Caroline Banks: Exploring circularity of energy through mixed-media art

Caroline Banks is an Anglo-French abstract artist exploring the circularity of energy and the memory of gesture using expressive and calligraphic mark-making. These themes developed from her years living in Asia. She creates paintings that are both dynamic and contemplative, using a variety of media including acrylics, gesso, ink and metal leaf to produce pieces that reveal themselves slowly over time. She exhibits regularly in the UK and overseas and has work in both private and public collections including Claridge’s and the Berkeley Group.

Caroline is one of a small group of artists who regularly works with BobCat Gallery, a small scale gallery specialising in original art at affordable prices.

Here we chat with her about her journey so far…

Tell us more about your journey into the art world.

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember and, after gaining my degree at art school, worked as an artist and designer in the world of fashion and interiors. I moved to India in 2001 where I first worked in textiles for an NGO, then in commercial design and development.

After almost seven years in Asia (India, China and Vietnam) I returned to the UK and began refocussing on my artwork, exhibiting again in 2013.

How would you describe your signature style and technique?

My practice can be described as abstract and gestural mark-making, ranging through painting, mixed media installations and performative drawing.

My painting style is gestural, almost calligraphic. I use artisanal (mainly handmade) brushes building up layers from fast painted strokes. This creates a sense of movement and stillness, part of my process.

I like working with wet materials such as ink and gesso which have a liveliness extending beyond the brush. They are never completely predictable, and I enjoy working on the edge of control, letting the materials and process influence the result.

Most of my time is spent in research and experimentation with hundreds of studies to explore different avenues and options. I begin a piece with a basic framework in mind then the act of mark-making takes place. I aim to make the finished piece look effortless – which takes a lot of work, hence the endless studies and experiments. 

I am constantly asking questions, playing with options, going down different paths of enquiry. Activity and rest, movement and stillness, such elements are always in conversation in my process.

Can you tell us about your latest work? Where did you find inspiration and what is the story behind it?

There is no memory without loss. I explore the transformation of energy from one form to another in an eternal cycle of life, death and regeneration, reflecting on the passing of time, of the connection between all things.

Towards the end of my mother’s life, all I could draw were discs. Something about the circular gesture was soothing and had meaning for me. Through research I discovered that the disc/circle has been used for life and death rituals in different cultures over millennia. It is a powerful symbol in many faiths, particularly in Asia.

In a way I suppose I paint energy, the life force. It moves from me to the painting and then to the viewer. There is circularity in this connection between me and the audience.

Are there any exhibitions or events you are planning in near future?

While I exhibit regularly with BobCat Gallery, ArtCan and others, my main event was The Other Art Fair in Los Angeles in April 2024. I was very excited to have been selected as it was the first time showing my work on the West Coast of the US.

What is the best advice you’ve been given as an artist?

The work is the thing. Keep exploring, learning and discovering.

For more information visit: carolinebanks.co.uk

Follow Caroline on Instagram: @cvbanks_art

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