Rosemary Clunie’s painterly expressions are bursting with symbolic and poetic associations. She draws inspiration from Paul Klee, the Fauvists amongst others. Her deeply personal visual language stems from her imagination, propelling the viewer into an otherworldly sphere. Clunie often depicts beings and mysterious places, signaling spirituality and wisdom. These concoctions are strongly evident in her paintings and drawings and can be perceived as visions or prophecies.
In Greek mythology oracles are creatures or priests through whom deities are communicating. Apollo, located in Delphi on Mount Parnassus above the Corinthian Gulf is one of the oldest and most famous oracles, it was the place where he would reveal hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person. Clunie’s mystical compositions are enchanting and embrace a higher realm we often fail to notice.
About The Sea Dreamer, Clunie said: “This painting has always felt to me like an image from an ancient time, when heroes set sail on dangerous epic quests."
Rosemary Clunie is a painter, printmaker and video artist, born in Scotland and living in London. She has exhibited widely since 1991, including the World Economic Forum in Davos, and Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, and her paintings are held in eminent private and public collections. Her last major exhibition, at ROSL in Mayfair, was a collaboration with Booker prize winning author Ben Okri, arising out of their book The Magic Lamp, published by Head of Zeus in 2017. The FT stated her work "recalls that of Joan Miró or Quentin Blake", while the New Statesman wrote: "Clunie's use of colour is billowing, rich and dreamlike."
"What lingers in the soul
Often eludes the eye;
And the birds of heaven, without wings –
O how much more sublimely do they fly."
Ben Okri: "On Klee" (published in "Wild", 2012 by Rider)
Rosemary Clunie, The Sea Dreamer, 2014, acrylic on paper, H420 mm x W297 mm.
Courtesy and ©Rosemarie Clunie, Ben Okri and Renée Pfister 2020.