Category: Artist Interviews

By Lauren Parsons

Exploring Creative Visions – Interview with General Blimey

 

Phil (a.k.a General Blimey) is a Birmingham-based illustrator. Through his work he delves into the essence of the everyday by peeking through windows or vacant doorways in local establishments, as well as refashioning the identity of familiar objects.

 

Creating art that reflects what he sees everyday has always been a preoccupation for Phil. As he explains, “I had this idea for ages where I’d film a spot, keeping the camera dead still. There wasn’t much that took place, a cloud might float over and change the light or cast a shadow.

 

“But that’s where the idea of the stage comes in – nothing is happening in this scene but you know it has done, or it will do. Someone might be sick there or someone might propose there, or it could flood.”

 

“I am more bothered with where things have happened, the spaces that things could happen inside of rather than the actual happenings themselves.”

 

Whilst Phil’s art underscores the significance of the stage above its actors, much of his inspiration is derived from human endeavour.

 

Very soon into our conversation, he explains how the music he listened to growing up not only provided a backdrop to his daily life but also played a significant role in shaping the art he created. 

 

Bands like Blur, The Jam & The Kinks. All Britpop greats who used a combination of humorous, satire-laden lyrics and unpolished sounds to broach many of the social, cultural and even political issues of their day. Garnering them considerable popularity amongst the working class & youth cultures in Britain around the 1960-90s.

 

 

Over 40 years later, they were providing a soundtrack for Phil growing up in a largely working-class suburb of the Black Country in the 2000s. 

 

Today, their influence is still indelible in Phil’s art. In the same way his favourite bands used the medium of music  to provide a sort of cultural commentary, he uses art as a means of better understanding his own reality. Every choice he makes, from his artistic inspirations down to his own subject matter – is based on how well he can relate to it.     

 

 

Take for example, the work of one of his artistic inspirations George Shaw, who captures ultra realistic urban landscapes in minute detail.

 

“He uses model aircraft paint, which means that his works are really fine, and can capture every last detail. He can show if it is a particularly muggy day or if it has just rained. The places he depicts feel very familiar too – like streets I’d walk down on a daily basis.”

 

Using these techniques Shaw perfectly renders the way streetlights bounce off wet pavement, how this reflects back in a window on a particularly grey day, or even the feeling of warm, heavy air. 

 

Many of his works depict the streets of Coventry – a city whose suburbs are emblematic of many regions in the UK, marked by the prevalence of Brutalist structures stemming from a surge of post-war reconstruction projects happening across the country from the 1950s through to the 80s. 

 

If George Shaw captures the exterior of everyday life, Patrick Caulfield, whose techniques have  had a big impact on Phil, brings the focus inside.

 

“Caulfield is a big influence in terms of how I present the subject, especially in how he takes a similar photographic approach.”

 

It is clear to see Phil’s affinity with Caulfield’s prints and paintings. Whether it’s in his application of bold colours on almost photorealistic yet consistently simple interior scenes. Or in how he plays with the light contributed by an open doorway and the possibilities of what’s lurking around a corner.

 

 

Phil explores similar ideas in one of his most popular commissions, the facade of Snobs. Even the mere uttering of this hallowed institute will cause many people in their twenties or thirties to shudder. 

 

However, this is a club with a long history, having been visited by generations of West Midland-ers. It is an iconic building (and wall of faces). As well as a vital step in every local Gen-X/Millenial/Gen-Z’s coming-of-age story.

 

Phil struggled with the decision to create the piece in what is, an age-old struggle for artists juggling commissions with their own art practice. He felt as if he was plucking the Birmingham artist’s equivalent of ‘low hanging fruit’. Feeling as if “It was too obvious – so obvious it felt like I was creating click-bait content.”

 

Biting the bullet, he ended up creating a piece which proved a popular print amongst his wider community – and with that, more versions of the original commission have followed.

 

 

What made the piece popular is that, for locals, it felt familiar, almost nostalgic. Viewers were transported back to old memories just by looking at Phil’s Snobs, with its windows crowded with loud club posters.

