Aussie Artistry with Charli Burrowes
Australian artist Charli Burrowes discusses her latest film, what truly inspires her day-to-day creations and finding creative freedom amid societal gatekeepers.
As a female director, the production has been deemed an emotive piece of work from collectors and fans alike. With its global reveal, digitally as any hustling millennial would, Bloom Girl takes place in a dream-like state. Filmed and produced in Italy – with a production team of just five and a shoe-string budget – Burrowes successfully raised funds through the sales of her previous artwork collections, selling out in less than a week. “We live in an age where the traditional gatekeepers are being pulled down,” Burrowes noted. “You don't need a movie studio to make a film. If you have an audience – even a small one – it’s enough of a reason to try.”
Gaining freedom and giving gatekeepers that middle-finger, Burrowes – being a film school drop-out – has since made it a mission to tell the story of Bloom Girl and future works in a truly authentic and unique way. Her latest work being strictly black and white, mirroring her love for the classics, “My pieces are all in black and white, because of the black and white films I watched when I was little.”
“I have always had a passion for film,” exposed the female director. “I love the idea of timeless pieces that feel the old world and the stories behind them. The little films I make about art, that’s where I get to be colorful.” Art becomes personal, tangible pieces evoking feeling to whoever becomes the beholder, Burrowes understands that art affects viewers in a variety of ways – including her own works. “It’s quite overwhelming sometimes. People send me long beautiful letters and messages about how the work has affected them. And that means more to me than anything else.”
Looking toward the future of digital work and forward to sharing it all with her online community, the Aussie creative wants to bring her love of films and filmmaking to the world of Instagram for those that want to be a part of something real. “I started doing film and screenwriting courses at university, but they told us we’d be lucky if 1 out of 200 got a job in the industry, and the chances of ever seeing your own work on a big screen were one-in-a-million,” Burrowes addressed. Seeing this as a tough break, it was not the end of the road, but rather the beginning of a new journey. “I started making short 1-2 minute films on Instagram to tell the stories behind the artwork I was creating; but the films started getting longer and longer, to the point where I went, well, fuck it, can we bring them to the big screen? I feel like the inspiration behind the work is just as important as the art itself.”
We are truly watching the art unfold.
“I love the idea of timeless pieces that feel old world and the stories behind them. The little films I make about art, that’s where I get to be colorful.”
“I find my inspiration in Wes Anderson films, black and white movies, Paris, old movie posters and the art direction of 1940s vogue and 1960s playboys,” explains twenty-eight-year-old Charli Burrowes - artist, filmmaker and all-around creative. The Brisbane native, having been raised in what she describes as the “country,” but to us in the states being the Australian Outback, spent her childhood reading and watching 80s VHS tapes via her mother’s video store. Clearly Burrowes was destined to make art, “I had a little art shed outside to make a mess in,” laughed the Brisbanite.
While many discovered inner artistic abilities later in life, for Burrowes it began as early as preschool. “When I was five, I went to an art gallery with my preschool and got a little bit lost for a while on my own,” reminisced the artist. “When my teachers finally found me, in front of a large complicated piece, they asked where I’d been and I told them quite happily ‘I’d been in the painting’, then proceeded to list everything I’d done there – in detail. My teachers must have thought I was bonkers – wild little imagination. I always loved finding stories in the artwork.”
As an artist, creative and bona fide storyteller in the age of digital space and Instagram, Burrowes has solidified a loyal cult following since her debut exhibition. Her most recent film, Bloom Girl, premiered amongst multiple cinemas, each cultivating a crowd of more than two-hundred collectors and fans, including the likes of Kerrie Hess, Yorke, and Feki, with tickets, sold out in just twenty minutes – a film she describes as being “the middle finger to corporate film studios and society”.
Q & A with Charli:
BODE Magazine: What does fashion mean to you?
Charli Burrowes: Everything! It’s self-expression at its best.
BM: Describe your personal style. Do your artistic endeavors play a role in your fashion?
CB: Absolutely. I’m always going through phases – at the moment it’s a bit Courtney Love meets Bardot. Probably because my next series is inspired by those two women. I tend to wear what I’m working on.
BM: Native to Australia, have you noticed any differences in art and fashion amongst the different countries?
CB: Only that fashion here is very slick and less colorful at the moment, and fashion in Europe is booming with color.
BM: What is your go-to fashion look? What about your beauty look?
CB: Big thick lashes and a honey brown lip, teased updo and black velvet bow. A little Bardot.
BM: What is next for Charli Burrowes?
CB: A book. Hopefully out by the end of the year!