At the intersection of abstraction and objectivity, Achaintre works with materials like wool, ceramic and watercolour that enable a spontaneous, intuitive approach. Constants in her seemingly animate oeuvre are the masquerade, the dark, mysterious and uncanny.

Both thematically and formally, the artist explores Central European carnival and Mardi Gras customs. Influences from horror and science fiction find their way into her creative work as does her examination of how ethnological collections are presented in museums. Achaintre’s work contains art historical references to German Expressionism, to Primitivism, to the Arts & Crafts movement and to Fauvism.

Caroline Achaintre was born in Toulouse (FR) in 1969. She was raised in Fürth (DE) and, after training as a blacksmith, completed degrees at the Chelsea College of Arts and at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has exhibited at Tate Britain, the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Turin, the Saatchi Gallery in London, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris as well as the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead (UK), among others. The artist lives and works in London.