 

Phil’s portfolio doesn’t stop at buildings. Some of Phil’s more recent, and equally eye-catching works are inspired by tattoo flashsheets. 

 

One that initially caught my eye featured a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer – a chocolate caramel snack created in 1947.

 

 You can still find it in the snack aisle of any supermarket today, in what looks like the same wrapping it’s always been in – an iconic red and gold striped foil.

 

However, within Phil’s print the Tunnocks Caramel Wafer is no longer a chocolate bar. Rebranded, it sits beside its newfound comrades a cafetiere, a candlestick & a lucky cat (Maneki-neko), amongst other objects.

 

 

Recolouring the objects in a dappled, inky blue, Phil relinquishes them from their original function. They can now be anything – part of a tattoo flash-sheet, a collection of postage stamps, a Lego construction manual or what Phil refers to as ‘the ingredients of your day’.   

 

Whether it’s through his “Rear Window-inspired” approach to buildings, looking beyond their initial flatness to peer into a window or catch the last glimpse of a shadow rounding a corner. Or in his collections of everyday objects, regrouped and repurposed with an identity that exceeds their functionality. 

 

Phil’s art seamlessly balances between  the realms of the familiar and the unique. Paying homage to the everyday by, as he explains it: “applying the same lens that you see a beautiful sunset through, to the handle of someone’s favourite cup or the roof of a building they walk past everyday.”

 

As the pioneer of the Super Ordinary Life movement, Yasumi Toyoda puts it: “there’s [just] something unexpectedly addictive in seeing the familiar through fresh eyes”.

 

You can find Phil’s work here.

 

You can follow him here.

By Zoë Goetzmann

Discovering Artistic Inspiration: Interview with Katya Ilina

 

This week on Cosimo Studio Tours, we traveled to Wembley to visit artist and photographer, Katya Ilina (in her lovely backyard garden turned studio on a gorgeous, rare sunny London day). 

Katya is a London artist working in the portrait, fashion and observational photography genres and landscapes. Her artistic practice explores themes related to identity and gender expression. Informed by Katya’s own multicultural perspective, she is inspired by, “the human condition,”  as she writes in her own artistic statement, “in the context of social and cultural change.”

In this interview, we delve into Katya’s artistic journey, her photography practice, how she uses photography to tell an artistic narrative, “imposter syndrome,” as well as the importance of an artistic community. We also speak about two of Katya’s projects – one focusing on her travels photographing female Muay Thai fighters in Thailand. 

Katya studied Photography at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and the University of Westminster. She also studied Business of Entertainment and Management  in the UCLA Extension (which we speak about a bit on in this podcast interview). Her works have been featured in and by the BBC, The Guardian, Creative Review, The Royal Photographic Society Journal, PhMuseum. 

Her selected commissions include: Dazed and WeTransfer. She has exhibited globally at the International Photography Exhibition 163, The Royal Photographic Society (Bristol, UK) in 2022, Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, The National Portrait Gallery), Cromwell Place (London, UK) in 2023, Full, Seoul Creators Series, Vofol Art Gallery (South Korea) in 2019 and Empty, Seoul Creators Series, Vofol Art Gallery (South Korea) in 2018. 

Listen to the full podcast here.

Zoë: So, the first question we like to ask is about your artist’s story. Tell us how you became an artist. What led you to this creative journey?

Katya: It was a long road. Initially, I pursued a marketing business degree based on my parents’ wishes, but photography, film, and art were always my hobbies.

I spent my free time attending exhibitions, watching old films—anything that interested me. This went on for about seven or eight years. Then, while living in Los Angeles and being surrounded by musicians and artists, I felt inspired to make photography and art my main focus.

Spending time with creative people I enjoyed being around made it clear that pursuing a career in the arts was the right choice for me.

Zoë: I didn’t know about your time in Los Angeles. What was that experience like, living and working there compared to the creative atmosphere in London? Do you have any memorable or funny experiences from the artistic landscapes in both cities?

Katya: Well, the first time I lived in London was in 2013, 2014. That’s when I was working in marketing, and most of my friend circles were just people with regular office jobs.

