this modest flower began as a student at Central Saint Martins. The scenes created in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ are a culmination of this initial spark, each work striking in its individuality and yet emblematic of a larger whole, a visual allegory for humankind and battles won and lost. In this exhibition, the artist takes on a variety of roles: Raven is much less a painter than a gardener, nurturing the earth from the roots upwards, or a concert conductor arranging a complex symphony of colour, subject and materials. ‘The Eleventh Hour’ is Raven’s call to action for the observer, urging them to take on an active role in these vigorous and experiential works. Paintings become theatre sets in which scenes grow and develop, dependent on the seasons or time of day. Raven not only invites her viewers to perpetuate this artistic narrative but to accompany her on a journey which is both physical and emotional. Echoing Jackson Pollock and the Action Painters of the mid-twentieth century, both artist and observer participate in a multisensory experience. In scenes that are alive and raw with violence and passion, we are presented with the uneasy circumstances of poppy growth and the reality of our collective history. Scarlett Raven possesses a style and talent which is all her own and yet, like so many young artists, visual comparisons with other practitioners are seemingly unavoidable. Raven has been termed a “Van Gogh in the making”, ostensibly for her unflinching rendering of the natural world and almost sculptural handling of paint. Like Van Gogh before her, she is guided by her materials and, ultimately, guided by her heart. Furthermore, the complex physicality of her work is reminiscent of German artist Anselm Kiefer, a painter and sculptor who like Raven, utilises objects and media rich in history and symbolism - rope, dust, wood, fabric, wax - to create work which, despite its often heavy structure, holds the most fragile of meanings. For Scarlett Raven, her biggest influence and inspiration comes from the very earth we inhabit and the world which surrounds us: nature is at the heart of every work she creates. It is here then that the roads meet, a convergence at last between the fields of Northern Europe, the lives lost on battle grounds across the centuries, a young woman in possession of a rare artistic talent and nature, encapsulated in one of its most curious creations, the poppy. It is foremost an emblem of remembrance, but the poppies which feature in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ at Castle Fine Art Mayfair are ultimately hopeful, representative of the life which follows death, and the triumph of natural beauty over the ugliest of manmade scars.
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