CELIA HENSON
Artist. Creator. Painter.
"What is the face and what is not? What makes a face? Can we see faces? Questions like these I ask myself daily. Yet, why are we defining objects as faces when they might not actually be there."
For a year now Celia Henson is an artist who has studied the knowledge of recognising faces. Her work explores the recognition of faciality, in relation to how it is distorted in our subconscious mind and memory. She does so to understand why we identify faces in everyday objects, to comprehend what makes a face so familiar. Using materials such as, paint, mediums and technical cropping, to uncover what is forced and what is hidden. Hidden by mind and created by brain. Doing so helps her to understand how little is needed for this process to occur.Â
Since 2020, Henson has been using and developing a restrictive colour palette using paint to help her uncover what might be familiar and what might not. Thus, her artwork is often one of the uncanny. Using specific paint colours also enables Henson to delve deeper into their meanings, how they can influence the entirety of the artwork and how it is perceived.
'When we are confronted with an unfamiliar object – a blot, a funny smear, a strange configuration of paint, a mirage, a frightening apparition, a wild landscape, a building made of brick and rock – we seek a body in it: we try to see something like ourselves, a reflection or another.’
James Elkins
BIOGRAPHY
Celia Henson was born in Harold Wood, Essex in 1999 and moved to Hertfordshire in 2005, where she is currently living. Brought up by her father and artistic mother, who has taught her multiple artistic techniques she still uses today. Her fascination with art started in the early years of high school, being able to explore varied materials such as textiles, painting mediums and painting equipment, as well as photography. What she has taken from this is a unique way of mixing all the materials and mediums together to create uncanny pieces of artwork. In her college years Celia studied and successfully completed her Art and Photography certifications in 2017. From 2018-2020, Celia has studied BA Hons Fine Art at The Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, where she lived for three years indulging herself into an artist’s lifestyle. Her time in Nottingham, allowed Celia to involve herself in a learning experience where she became the educator of her artistic skills. Based at Cotgrave Primary School in Nottingham, Celia taught young students basic art skills and encouraging creativity, enabling her to understand how art is appreciated by others. Within her university practice, she took part in a group show called ‘Immersed’ at the Broadway Gallery, Nottingham in 2019, alongside four other talented artists. At the end of 2019, Celia also invited the public to a successful solo exhibition called ‘Confronting the Face’, showcasing ‘Interaction, 2020’, from her series ‘Face to Face’. This took place at Carpenters Green, Hertfordshire. Celia Henson has an art Instagram showcasing her works, @celiahensonart.