Charles Lawrance

Art Brokerage: Charles Lawrance American Artist: Odd pairings of objects, figures and animals, often showcased in warped scale, place the viewer as if Alice peering through the looking glass. Successfully playing with perspective, the artist puts us underwater or flying through mid-air. While whimsical, with adept draftsmanship, these altered realities provoke serious questions about human existence. "Who am I?" we may wonder or, "What is life about?" we may ask. Dreamscapes paired with realistic imagery have been the essential tools in the toolbox of surrealism from the start, yet Lawrance adds present-day themes including environmentalism and the hazards of our high-tech culture, sounding alarms about contemporary society. Fish are signature icons in Lawrance's artworks. FINART, a fishy and witty "take" on fine art was the name of his venerable Baltimore gallery for a dozen years prior to his relocation to Annapolis and the opening of Finnapolis, two years ago. Drawn to the charm of historic Annapolis and unique beauty of its shoreline, when not creating art, you can find Lawrance paddling his kayak, enjoying his favorite sport: fishing. Inspired by the ancient Japanese technique of recording one's catch, gyotaku, Lawrance uses his catch of the day to create a print by inking up the fish scales, pressing mulberry paper onto his "subject" and hand-pulling a print, finally mounted on wood and coated with clear glaze. Popular among collectors, these images line the walls of homes and offices, locally and nationally. Snorkeling and underwater diving inform the artist about the unique, surrealistic light below the water's surface, masterfully captured to depict an otherworldly environment. In Pura Vita Water Walking, a large-scale canvas recently featured in a prominent Florida museum show, Lawrance portrays two children, each representing the artist's primary themes. One child lassoes a shark, illustrating human co-existence with even the most unruly of the kingdom; the second child manifests—seemingly magically—a made-up creature (a cat/squid) in celebration of artistic imagination. Listings wanted.