Charlotte C Mortensson + Erika Winstone
Only Love (CCM+EW)
Lion Order (CCM)
Oliver Deliver (CCM)
Only Love (EW)
I was very moved when I watched the beautiful footage Erika had created as a response to my segments of film. Her own painting, Only Love, and the graceful qualities of the fox echo the strength and vulnerability of the Rastafarian musician Oliver Deliver and the symbolism of the Lion of Judah. I’d wanted to use elements from a video called Lion Order, filmed in Trench Town last year, as the basis of my contribution. Lion Order is about the continuing presence of Rastafarian culture and music in Trench Town. Humanity and place, music and movement, are also important threads in Erika’s work. The collaborative process felt intuitive from the outset. There was never any need for phone calls or Zoom meetings and we reached our conclusions in just four emails. Early on in the project, Erika suggested the title, Only Love, which perfectly summed up what I’d hoped our combined work would communicate. For me, our new video powerfully connects the fragility, vitality and spirituality of Trench Town to those same precious elements within our own society.
– Charlotte C Mortensson
I was delighted when Charlotte asked if I’d like to collaborate with her to make work for Spiritual Exercises 2. We already knew each other as fellow members of The London Group and I love Charlotte’s photographs especially those of graffiti taken during her many in-depth working visits to Jamaica. Charlotte generously offered me her film Lion Order to work with which she sent me with some background information about the people filmed in it, who she knows well. I proposed I would paint from this, and mix moments from Lion Order with further footage which I recorded in response. In the early eighties, I regretted having been unable to accept an invitation to visit Jamaica to stay with a friend’s family. However, this experience working with Charlotte’s film has been a privilege, allowing me to work with her insights and experience, and the opportunity to connect with the energy and spiritual connection the film contains.
– Erika Winstone
Charlotte C Mortensson charlottecmortensson.com @ curate_ccebm
