Chloe Woodgate

Chloe Woodgate (aka Bunny Lebowski)


“Chloe is a figurative painter using the unconventional method of felt-tip pens to depict romantic, lone females. Inspired by film-makers like Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, and other cult-status directors,the figures employ a nostalgic, cinematic stillness, and appear aware of their audience.Also reminiscent of pre-raphaelite or renaissance painting, their faces are rendered realistically and slightly faded. However, the rest of the space features deliberately expressive mark-making using modelling pastes, gels and dripping paint. The poised, realistic figures therefore appear aware of the demise of their surroundings, trapped within the confines of the painting and gazing outwards. There is juxtaposition between the fantasy nature of the girls and the reality of the physicality of paint.


The contrasts in the work follow into its subtext. The filmic influence and kitsch colour palette produce highly stylized models. Pink hair, retro aspirations and tattoos also reference a very current strain of pop-culture which embraces harmonious gothic/kitsch romanticism. Self-promoting teen websites provide a window for young ‘emo’ girls to dress up and play celebrity. Websites like ‘Suicide Girls’ showcase heavily tattooed and pierced models. Self-destructive women like Amy Winehouse and Kate Moss are idolized and the pseudo-gothic icon of the skull has been commercialized into oblivion. Also highly influenced by the kitsch art of the 70s, the work has softness,tackiness, and the same sense of contrived melancholy.


Behind this mass-produced creepy/cute culture lies something more sinister. The work is also subconsciously aware of the constant media coverage of young girls in particular falling foul of abductors. The girls seem to be ominously watching something that we cannot see, and with their vulnerability and doll-like youthfulness, the viewer almost becomes the sadistic voyeur, allowing the portraits to function like trophies.”







Visit Chloe Woodgate’s website at: http://www.bunnylebowski.co.uk/