
Spotlight Pip Carter

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Inspired by the likes of Emma Kunz, Agnes Martin and Hilma af Klint, Carter’s works transport the viewer via nature, unlocking feelings that belong to the hidden and subconscious realm, a kind of mystic, fleeting sense of beauty.
Carter’s champion for The Wick is the Canadian author and journalist, Graydon Carter. “Pip does for flowers what Hockney did for pools. She connects with nature the way few of her contemporaries do.” Her large floral landscapes are alive. They are vibrant. And they lift the human spirit.”
Inspired by Henri Matisse’s Cut-Outs, Carter began working with cut painted sheets of paper to construct her works a few years back – her works are collaged layers that add an immersive depth. For her show at Shreeji, to add to this enveloping effect, Carter collaborated with Freddie’s Flowers to create an environment with real life flowers, suspended around the artworks. “The effect was truly stunning, I was so proud of what we were able to bring to life.”
Each diptych was precisely presented with a small gap between its halves: described by Carter as “very much the cosmic heart of the piece.” The viewer drawn gradually in, from recognisable forms of flowers towards more abstract shapes where the imagination is set free. “My goal is for there to be a transcendent quality to the experience and therefore the framing needed to be as invisible as possible, and we achieved that beautifully.”
Among Carter’s first sales at the show was to a collector who will hang her work next to an Andy Warhol – who famously made a series of works of poppies in 1964. It’s a thrill for the young artist, at this early stage of her career, and positions her among a cohort of exceptional artists who have explored flowers. But for now, she’s not letting it get to her – she’s back in the studio, she says, creating a limited edition silkscreen print series with her favourite subjects. “The artworks were scanned on an incredibly rare Cruse scanner that came from the V&A – there’s only one in the whole country so it’s pretty special.”
About the champion

Graydon Carter is the founder of Air Mail. Before this, he was a staff writer for both Time and Life. He cocreated Spy, edited The New York Observer, and for twenty-five years was the award-winning editor of Vanity Fair. He is also the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer of more than a dozen documentaries and one hit Broadway play. He and his wife live in Greenwich Village and have five children.
“Pip does for flowers what Hockney did for pools. She connects with nature the way few of her contemporaries do.”




London
I studied fashion design at Central St Martins. I left after my year out in the
industry – Derek Lam offered me their first apprenticeship in New York and I
was ready to start designing
Somewhere in the Nowhere at Shreeji, Chiltern Street
The best thing for me personally is to remember to enjoy it all and to lighten up when the intensity of the work can take over. Patti Smith’s book Just Kids was such a brilliant reminder of how the creative life can grow and surprise you. Similarly, True to Life by Lawrence Weschler is a fantastic insight into David Hockney’s artistic mind. If we’re talking spiritual guides then I would have to mention David Lynch. Not only was he a creative genius but he led me to meditation, too. Mentor – my husband, Spike. He is my creative partner in every way. He’s also the best cook around and I care enormously about food
When I was feeling nervous ahead of the show a brilliant writer passed on this advice: just jump in and splash about. That made me smile and helped take the edge off