In Focus: Stephen Robert Carlier

Words by Che-Marie Trigg
Photography by Annika Kafcaloudis
In Partnership with Stephen Robert Carlier

An unlikely catalyst inspired artist Stephen Robert Carlier’s new series, What should have been.

The artist stumbled across the Citroën Karin, a retro-futuristic concept car from the 1980s that was never put into production. “I was frustrated that it was never made, and it gave me a feeling of longing for it,” says Carlier. “I decided to make a series based on this feeling of what should have been and kept this thought at the forefront of my mind while creating objects and furniture in interesting forms.”

In Focus Stephen Robert Carlier Issue 16 Feature The Local Project Image (3)

The resulting objects and furniture feel almost classical with their shapely lines and layers of plaster, much of which was sourced from factories in Italy.

The series marks a transition for Carlier’s practice, from flat wall pieces to more sculptural objects and furniture. It’s also a return to the 3D art Carlier studied, with the multi-dimensionality of the medium allowing him more freedom and versatility: “I can fully express myself from all angles.”

Andy Kelly, a director of Melbourne gallery Oigåll Projects, who pushed Carlier to develop them – and also hosted the ‘Obliviously Procured’ exhibition of the artist’s work – was instrumental in the artist’s pursuit to finish the series. The resulting objects and furniture feel almost classical with their shapely lines and layers of plaster, much of which was sourced from factories in Italy where similar materials have been used since Roman times.

“The layers I apply allow the objects to be ever-changing in different light – it’s impossible to get a flat colour and perfection is impossible,” says the artist. “I find beauty in this.”

Carlier has worked with plaster for more than two decades, first as a trained plasterer in his native England and later incorporating it into his artworks. For What should have been, he mixes plaster with recycled construction materials – including polystyrene waste and glass and marble dust – that bring a deeply elemental appeal to the works. While practical – much of the furniture can be used outside and inside – the pieces are assuredly artworks. Tactility plays an integral role, with Carlier finding inspiration in the textures of natural and man-made environments, citing weathered cathedrals in Rome and muddy paths after heavy rain as examples.

“The layers I apply allow the objects to be ever-changing in different light – it’s impossible to get a flat colour and perfection is impossible.”

Ultimately, though, he comes back to the yearning for the Citroën Karin that never was. “I focus on feeling and emotion regarding a subject while making a piece,” he says. “I feel this directs the movement and textures that I create; a small alteration or movement can change so much. Like in life, taking a wrong turn can take you to the right person – and a rejection can lead to greater growth.”

“I focus on feeling and emotion regarding a subject while making a piece,” he says. “I feel this directs the movement and textures that I create.”