Along the way, Charles developed a style of work that references a diverse spectrum of influences including the natural textures and colour palettes that surrounded him during his upbringing in Australia, cellular and crystalline morphology that emerged in the electron microscopy projects from his earlier career to more recent interests such as the extraordinary range of intriguing patterns found in aerial photographs that result from unintentional interactions between industrial and agricultural land usage and natural landforms.
Eschewing traditional methods due to his unusual path into making, Charles embraces material and process exploration to develop furniture, lighting and design objects inspired by the varying ways in which people respond to the textures, colours and structures of the natural world.
He's interested in the manner in which small fluctuations shape our perception of form and the inferences we draw and seeks resonance points on continuums of variation where an object can transition from unbalanced or awkward to graceful through a process of incremental alterations in a given characteristic.
With each creation, he seeks a balance between ambiguity and familiarity, interlinking form, colour, and texture to provoke curiosity in the observer.
Mostly favouring physical models and prototypes over sketching, Charles alternates between material experimentation and making with each aspect feeding back into the other in an incremental developmental process that is deliberately detached from any notion of a final destination or function.
He creates test pieces, models and maquettes using an array of materials and processes in his studio, bringing together the physicality of the hand-worked sculpting, casting and texturing materials with the detail and precision of digital fabrication techniques.
The new Gyre table lamp series encapsulates many of these elements of his practice, combining a careful study of sculptural form with an intensive process of experimentation to develop a unique self-coloured texture that mimics the variety found in natural textures.
