Artist Database

Erin Chaplin’s work is a deeply personal and reflective. She draws her initial inspiration from her longstanding muse, nature, but reaches further – in reaction to social doctrine and in an exploration of human vulnerability – and into abstraction. Her range of subject matter – from still lifes and portraits to geometric abstraction – is a reflection of her insatiable fascination with every facet of life.

Chaplin studies the relationship between the natural and the artificial in her work, striving to capture the poignancy of youth as it fades – fresh fruit and flowers as they slowly rot. In response to the challenging nature of the genre, the still-life works are executed in a combination of muted tones and unexpected, contrived colours. The contrast of these tones creates a dynamism in the work that entices and surprises the viewer. In her impasto paintings, a metaphor grows to encapsulate the delicate rawness and vulnerability of the human condition as we grapple with life as it unfolds.

Chaplin was born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, in 1988. She is a self-taught artist. She has exhibited both locally and internationally. In 2022 she attended a residency in Sintra, Portugal. She currently lives in Cape Town.

Biography courtesy of Everard Read.