Brooke Marchel

Brooke Marchel is a Sydney based artist that specialises in oil painting. Her practice focuses on how ideas derived from Romanticism can be used in conjunction with the motif of drapery to amplify the contemporary storytelling and cinematic potential of painting. In her practice she creates intimate, small-scale paintings that infer a narrative through the theatrical depiction of isolated figures. Brooke is interested in painting on materials that serve as a conceptual facilitator and heighten the narrative qualities of the imagery. This interest led her to using books as a surface for her paintings as they embody her concepts of storytelling and the intimacy of the compositions she paints. She is also interested in invoking a lingering human presence without reliance on manifesting the figure. She does this by depicting scenes that include signifiers such as uninhabited drapery and warm lighting.

 

Drawing inspiration from artists such as Bill Henson and Andrew Cranston, Brooke uses darkness and chiaroscuro lighting to depict contemporary narratives with a nostalgic mood. Her goal is for her viewers to feel a personal and empathetic connection with her work, as her paintings focus on the shared intimacies of human experiences and represent human subjects and lifestyles.