So, it was quite a simple way of life. Most people who work in offices just go to work and maybe go to museums on weekends.

After London, I moved to LA to study film at UCLA Extension, and I started the film business there.

My dream at the time was to work in the film business, and the course at UCLA was probably the best in the world, teaching practical skills.

Zoë: I think that was amazing. We had another artist, Anya, talking about how mythology influenced her. 

So, what sort of influences do you draw from? Can you mention films as well? Are there any inspiring films that inform your work and your style, and how you perceive your subjects?

Katya: I actually have a folder on my computer with screenshots I’ve taken over the years while watching movies.

It has been instrumental in helping me understand the things that interest me, such as fonts. In 2021, when I was researching for a project, I realized I was attracted to stories that challenge gender norms for both men and women.

Nowadays, there are many films that address these stories. For example, one film that stood out to me last year was “Our Flag Means Death.” It’s a comedy series by Taika Waititi, where he plays one of the main characters, but the American screenwriter whose name I forgot is the one who wrote it.

The story revolves around gay pirates, challenging the gender norms associated with pirates and how men interact on the ship. It was not only visually inspiring but also a captivating story about humanity.

Zoë: Photography and film offer different visual mediums for storytelling, allowing for various perspectives on gender expression. 

I’m curious if your background in film serves as a guiding influence in your practice. Do you have any other artistic influences, whether in the fine art or traditional art world?

Katya: Absolutely. There are many great cinematographers I admire, like Roger Deakins and Christopher Doyle.

I have a whole folder dedicated to incredibly beautiful shots from their movies. One film that comes to mind is “Happy Together” from 1997, directed by Wong Kar-wai. It’s a gay love story about two Chinese immigrants living in Buenos Aires.

The film explores the complexities of their relationship, self-discovery, and searching for identity in a foreign land. The visuals created by the cinematographer are stunning, perfectly capturing the essence of the story.

Zoë: Apart from film, do you express these concepts of gender expression and identity in your work? How do you convey them visually?

Katya: Body language and communication between myself and the model play a significant role in conveying these concepts.

I always collaborate with people who share the same values and perspectives on gender roles, including makeup artists and stylists. Together, we work on conveying the message through clothing, makeup, and overall appearance. It’s a combination of various elements.

Additionally, I often choose non-professional models, which brings a different dimension to the photographs.

Zoë: Does working with non-professional models make the process more natural and spontaneous?

Katya: Yes, exactly. It brings out a more spontaneous side. Professional models sometimes have a set number of poses they rely on, which they have used repeatedly in commercial shoots.

When someone is accustomed to doing things a certain way, it’s harder for them to model differently. Non-models, just like non-actresses in films, behave more naturally, with less self-awareness.

This lack of self-awareness often leads to the most genuine and authentic performances.

Zoë: Are there any specific shoots or natural shoots that come to mind from projects you’ve worked on that you can describe exemplifying this?

Katya: Well, besides the 2021 project, another major one that I’m still in the process of finishing is a documentary project I did in Thailand in February and March of this year.

It focused on female Muay Thai fighters. I’ve been a big fan of Muay Thai for years, and I even practiced it for two years during my time in Canada.

Through my coach there, I was introduced to someone in Thailand who could connect me to the Muay Thai community.

So I traveled to Thailand and photographed female fighters. The project involved both documentary and documentary portrait photography.

I initially visited a gym owned by a female professional fighter from the United States with Filipino origins.

The gym had a multicultural team with members from different backgrounds, including Vietnamese, American, and students from various countries. I documented their training sessions in a documentary style.

Through them, I was introduced to an older gym known for its female fighters. At this gym, I met fighters from Morocco, France, Switzerland, Brazil, and many other places. It was a fascinating and diverse experience meeting these fighters from around the world.

Muay Thai is a type of kickboxing known as the “art of eight limbs” because it incorporates punches, kicks, knees, and elbows.

It originated in Thailand in the 13th century as a martial art practiced by the army.

Due to centuries of conflicts with the Cambodian kingdom, it became deeply ingrained in Thai culture.

