Her paintings are transient recordings of the perceptive body and mind. These marks reveal the convergence of the subconscious mind with the interactive body, allowing the creative process to happen within a specific space and moment in time. In her paintings, she is working her way through the intersections of consciousness and the subconscious mind.
Using homemade tools, both extraordinary and mundane, to create the paintings, she allows for the unexpected to become a catalyst that drives the work forward. This seemingly uncontrolled experience and the inevitable causation of accidental markings allows the artist to explore subconscious and hidden motivations. The unexpected is a necessary element in the paintings.
Being in tune with the space and time of the action of painting is a conjunction that at first seems simple. However, the complexity of this action is revealed in the poesy of the marks. For the artist, this is only possible when she is engaged in a particular internal and intense contemplation, one in which real time disappears and becomes almost eternal.
To achieve this, she builds painting tools that function as body extensions or prosthetics. The tools allow the gesture to be minimal, and necessitate repetitive gestures that uncover, on the painting surface, what the artist describes as ‘landscapes of the mind’. The process, body and prosthetic facilitate an unraveling of the subconscious, through automatism.
The homemade painting tools are improvised, with a short life span, usually made from found objects. In this way, they are also an expression of the moment, echoing the paintings. Some tools contain references to childhood memories, others to her identity as a woman. Occasionally, the tools occur in bigger scale and become the work itself. They will frequently refer to historical objects, such as the piece ‘Iris, the Time Machine’, inspired by the old flour mill, the Engenho, an important piece of Brazilian history.
For artist Isabela Castelan, the work of art is intimately imbricated with the body. Her paintings explore the process of motor sensorial automatism in her work, foregrounding the subjective and inter-objective experience, for both artist and viewer. Her paintings are transient recordings of the perceptive body and mind. These marks reveal the convergence of the subconscious mind with the interactive body, allowing the creative process to happen within a specific space and moment in time. In her paintings, she is working her way through the intersections of consciousness and the subconscious mind.
Using homemade tools, both extraordinary and mundane, to create the paintings, she allows for the unexpected to become a catalyst that drives the work forward. This seemingly uncontrolled experience and the inevitable causation of accidental markings allows the artist to explore subconscious and hidden motivations. The unexpected is a necessary element in the paintings.
Being in tune with the space and time of the action of painting is a conjunction that at first seems simple. However, the complexity of this action is revealed in the poesy of the marks. For the artist, this is only possible when she is engaged in a particular internal and intense contemplation, one in which real time disappears and becomes almost eternal.
To achieve this, she builds painting tools that function as body extensions or prosthetics. The tools allow the gesture to be minimal, and necessitate repetitive gestures that uncover, on the painting surface, what the artist describes as ‘landscapes of the mind’. The process, body and prosthetic facilitate an unraveling of the subconscious, through automatism.
The homemade painting tools are improvised, with a short life span, usually made from found objects. In this way, they are also an expression of the moment, echoing the paintings. Some tools contain references to childhood memories, others to her identity as a woman. Occasionally, the tools occur in bigger scale and become the work itself. They will frequently refer to historical objects, such as the piece ‘Iris, the Time Machine’, inspired by the old flour mill, the Engenho, an important piece of Brazilian history.
CV
Education
2001- 2003 MFA Fine Arts Painting, Slade School of Art, UCL, London, UK
1999- 1998 BA Fine Art Painting, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, UK
Solo Shows
2010 Iris a Maquina do Tempo, Fund. Simposio, Brazil
2008 Onda, UFSC, Brazil
2007 The Sky from my Garden, (my studio) London Bridge, UK
2006 My Tools II, Wagdas, London, UK
2005 Corpus, Wagdas, London, UK
Selected Group Shows
2023 Portrait 2023, CICA Museum, South Korea
2022 Anonymous Drawing, Galerie im Kornerpark, Berlin, Germany
Print it, Aireplace Studios, Leeds, UK
Throw, Drip, Splash, The Visionary Art Collective, curated by Gita Joshi (virtual)
IM (material), Curating Futures (virtual)
