Artist Profile CJ Lunn
CJ Lunn, Walking with Mum from Doodle series, 2020, Acrylic on aluminum, 19.7″ x 19.7″ (500 mm x 500 mm).
Lunn’s luminous linework gorgeously weaves wistful nostalgia into an intimate tapestry of subconscious reflection.
Artist Statement
This piece is part of a series of paintings, mostly about memories and nostalgia, using figurative images of people or places that have played an important part in my life; set amongst an abstract doodle – a stream of consciousness or often subconsciousness – evoked from those experiences as I remember them.
Sometimes other images emerge from the abstraction, related to the subject or myself. For instance, in the painting, The Green Man the shapes of birds began to appear in the doodle, which I allowed myself to enhance slightly, as they were an important feature of the subjects life.
Other times an atmosphere can appear that is, to me, suggestive of the moment, describing the mood or nature of my memory, or theirs. Such as in the painting, After the Summer about the brief but passionate relationship between two friends, when we were young, the end of which pushed us all apart until we lost touch, and left just fragments… fragments of friends lost to time; memories of a beautiful, sad summer, long ago.
Artist Biography
CJ Lunn was born in Lancashire in 1969. She began painting and exhibiting professionally in 1995 after completing a BA (Hons) Degree at the Cardiff institute University of Wales. In 1997 she opened the West Wharf Gallery in Cardiff, with her business partner, offering exhibition space for burgeoning artists. Since then she has lived and worked as a practising artist in both the UK and USA.
“My work, mostly in oils, has always been grounded in symbolism. Whether through landscape or portraiture, I have tried to capture and explore key moments, ideas and memories in my life. For catharsis, for nostalgia, or just comprehension, juxtaposing the past and present ‘me’ has helped my search for how each has shaped the other; how I have related to the world and the people around me.
Style, for me, is largely dictated by the image and the image is always born of deeper meaning, emotion and memory. My hope is that the paintings convey to the viewer, similar feelings to those I try to capture for myself in the finished work.”