October 2021 Featured Artist
Figurative Artist Charity Henderson
Deviates from Straight-Up Representation to Capture
Mood, Emotion & Life's Transience
Charity Posing with Her Piece "Dissolving"
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Charity Henderson is a figurative artist based in Queens, NY. She received her B.F.A. in Painting at SUNY Brockport and an M.F.A. from UMass Dartmouth on a Distinguished Artist Fellowship. Charity has also studied painting in Italy, Sicily and France.
Currently, she exhibits at the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan and regularly presents her work in solo and group shows throughout the United States. In early 2018, she held her first New York City solo exhibition, Beneath the Surface, through the arts nonprofit Chashama. In October 2019, she presented her first commercial solo exhibition with John Davis Gallery in Hudson, NY. Charity works in administration for the American Watercolor Society. She serves as Vice Chair of the Public Relations Committee at Salmagundi, co-managing the organization’s social media. |
Study XIX
Oil & Graphite on Panel: 10 x 8 inches © Charity Henderson |
Study XVI
Oil & Graphite on Dura-Lar: 17 x 14 inches © Charity Henderson |
Charity discusses her unique process and how her fascination with psychology is represented in much of her work.
Please let our readers know a little about the inspiration behind your process. How have you manipulated traditional portraits to project mood and emotion?
From the time I first started drawing as a child, I have always been drawn to faces. I love the way that a person’s story and experiences can be read in her face — especially the eyes. After years of painting, I’ve found that these qualities are sometimes best explored by deviating a bit from straight-up representation. I first started to experiment with altering a traditional portrait during my undergraduate studies, and the paintings became much more interesting with variation in how the paint was applied. In graduate school, my professors pushed me to really experiment with many different methods of mark making, including painting or drawing a face and then literally deconstructing it — erasing it, blurring it away, layering paint over it.
Please note: Throughout, you will see several close-ups of Charity's work, offering a better perspective of the unusual texture and layers.
Please let our readers know a little about the inspiration behind your process. How have you manipulated traditional portraits to project mood and emotion?
From the time I first started drawing as a child, I have always been drawn to faces. I love the way that a person’s story and experiences can be read in her face — especially the eyes. After years of painting, I’ve found that these qualities are sometimes best explored by deviating a bit from straight-up representation. I first started to experiment with altering a traditional portrait during my undergraduate studies, and the paintings became much more interesting with variation in how the paint was applied. In graduate school, my professors pushed me to really experiment with many different methods of mark making, including painting or drawing a face and then literally deconstructing it — erasing it, blurring it away, layering paint over it.
Please note: Throughout, you will see several close-ups of Charity's work, offering a better perspective of the unusual texture and layers.
Study XXII
Oil & Graphite on Dura-Lar: 17 x 14 inches © Charity Henderson |
Study XXII (Detail)
Oil & Graphite on Dura-Lar © Charity Henderson |
What medium(s) do you prefer?
As a surface, I work primarily on Dura-Lar, a translucent drafting film. Due to its translucency, something placed behind the film or drawn on the backside will show through to the front of the sheet. This allows for a lot of interesting layering effects. I usually work the back and front of the sheet as two separate layers, a graphite layer on the back of the sheet and a layer of paint on the front side. When I’m not working on Dura-Lar, I still follow a similar process: first creating a graphite/charcoal drawing and then using oil paint that partially fragments or abstracts the drawing. Working in layers has interesting parallels when contemplating identity and personality. What is underneath the surface? How many layers are there?
I use oil paint because it is inherently slow drying, and my process requires paint that is workable for as long as possible. When I have painted in a face (after drawing it as an initial layer or on the reverse side of the sheet), I go over the painting with matboard to blur and scrape, partially revealing the drawing underneath. Because Dura-Lar is so smooth, and the layer of paint is so thin, the paint dries quite quickly. I usually only have about a 24-hour window when the paint is actually fluid enough to do this; so, all the scraped or blurred areas have to be done very rapidly. I then go back in with more opaque paint to add more detail in some areas. When working with Dura-Lar, I will occasionally turn the drawing over and go back into the graphite part when the painted side is dry.
As a surface, I work primarily on Dura-Lar, a translucent drafting film. Due to its translucency, something placed behind the film or drawn on the backside will show through to the front of the sheet. This allows for a lot of interesting layering effects. I usually work the back and front of the sheet as two separate layers, a graphite layer on the back of the sheet and a layer of paint on the front side. When I’m not working on Dura-Lar, I still follow a similar process: first creating a graphite/charcoal drawing and then using oil paint that partially fragments or abstracts the drawing. Working in layers has interesting parallels when contemplating identity and personality. What is underneath the surface? How many layers are there?
