Charmaine Beneyto
i never knew that only love could hurt like this
Mixed media : Interior emulsion, wax crayon, graphite, baby blanket on wood
2021
Charmaine Beneyto is a multidisciplinary artist. Drawing from the concept of AB (the Achingly Beautiful), inspiration is taken from the notion there is beauty in truth. Work is concerned with abstract expressionism, realism, the human condition and coming of age. Current works explore the role of the mother and domesticity; elucidating post-feminist undertones.
“My work is often spontaneous and created through an automatic or subconscious creation. I am drawn to depict feelings, emotions or concerns with the inner world of the things we see, do and thus experience. Having the lived experience of being Black, female and now Mother, my body is frequently politicised and my work has a tendency to draw out the complexities of what I encounter and feel in the spiritual, emotional and psychological. Sometimes the truth of a thing cannot be spoken and yet it is needed to be expressed to fulfil the purpose of its existence. I explore what I am drawn to by telling the story of things, expressing the emotional intensity I have lived and experienced whereby the vehicle that I am exploring becomes the outlet for what I feel. It is cathartic, releasing and somewhat anarchic.”
Charmaine graduated from The University of Kent with an MA in Film with Practice. She also studied at The University of the Arts London, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Media and Cultural Studies. Notable works include, Dir: The Seagull by Anton Chekhov 2014 and Dir/ Writer: Doves screening at the Power of Women’s Festival Margate and the Ramsgate Film Festival (2018). Selected shows: Spilt Milk Gallery; Acting balance[d] (nov-dec 2021) Spilt Milk Gallery; Whose Story Is It? (march 2022).
