Lot 362 - Catherine Chambers - Class

Acrylic on paper
2025
A6 (10x15cm)
Original Artwork
Signed on Verso
Curated by Art on a Postcard

About
Catherine Chambers is a figurative artist who documents poignant moments, often from her experiences of living abroad in Ethiopia and the Middle East. Catherine is inspired by environments and their inhabitants, capturing intimate moments of connectedness. However, as with all good portraiture, there is more than meets the eye to her work. These works ask the viewer to confront the complicated dynamics of love, care and identity.

This is Catherine's second time working with Art on a Postcard. Her previous contributions zoomed in on feet from her larger paintings. This time, Catherine has created postcards looking at the hands in existing works of hers.

Education
2009-2012
BA (Hons) Drawing and Applied Arts, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

Solo Exhibitions
2019
I Appreciate You, The Embassy of Ethiopia, London

2016
A Brother’s Progress, Freespace Gallery, Kentish Town, London
Red Lodge Chair, Red Lodge Museum, Park Row, Bristol
Possession(s), The Tobacco Factory, Bristol

Group Exhibitions
2024
Herbert Smith Freehills Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
Women In Art Finalists, The Roundhouse, London
RBA Rising Stars, Royal Over-Seas League, London
Wells Contemporary Art, Wells Cathedral, Wells
A Personal Treasure, The Nunnery Gallery, London

2023
Missed Letters, Making Space Gallery, London
New Wave, Spitalfields Studios, London
Awe and Wonder, Chaiya Art Awards, Oxo Gallery, London

2022
Football Art Prize, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
Galvanise, Spitalfields Studios, London
Art on a Postcard, The Bomb Factory, London

2021
Summer Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Sunny Art Prize, Sunny Art Centre, London

2020
Summer Exhibition, Green and Stone Gallery, London

2018
Summer Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Awards
2024
3rd Prize for The Herbert Smith Freehills Prize at the National Portrait Gallery
Royal Society of British Artists Rising Star
Women in Art Prize finalist

Gallery Representation
Mall Galleries, London, UK

Statement About AOAP Submitted Artwork
Fly is a cropped detail from a larger painting currently being exhibited at the Mall Galleries annual Royal Society of British Artists exhibition. The painting continues a conversation Catherine introduced with her painting “Lying” which won third prize at the National Portrait Gallery in 2024. In this painting, the same sitter holds a bird securely; as it is, the bird cannot fly despite being born to do so. Catherine wants the audience to contemplate, if you have something (could be a relationship, land, artefacts…) but you have it by force or deceit, do you really have it at all? And is it still worth having?

Class is a cropped detail from Catherine’s larger painting “Between Classes”. The girl chooses colours to fill the outlines of a princess. The postcard questions how the girl came to choose those specific colours and how they differ to the girls own image. The work explores ideas of care, influence and status; how they overlap, interact and differ.

Fortune is a detail from Catherine’s larger painting “Nafkot (Yeabsra)”. A child holds a popular paper game, commonly known as a chatterbox or fortune teller. It was introduced to the girl by Catherine in an exchange of sharing games local to one and foreign to another. Games are a recurring theme in Catherine’s work, highlighting how unlevel the playing field is in real life.

First Hand is a detail from Catherine’s larger painting “Holding Space”. The hand is of a dear friend of the artist, and celebrates a friendship that challenges outside expectations. It is a prompt to think for oneself and to learn from trusted resources.