Meet Caroline Dickinson: London-based abstract artist and multidisciplinary creator. Caroline’s work spans various disciplines, from textiles to ceramics. With a focus on abstract forms and layered colours, she aims to evoke emotions and create depth within her artwork. Through her handmade approach, each piece becomes a unique expression of her artistic vision. Caroline draws inspiration from her surroundings and memories, infusing her work with a sense of nostalgia and personal connection. Stay tuned for upcoming projects and exciting developments as Caroline continues to explore new avenues of creativity. Join us on this artistic journey and experience the captivating world of Caroline Dickinson’s creations.
Caroline Dickinson
My style probably started during my Graphics and Illustration degree, where I would take objects/animals/people and strip the forms down to their most simplistic shapes. I spent most of my time in the print room screen printing my stencil based illustrations, and through this process I developed a style that was very simplistic as it lent itself well to the printing process. I think it also conditioned my brain to think about artwork and designs in a layered approach – each layer bringing something different to the piece.
I then went on to do screen printing within the textile industry and this opened up even more possibilities and avenues for layering and creating that printing onto paper didn’t offer me. It also allowed me to be less regimented with my shapes and forms and play around with the fluidity of dyes and their possibilities.
As a lot of textile designers do, I fell into commercial work for high street brands for a number of years and spent a lot of time painting artworks that were not my style and not what I enjoyed creating, which is one of the main reasons I started my brand to give myself the ability to create what I enjoy the most.
I’ve always been interested in the process, whether it’s screen printed fabrics or glazing clay. I love how certain layers/chemicals/minerals react together and the possibilities of those reactions (good or bad) and how they change depending on what part of the process it is.There is always so much testing and I think its the happy surprises that come out of these tests that influence my artistic process. For me using dyes on fabric is very similar to that of glaze on clay, it basically all comes down to chemistry.
I’m very much a fair weather, summer person. I’m probably the worst Londoner there is as I’m forever wanting to be near warm weather and a beach. For me good artwork comes from thinking about the things I like and that make me feel good. I like creating from a feeling of being somewhere rather than a view and so memories and nostalgic moments come into play a lot. I always try and create a feeling with shapes and movement of forms.
The forms are very much based on what feels good for me to look at and what creates movement, so your eyes travel around the piece. For the techniques, I do a lot of testing and playing around with various mediums so slips, underglaze, glaze. I use a lot of paper stencils as one of the first layers and paint over them with sweeping strokes so you get the mixture of organic brushed lines next to strong abstract shapes.
“I love the slower process as it’s more considered and you have to be a lot more present during the making. I also think having something that is handmade is really special, it means that it’s a result of a person’s skills and time and has imperfect perfections that the next piece might not have.”
The handmade nature is particularly important for me as it moves away from that ability to churn pieces out which I very much did during my years in commercial fashion. I love the slower process as its more considered and you have to be a lot more present during the making. I also think having something that is handmade is really special, it means that it’s a result of a persons skills and time and has imperfect perfections that the next piece might not have. By hand painting each piece and creating paper stencil shapes it means each one will always be slightly different and there will never be two exactly the same, which for me is much more interesting to create.
I hope they experience calm or joy or something that they find uplifting. I think creating artwork based on my own emotions of being somewhere that I loved and enjoyed comes across for the viewer.
I’m constantly worried that what I create across my ceramic and textile collections won’t flow together and be cohesive, and people won’t understand why I do both. However, I’m learning that I’m massively critical of my work, more so than any viewer and actually I just need to keep going as pieces will naturally flow together as it’s all my style.
Living in London gives me the ability to have so much artistic influence at my fingertips. The ability to go to not only huge galleries but also small independent ones and see the most amazing artworks from historic artists to new up and coming ones, is amazing. I get really inspired by seeing a piece in real life and understanding how it was made or having the brushstrokes literally right in front of me.
I’m currently experimenting with making much larger forms with clay and moving away from the slab building method I’ve been using up until now. I’m playing around with coiling which is a slower process and more considered but for me a lot more rewarding and plays into my love of the handmade even more. I am also experimenting with different fabrics within my textile collections and hopefully will be expanding my homewares collection using hand printed vintage French linen for something exciting to come in the Autumn.
