Charlotte Searle

Iceland’s strangely familiar yet entirely new landscape has provided the space to play, contemplate, and freely explore my process without distraction or dictation. Its ever-changing landscape has seeped into my practice in ways I hadn’t expected, shaping my approach to material, repetition, and the unknown.

Having access to a ceramics lab has revealed a curiosity for clay! Previously, my practice focused on removing conscious thought—through repetition, erasure, and collage—to unearth something unknown. Ceramics, however, holds its own mysteries. The meticulous process—hours of coiling, sculpting, and refining—followed by the unpredictability of the kiln, where a piece might crack, collapse, or transform entirely, has captivated me. There is a surrender in this process that feels integral to my work going forward.

What was supposed to be a one-month residency became three months in Iceland, drawn in by the people, the place, and the creative freedom I’ve found here. I leave with a practice tangled and reshaped by the space. Thank you, Kris, Lukas, Vinnie, and all the residents who have made this time so gorgeous.

Charlotte Searle is an artist from the UK who explores fictional multiplicities and knotty, entangled themes that resist definitive answers. She plays with concepts of place and non-place, home, mysticism, memory, and desire. By exploiting iteration and automatism, she harnesses the subconscious while inviting an unsettling awkwardness. Charlotte’s practice employs messy, irreverent methods of play, embracing mistakes and humour. Her works aim to consume and regurgitate, revealing imagined spaces in constant flux, where chaos, absurdity, and clarity intertwine—inviting a space for the mind to wander.