Charles Monkhouse

I am an artist working in rural and public spaces to create permanent installations and temporary light works.

The permanent installations are developed with surrounding communities. So Sites of Meaning, which marked the seventeen entrances to Middleton and Smerrill, was created with local parishioners while in Companion Stones poets and artists of the Peak District paired twelve historic guide stoops of Derbyshire with contemporary sculptures.

The lightworks explore and articulate space on buildings and in landscape working with LEDs controlled by microchips, GPS and radio. Operating under the cover of dark, revealing what is hidden by the light of day, the installations create a set of visual koans that query the static gaze, and challenge the very act of seeing.

This year I have been developing Brocken Spectre with the support of an Arts Council grant. Brocken spectres are a rare but beautiful interplay between light and mist, that place an iridescent glory around the shadow of the viewer’s head. Brocken Spectre’s first public showing was at Rievaulx Abbey during Holy Week 2017. 

My work responds to and finds its meaning in its context and location. To this end, I work with local stakeholders who inform and enrich the final outcomes. Partners have included English Heritage, the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, Peak District National Park Authority, National Trust, local schools and communities, and professional artists and writers.