Art on a Postcard International Women’s Day Auction - Curated by Louise Fitzjohn

About

Catherine Lette's work is primarily concerned with the figure and questioning the impact of contemporary life upon body and mind. She is a practicing painter from Cornwall now living and working in South London. With a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and in History from Oxford, Lette has developed her painting practice over the past few years at Turps art school. Since 2021 she has participated in numerous group shows, curator’s selections, prizes and exhibitions. 

Education

2019-2022 Turps Art School Off-site Painting Programme 
2006-2012 Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, BA Fine Art 
1998 - 2001 Oxford University, Pembroke College, BA Modern History

Selected Exhibitions/Awards

Ingram Prize Finalist 2022, Hari Art Prize Finalist 2022, Jacksons Painting Prize Shortlist 2021. 

Upcoming Solo Show at Lido Stores Margate June 2023

Upcoming Group Show 'Stretch' at Somers Gallery London March 2023

'Everyday has a silver lining' Joint Show at Chelsea Arts Club London 2022

'Matrescence' Group Show at Liminal Gallery, Margate November 2022

'Power to Emotions' Group Show with Tart Gallery at Fitzrovia Gallery November 2022

'Showcase of CSM Graduates' with A Space for Art at Lighterman June 2022

'In and Between, Bodies, possibilities and dreams' at Bermondsey Project Space London July 2021

'Ones to Watch' Auc Art Sale curated by Natasha Arselan June 2021

Gallery Representation
Currently working with Liminal Gallery, Margate. Tart Gallery, London. Lido Stores Gallery, Margate. Auc Art.

Statement About Works Submitted for Auction

Lette’s practice questions the impact of contemporary living upon body and mind and how that might be manifested in a portrayal of the figure. Inspired by current events, Lette composes figures dis-assembled in relation to her gaze, framed by the real and virtual spaces we occupy. The pandemic pushed her interest towards domestic space, considering the complex nature of containment in the home with its binary outcome of safety and risk. Lette’s recent work, including these postcards, continues to explore the domestic and virtual space in which objects have agency alongside the body and mind. Painting proposes an alternative plane to work through the questions of this world on the screen of another ground, transforming the banality and absurdity of everyday life into something transcendent through art. With this in mind Lette approaches the images she creates with a belief in their reality in which the surreal, concrete, illustrative and subversive sit alongside one another creating their own conversations. 

In process Lette is experimental using drawing, collage and photography as a basis for painting, to weave together images combining diaristic elements of her life as a mother, artist, wife, with imaginative propositions. She values play, allowing instinct and making to lead the way, balancing learnt activities with chance encounters. Drawing is at the heart of her practice, underpinning her work and populating it with the vernacular that surrounds her. The figures Lette creates are often distorted versions of figures she encounters in person or from found imagery. Their distortion and framing allows for a mix of humour, ambiguity and at times irony to seep into the image posing questions about personal and societal mores. Lette sees the body as a fluid entity, both projected upon and viewed introspectively, she would like the figures in her paintings to reflect this inner and outer duality. 

You must not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any works. In doing so, you endanger our relationships with artists, and directly jeopardise the charitable work we do. Anyone found doing so will be subject to legal action.