 Today, Muay Thai is popular worldwide, and Phuket, where I visited, is a hub for international fighters who come to train and improve their skills. Some fighters stay in Phuket for months or even years, training and then traveling to participate in international competitions.

In this project, my aim was to showcase inspiring women athletes who engage in a sport not typically associated with women in sports.

When people think of martial arts, they often think of male fighters like McGregor.

I wanted to highlight the dedication and strength of these female fighters and challenge gender stereotypes. It was a personal motivation for me as well, as I felt inspired to be more disciplined and focused after meeting these incredible individuals.

Zoë: So I guess as another final question, what do you love about photography and the stories you can tell through it, especially when combining it with digital elements and working in this landscape?

Katya: In addition to telling specific stories that personally inspire me, I love the beauty of photography itself.

I was initially drawn to fine art because of its formal characteristics. I find it interesting to appreciate art without knowing the context, and I also enjoy conceptual artworks that are like puzzles, where you have to delve deeper to find references.

As a viewer, I enjoy looking at art, and as an artist, I like creating those puzzles. I hope that people who view my work can spot different references and elements incorporated into the visuals.

Zoë: And what do you like about adding the digital aspect to your work? We’re entering a new digital landscape, so it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on that.

Katya: I think the digital aspect makes art more accessible. It allows you to do things that may not be physically possible or affordable otherwise.

For example, you can create a large photo studio with extensive set design using a computer, and it may even look better or different than the real thing.

AI technology also enables people to create visual content without needing a lot of resources. It opens doors for individuals who couldn’t afford to hire a crew or spend significant time producing, allowing them to tell their stories in digital ways.

Zoë: That’s very helpful. I think what you said about digital art being accessible is important. 

People may fear it because it’s a new form, but it allows creators from different fields to enter the traditional landscape and bridge gaps – at Cosimo we’re all about breaking down barriers so that’s great. 

Thanks so much for speaking with us today!

Katya: Thank you!

By Zoë Goetzmann 

Interview with Lorelei Linklater – Journey and Creativity

 

This week on Cosimo Studio Tours, we are bringing you a special interview with artist Lorelei Linklater. The episode was recorded and filmed at and with the help of the Motion Media Arts Centre (@austinschoolofilm) in Austin, Texas.

You can listen to the full interview here. 

Lorelei Linklater is a fine and digital artist. Her work focuses on realism. Lorelei’s practice stems from traditional painting, exploring cartoon-inspired drawings and illustrations, ‘GIFs’, textured collage, feminist influence, and experimental found sculpture. She received a B.F.A. from California College of the Arts and is working towards her M.F.A. at ArtCenter College of Design. Her solo exhibitions include ‘Chaotic Duality’ at the Motion Media Arts Center, ‘I Can Feel Her Staring’ at ALT Gallery, Eikasia at College Avenue Galleries in Oakland, California. In 2021, Lorelei exhibited her work in a group show, ‘Museum of the Future Present’ in Austin, Texas.

In this interview, we speak about Lorelei’s fine and digital artistic practices, how she expresses herself through her artwork, identity, her role as a female artist as well as the need for transparency in the art world. 

Zoe: So we’re here in Austin, Texas, at the Cosimo studio tours with artist Lorelei Linklater. 

We’re interviewing her from the Motion Media Center. Thank you, Lorelei, for being here. This setup is different from what we usually do, but it’s fun! 

Let’s dive into the first question. As an artist, everyone has their own journey and story. Can you share your artist story with us? How did you become an artist?

Lorelei: Well, I’ve been involved in art for as long as I can remember. I started as a child, and at some point, art became a way for me to capture things that couldn’t be expressed in words.

It became a therapeutic outlet for me.

Zoe: So, when did you realize that art was something you wanted to pursue more seriously? Was there a turning point in your life?

Lorelei: I think around the age of 13, I felt a strong connection to art. It was something I wanted to do, something I had confidence in, and something I felt was my calling and career path.

Zoe: Do you remember the first piece of art you ever created when you were younger? What was your main focus or subject?

Lorelei: There were many different pieces I created, and I’m not very good at describing them. Describing my work is perhaps a weakness of mine because I have always been better at communicating through visual means.

