Origins Creatives 2024: Meet the Curator

Before we open the submissions for the Origins Creatives 2024 exhibition, we have spoken to this year's curator, Charlie Levine, about why she decided to return to this event, her own creative background and what she is looking for when selecting pieces for Origins Creatives 2024.

Could you tell us about how you got into curating and a bit more about your creative background?

I got into curating through a BA in Photography where I learnt about ‘the frame’ and how context changes the reading of an image. Both of these things I still research as part of my curatorial practice. After my BA I moved home and started working at the local contemporary art gallery whilst doing my MA in Curating. After which I set up my own independent space, TROVE, and learnt my trade by doing. I really learnt through getting it right, and importantly through getting it wrong.  I was very lucky that I had a wonderful local network of creatives who did, and still do, support me and I grew from there. For me then and these emerging creatives now, our networks and peer group are often what keep us going.

We’re really excited to have you back as the curator of the Origins Creatives 2024. What made you want to be a part of the exhibition again this year?

I was so inspired last year by the quality of the work, the Origins Creatives production team and the energy of the artists when I met them - as well as many of their parents, that it was an easy ‘ yes, please’ to be involved again. I think it’s such a wonderful opportunity to offer these emerging creatives such a professional experience and see their work taken seriously outside of an educational space. I hope it’s inspiring and confidence boosting for them.

Why do you think that it is so important that young creatives can have the opportunity to showcase their artwork at an exhibition like this?

Because quite often creatives exist outside of an audience. Artists don’t tend to make work to be seen, they create because they have to, it’s just part of their identity and private emotional discovery. Bedroom artists and those that have a creative talent nurtured through education or hobbyist habits doesn’t mean that their work isn’t important and, for such emerging creatives, an insight into the next generation. It’s important, for me, that these artists get taken seriously and can showcase their talents to wider audiences and to see the potential of a career in the creative industries.

What are you most looking forward to seeing from the students’ work this year?

I think what I learnt last year was the students were so raw with their emotions and generous to share that part of themselves through their artwork, so I am looking forward to that - to understanding how people are feeling right now in a difficult global time.

We're excited to announce that this year’s Origins will be hosted at the Mall Galleries. What are you most looking forward to about the space?

The Mall Galleries is going to be a totally different feel to last year's exhibition in Shoreditch because of its location in central London, on the doorsteps of the National Gallery and Mayfair's commercial gallery scene. I am excited for the artists involved to see their work elevated to the level of their art neighbours, as well as being able to experience a creative centre in London when they visit the show.