In her latest body of work Charity Baker presents a series of paintings that explore a dreamlike realm where women, plants, and flowers converge within lush, symbolic compositions. Set against the atmospheric backdrop of an urban industrial landscape, the works are infused with the erotic glow of neon lights spilling from nearby sex shops—casting an otherworldly illumination that is both seductive and surreal.
Rooted in classical forms and layered with references to art history, the paintings create tension between the natural and the artificial, the sensual and the ideal. While many of the works are large-scale, enveloping the viewer in a field of ocean blue tones, a selection of smaller, more intimate pieces offers a counterpoint—delicate studies that echo the same themes in quieter register: oppression of women and the degradation of the environment are not separate issues but are interconnected and arise from the same underlying power dynamics.
Using a combination of graphite, oil paint, and pastel Charity works in a process that is as much about removal as it is about application. Much of the work is executed alla prima, with gestures layered and then partially erased or pulled back, creating surfaces that feel both immediate and eroded—imbued with the presence of what was once there. Together, the works invite the viewer into a world of mythic intimacy and raw sensuality, where figures bloom and dissolve in a suspended, oceanic haze.
Charity Baker is a painter based in Brooklyn, New York. Formally trained in architecture at Pratt
Institute, Baker later earned her M.F.A. from the New York Studio School where she is currently
a faculty member and Working Artist in Residence. She is the recipient of several awards,
including the Mercedes Matter/Ambassador Middendorf Prize, the Hohenberg Travel Grant, and
summer residencies in Caernarfon Wales UK and Chautauqua, NY. Her paintings describe
vulnerability within an emerging vision of the sublime, a zone of powerful landscapes andfigures defining a future Arcadia. Baker’s work resides in collections nationwide.
Charity Baker, Female Bathers, 112 x 56 inches, Oil, graphite, pastel on canvas, 2025
Charity Baker, Ranunculus, 80 x 66 inches, oil on canvas, 2025
Charity Baker, Venus II, 30 x 22 inches, oil, graphite and pastel on paper, 2025
Charity Baker, Residence, 80 x 66 inches, oil, graphite, pastel on canvas, 2025
Charity Baker, Studio Plants, 30 x 22 inches, oil on canvas, 2025