I use oil paint because it is inherently slow drying, and my process requires paint that is workable for as long as possible. When I have painted in a face (after drawing it as an initial layer or on the reverse side of the sheet), I go over the painting with matboard to blur and scrape, partially revealing the drawing underneath. Because Dura-Lar is so smooth, and the layer of paint is so thin, the paint dries quite quickly. I usually only have about a 24-hour window when the paint is actually fluid enough to do this; so, all the scraped or blurred areas have to be done very rapidly. I then go back in with more opaque paint to add more detail in some areas. When working with Dura-Lar, I will occasionally turn the drawing over and go back into the graphite part when the painted side is dry.
Study XXX
Oil & Graphite on Panel: 7 x 5 inches © Charity Henderson |
Study XXX (Detail)
Oil & Graphite on Panel © Charity Henderson |
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What about the juxtaposition of finished detail in some areas of the portrait and some left as a loose sketch?
When I begin a work, I almost always start with a detailed rendering of the face in graphite or charcoal, and then I begin to 'deconstruct' it in various ways. For works on paper, this can be erasure or blurring with matt medium. If the work is on Dura-Lar, I draw in the face on one side, then flip the sheet over and paint on the other side. The painted side then partially conceals the drawing, abstracting it in some places and following the details of the drawing in others. I feel that this juxtaposition of finished and unfinished is reflective of the experience of life — as humans we are ever a work in progress. |
"I feel that this juxtaposition of finished and unfinished is reflective of the experience of life — as humans we are ever a work in progress." ~ Charity Henderson |
Myrna Haskell, executive editor, was particularly drawn to Charity's piece "Ramifications" and asked her to describe it further.
Ramifications
Charcoal & Pastel on Pastel Paper: 26 x 20 inches © Charity Henderson |
Ramifications was completed in a period about eight years ago when I was drawing more than painting and working mostly in monochromatic tones. The piece is done in charcoal and pastel on black pastel paper. Sections of the face and torso are completely unfinished as if the background is taking over the figure.
I titled it 'Ramifications' because it made me think of the way that a past action or experience can be something that an individual carries around with them, perhaps that ‘eats away’ at them. I always come up with titles afterword, as I rarely know where a work is going at the start. A lot of my work is not necessarily about specific experiences I have had but about things I have seen or from stories that I have read. I have long been fascinated by psychology, and I look at a lot of artists whose work has psychological themes: Sophie Jodoin, Antonio Lopez Garcia, George Tooker. Is it easier to paint someone else or to create a self-portrait? It's definitely easier to paint someone else! I can easily get caught up with ‘this feature looks strange’ with my own face. When I paint someone else (occasionally friends, but usually art models), I work off of a series of reference photos that I take myself. It’s hard to pinpoint what it is in a person that draws me to paint them. I paint females almost exclusively, but I can’t really say why. I am either drawn to a face, or not. Sometimes I feel I am capturing a specific person, and other times I feel it is more a mood or emotion that isn’t specifically tied to that person. Several of my models own paintings I’ve featured them in, so I think I have managed to capture something that resonated with these individuals. |
Untitled XII
Oil & Graphite on Dura-Lar: 17 x 14 inches © Charity Henderson |
Untitled XII (Detail)
Oil & Graphite on Dura-Lar © Charity Henderson |
Where do you find sanctuary?
Aside from painting, books and reading are a major area where I find sanctuary. I have been a voracious reader all my life, and I completed a degree in English literature at the same time as my art degree. I think a lot of what I read finds its way into my work. If I were not a painter, I would probably be a writer. For this reason, the library at the Salmagundi Club will always be one of my favorite places to find a retreat or to escape from the world.
I also find sanctuary in nature, as many artists do, taking long hikes in the Hudson Valley and in sessions at my local community garden.
Aside from painting, books and reading are a major area where I find sanctuary. I have been a voracious reader all my life, and I completed a degree in English literature at the same time as my art degree. I think a lot of what I read finds its way into my work. If I were not a painter, I would probably be a writer. For this reason, the library at the Salmagundi Club will always be one of my favorite places to find a retreat or to escape from the world.
I also find sanctuary in nature, as many artists do, taking long hikes in the Hudson Valley and in sessions at my local community garden.
Study XX
Oil & Graphite on Canvas: 10 x 8 inches © Charity Henderson |
Upcoming Shows/Exhibitions:
Fall Auctions to Benefit Salmagundi September 27 – October 22, 2021 Salmagundi Club 47 5th Ave, New York, NY Allegory Today: The Library Commission October 17 – November 19, 2021 Salmagundi Club 47 5th Ave, New York, NY Representational Women: 100 Years of Art March 1 – May 30, 2022 Salmagundi Club 47 5th Ave, New York, NY |