Discover the undiscovered, Digital Chroma Agency, Berlin, Germany
2019 Photography Now, (in context of the) Via. Arts Prize, Embassy of El Salvador, London, UK
2018 Chaiya Art Awards, gallery@oxo, London, UK
The Fronteer Open, Sheffield, UK
2017 Codes of Faith, Laura L Art Gallery, London, UK
CAF17, (charitable contribution) Chester, UK
Electric Picture House Open, Cheshire, UK
Small Faces, Solent University, Southampton, UK
2014 London Calling, The Truman Brewery, Dray Walk Gallery, London, UK
2013 Share and Exchange, Zap Gallery, London, UK
Zap Summer Show, Zap Gallery, London, UK
2011 Taken Away, Pop Up Gallery, Wooble And Squint, Exmouth Market, London, UK
Parallax AF, London, UK
Em nome do pai, UFSC, Brazil
2008 Essence, Beldam Gallery, Brunel University, curated by George Moog, London, UK
15 FML, Sol da Terra, Florianópolis, Brazil
2006 Life and Obsessions, First Brazilian Film festival, 298 Gallery, London, UK
2005 Nth Art Exhibit 001, Ols&Co Gallery, London, UK
Childer's St Open Studios, London, UK
2004 Paintings in the park, Woburn Sq. London, UK, curated by Bruce Mclean
5 Abstract Painters - Hands Salon, 61 Broadwick St. London
Hang the curator, The Central Space, London, UK
Kinetica, Mont Pelier Arms, London, UK, curated by Anita Ponton
2003 Slade School of Art, MA Show. London, UK.
Salao dos Novos Artistas, CIC, FpoLis, Brazil
2002 Four Colleges Exhibition at Kearney, London UK, curated by the RCA.
1998 Selected works from Chelsea College of Art & Design, Brass Factory, Germany,
curated by, Chris Baker, Clyde Hopkins and Noel Foster
Chelsea College of Art & Design Degree Show, London, UK
Artist’s talk
2019 Photography Now, (in context of the) Via. Arts Prize, panel discussion
with moderator Raquel Perez, Embassy of El Salvador, London, UK
2014 About the exhibition, Essence, with moderator and curator George Moog.
Beldam Gallery, Brunel University, London, UK
2010 About the work, Iris a maquina do tempo, Fund. Simposio, Brazil
Improvisation in the work, 15 FML, Sol da Terra, Florianópolis, Brazil
2006 Live image, Life and obsessions, First Brazilian Film festival, 298 Gallery, London, UK
Collaborations & Projects
2021 Im(imaterial), Curating Futures Project, UK
2009 Collaboration with preliminary drawings for the film, A Antropologa,
Mundo Imaginario Producoes Cinematográficas, Brazil.
Public Collections
2022 Galerie im Kornerpark, Germany
1998 University of the Arts, UK
Publications
2022 ARTUPMI, summer issue, p34 to 37
Artist of the Month, Discover the Undiscovered,
digitalchromaagency.com/magazine, issue1, 05, p4
Curating futures, doc. of publication, issuu 1, pg, 34, 35
2021 The Purposeful Mayonnaise, Impressions, issue 1, vol.3, p.75
2019 Saatchi artist of the day, https://www.facebook.com/saatchionline/photos/artist-of-the-day
Education
2001- 2003 MFA Fine Arts Painting, Slade School of Art, UCL, London, UK
1999- 1998 BA Fine Art Painting, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, UK
Solo Shows
2010 Iris a Maquina do Tempo, Fund. Simposio, Brazil
2008 Onda, UFSC, Brazil
2007 The Sky from my Garden, (my studio) London Bridge, UK
2006 My Tools II, Wagdas, London, UK
2005 Corpus, Wagdas, London, UK
Selected Group Shows
2023 Portrait 2023, CICA Museum, South Korea
2022 Anonymous Drawing, Galerie im Kornerpark, Berlin, Germany
Print it, Aireplace Studios, Leeds, UK
Throw, Drip, Splash, The Visionary Art Collective, curated by Gita Joshi (virtual)
IM (material), Curating Futures (virtual)
Discover the undiscovered, Digital Chroma Agency, Berlin, Germany
2019 Photography Now, (in context of the) Via. Arts Prize, Embassy of El Salvador, London, UK
2018 Chaiya Art Awards, gallery@oxo, London, UK
The Fronteer Open, Sheffield, UK
2017 Codes of Faith, Laura L Art Gallery, London, UK
CAF17, (charitable contribution) Chester, UK
Electric Picture House Open, Cheshire, UK
Small Faces, Solent University, Southampton, UK
2014 London Calling, The Truman Brewery, Dray Walk Gallery, London, UK
2013 Share and Exchange, Zap Gallery, London, UK
Zap Summer Show, Zap Gallery, London, UK
2011 Taken Away, Pop Up Gallery, Wooble And Squint, Exmouth Market, London, UK
Parallax AF, London, UK
Em nome do pai, UFSC, Brazil
2008 Essence, Beldam Gallery, Brunel University, curated by George Moog, London, UK
15 FML, Sol da Terra, Florianópolis, Brazil
2006 Life and Obsessions, First Brazilian Film festival, 298 Gallery, London, UK
2005 Nth Art Exhibit 001, Ols&Co Gallery, London, UK
Childer's St Open Studios, London, UK
2004 Paintings in the park, Woburn Sq. London, UK, curated by Bruce Mclean
5 Abstract Painters - Hands Salon, 61 Broadwick St. London
Hang the curator, The Central Space, London, UK
Kinetica, Mont Pelier Arms, London, UK, curated by Anita Ponton
2003 Slade School of Art, MA Show. London, UK.
Salao dos Novos Artistas, CIC, FpoLis, Brazil
2002 Four Colleges Exhibition at Kearney, London UK, curated by the RCA.
1998 Selected works from Chelsea College of Art & Design, Brass Factory, Germany,
curated by, Chris Baker, Clyde Hopkins and Noel Foster
Chelsea College of Art & Design Degree Show, London, UK
Artist’s talk
2019 Photography Now, (in context of the) Via. Arts Prize, panel discussion
with moderator Raquel Perez, Embassy of El Salvador, London, UK
2014 About the exhibition, Essence, with moderator and curator George Moog.
Beldam Gallery, Brunel University, London, UK
2010 About the work, Iris a maquina do tempo, Fund. Simposio, Brazil
Improvisation in the work, 15 FML, Sol da Terra, Florianópolis, Brazil
2006 Live image, Life and obsessions, First Brazilian Film festival, 298 Gallery, London, UK
Collaborations & Projects
2021 Im(imaterial), Curating Futures Project, UK
2009 Collaboration with preliminary drawings for the film, A Antropologa,
Mundo Imaginario Producoes Cinematográficas, Brazil.
Public Collections
2022 Galerie im Kornerpark, Germany
1998 University of the Arts, UK
Publications
2022 ARTUPMI, summer issue, p34 to 37
Artist of the Month, Discover the Undiscovered,
digitalchromaagency.com/magazine, issue1, 05, p4
Curating futures, doc. of publication, issuu 1, pg, 34, 35
2021 The Purposeful Mayonnaise, Impressions, issue 1, vol.3, p.75
2019 Saatchi artist of the day, https://www.facebook.com/saatchionline/photos/artist-of-the-day