Life & Work with Lynette Charters

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynette Charters.

Hi Lynette, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I was in college when I first recognized the difficulty women (and other marginalized groups) have in speaking their truth using images of themselves, or using our written language that is not set up to describe their experiences. Once you start paying attention to the issue, it is apparent everywhere you look. Back then, I decided never to use the image of women’s bodies because I thought it would always be, by default, seen from the white, heterosexual, cis-male perspective.

About 5 years ago, I was painting an abstract series that spoke to privilege, and how much our society relies on the unpaid work of women. I was painting on a wooden board, and the image of breasts as commodities kept appearing from unpainted knots of wood. Feeling uncomfortable with the imagery of isolated body parts, I decided to try and recreate the image of the missing body as a presence, who is aware of the viewer.

Like many other artists, historians and anthropologists, I started to research how these issues of language and privilege have manifested to bring us to where we are today. For anyone who is interested in the arts, we do our research from classes, books, and museums. I decided these forms of education had to be changed for any of the rest of us to be taken as seriously. That there exists ‘Women’s’ or ‘African American” studies, or temporary shows for marginalized groups, highlights how far away from a true representation of society these institutions generally are, so here became the focus of my series and I recreated the gallery setting, with catalog, merchandise, and docent tour.

The image of women’s bodies is everywhere but women are not the ones who usually profit from their images.

And so the series was born.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I’d say the road up to my ability to focus on my art practice has been long and not always easy. I left my MFA with a bunch of contacts, but no means of supporting my art practice. Unless we have the luxury of time and space, it is hugely difficult to give ourselves over to focus and produce art to the best of our ability. I decided to jump into the animation business to earn a living so that I could buy myself time and space to create my own work, but it didn’t turn out that way.

I really enjoyed my years in animation, but it is a very difficult medium and it is all-consuming. Although I loved the freedom of living out of a suitcase, I was exhausted from traveling in Europe from job to job and decided my only way of staying in one place for longer than a run of the picture, was to work in Los Angeles. I worked long and hard for major studios but never really found the right environment, or head space to work on my own creative projects, I found I only had so much creative energy, and by the end of the day I was spent, and so my own work got shelved.

Eventually, I had a family, animation work offers became less frequent, and my focus of attention gravitated back to my fine art practice. It had always been something that I’d wanted to pursue, and with added experience and maturity, I found I had a lot to talk about. Since making the decision to follow through and focus on my own work, it’s been a rollercoaster, but I enjoy the challenges and make a point of embracing the good and the message of the series.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

Well known paintings throughout in history are referenced and presented in a public gallery setting. The Missing Women Series is a playful yet earnest look at how women are presented but not represented in art, society, and history. From a young age, women are encouraged to succeed and at the same time take on supportive roles. They juggle multiple responsibilities; all while being underpaid and pressured to look picture perfect. The image of the woman’s body is omitted from renderings of famous paintings, leaving on show the board it was painted on, to highlight the lack of documented female genius recorded in history, lack of proportional representation in politics, and other disparities.

Similarly, The Missing Parents Series calls to attention the lack of societal appreciation and wage equality for stay-at-home parents, and childbearing parents. Some of these disparities have been exacerbated with the mass exodus of parents from the work force to care for family members during the pandemic and are due to worsen with the current attacks on reproductive rights.

Bio:

Charters is a conceptual artist intent on presenting a new perspective of society and history from the female identifying point of view, and other intersectional interest groups. She was born and grew up in The Yorkshire Dales in The North of England. She holds a BA (hons) degree from Cardiff College, Wales and an MFA from Chelsea College of Art, London. She was tutored by the British painter Graham Crowley, printmaker Amanda Faulkner, and was assistant to the sculptor Andy Goldsworthy on two of his larger outdoor sculptures. She has also travelled internationally working in the animation industry. Charters has exhibited in many parts of America, most recently in Fogue Studios and Gallery in Seattle, Old Courthouse Arts Center in Chicago, Ryan James Fine Arts Gallery in Kirkland, and Marin County Society of Artists in the Bay Area, also in exhibitions in Los Angeles and the UK. Her solo shows involve a traditional museum-style installation, with mock docent performances by actor John Serembe as docent, and Yuri Serembe as security guard. Charters has written and published The Missing Women Book and is working on The Missing Parents Book. She has featured in articles and was on the cover of Kirkland Lifestyle Magazine, Shoutout LA, Artist Close Up, The Olympian, and Oly Arts magazines. She currently works from her studio in Olympia, Washington.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I am allergic to sawdust (no kidding). After I cut the wood to construct the substrate and cradle it, I have to shower and wash all clothes I was wearing.

I am like a magpie and obsessively collect candy wrappers and other packaging that may come in useful one day.

I have other ideas for other series, but this one isn’t done with me yet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lcharters.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynettecharters/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynettecharters
• Book: https://www.lulu.com/shop/lynette-charters-and-john-serembe/lynette-charters-the-missing-women-series/hardcover/product-nyekkk.html?page=1&pageSize=4
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0saN5l07g0
• Other: https://linktr.ee/LynetteCharters

The Missing Women/Parents Series solo show/installation
Gallery 839, 1105 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, Los Angeles, CA 91505.  November 3rd-27th, 2022.
View by appointment only or at ARTIST RECEPTION on Nov 3rd, 5pm-8pm, with “Docent” performance by John Serembe at 7pm

Image Credits
John Serembe Images and Lynette Charters