Charlie-Anne Hopkins "Bandit"

Charlie-Anne Hopkins (MT)

Bandit
glazed stoneware
5 x 2 x 3.5 inches

Charlie-Anne Hopkins holds an MFA in Sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute.

“My practice is deeply rooted in place. By foraging materials to create inks, sculptures, and works on paper, I establish a direct and tangible relationship with the land. This process ties my practice to the physical landscape in an intimate and evolving way, transforming natural materials into pieces that reflect both personal experience and broader ecological narratives.

My work explores the profound and often unsettling experience of witnessing climate change in real-time. Living in the Western United States, I am acutely aware of the rapid transformations taking place—wildfires, droughts, and shifting ecosystems—each leaving an indelible mark on the land and on my own sense of belonging. My pieces function as gestures of simultaneous surrender and defiance, embodying the tension between mourning and resilience. As I grapple with an increasing sense of solastalgia, my practice becomes a way to process grief while also resisting narratives of helplessness.

The imagery and subject matter I engage with stem from my deep interest in dismantling patriarchal tropes of the American West. I challenge the myths of rugged individualism and conquest that have long defined the region’s cultural identity, instead offering alternative perspectives that emphasize interdependence, adaptation, and reverence for the land. By weaving together history, ecology, and materiality, my work invites a reconsideration of place—not as something to be dominated or possessed, but as something to be in relationship with.”