When I started painting as a child, I focused on a lot of animals, both real and imaginary. I experimented with collage and large words.

I wish I could show you some of my old pieces because I feel a bit shy talking about them.

Zoe: That’s actually helpful because it leads into your current art practice. Can you tell us more about your practice as both a fine artist and a digital artist? What mediums and themes do you explore?

Lorelei: I primarily identify as a painter, illustrator, and draftsman. The themes I explore involve coming to terms with death, the mystery of what happens after death, my own personal mythology, alternate worlds within worlds, and the concept of the multiverse theory.

I’m intrigued by the strangeness of reality and the interactions between beings. Additionally, aesthetics play a significant role for me. Painting has always been a visceral experience, and layering paint is an integral part of my process.

I often build up layers, but sometimes it diverges from my original intention. I end up sanding down a layer, adding another, erasing or getting frustrated.

For every successful painting, there are many more that I worked on for hours, days, or even years, but they never reached fruition because I overworked them.

It’s a process of trial and error, and sometimes I find myself oversaturating with grays or making too many changes that deviate from my initial vision.

Zoe: Okay, let’s focus on your realism paintings. What do you enjoy the most about creating realistic landscapes and urban landscapes? Can you share your process for those?

Lorelei: I see my realism paintings as a more calculated part of my art. They come from a different part of my brain, a more planned and geometric approach.

In a way, there is a right and wrong answer as I aim to achieve a specific outcome and mimic a certain reality, often based on photographs.

It’s a technique I have developed and honed over time through practice. I am drawn to buildings because I enjoy building up textures.

For these paintings, I usually work from photographs and strive to get everything right on the first try.

Zoe: Where do you find inspiration for your realism paintings? Are they based on your travels? I never asked about the actual locations.

Lorelei: They are inspired by various locations. Most of them are based on photos I have taken. I take a lot of photos, like anyone in the modern world with smartphones.

But I choose specific ones that have qualities fitting into the themes of my series. I take them everywhere I go, whether it’s during my travels in Europe, different places in Texas, California (especially LA and the Bay Area), or other locations. So yes, they are based on photos.

The process usually involves me looking at the photo, rendering it, and then painting it. The painting itself takes on a life of its own.

Zoe: Moving on to your abstract pieces, which are both paintings and digital works, including animation.

Lorelei: The process for my abstract pieces comes from a completely different place. It’s more of a right-brain approach.

When it comes to my digital work, I don’t think at all. I just let myself do it. I enter a state of zoning out, and something takes over. It’s almost like being possessed.

Part of me loves it, but part of me also hates it. It feels like I’m in a trance when I create digital art.

Zoe: Is that because the abstract nature of it allows you to let go and express yourself freely?

Lorelei: Yes, that’s part of it. With my digital work, I go into a sort of trance. As for my abstract paintings, it’s a different experience.

For them, the process itself is more important than the final result. I enjoy mixing different mediums that wouldn’t typically go together, such as inks, dyes, wall paint, and drippy acrylic paints.

I like observing the chemical reactions and how the paintings come together. Sometimes I lose myself in the process, and it becomes about the transient nature of what it looks like, even if it’s only seen by me.

Zoe: It’s interesting to hear about your creative flow. Other artists have described painting as a mood. For you, it seems like digital art is what triggers that manic trance-like state.

Lorelei: Yes, it’s a sort of manic trance, a different experience altogether.

Zoe: What do you love most about being an artist? If you could pick one thing, or it can be many things?

Lorelei: There are many things I love about being an artist. One thing that comes to mind is having something that is entirely my own in a world of uncertain outcomes.

In many aspects of life, we don’t have control and are dependent on various factors. But as an artist, I have complete control over what I create.

I can build my own world and bring something into existence that has never existed before. Some people say that everything has already been done, even with the advancements of AI.

While AI can produce things that may resemble art, there’s something unique and irreplaceable about human artistry. I believe there are aspects of art that AI will never be able to replicate. I hope that makes sense.

Zoe: I really appreciate hearing different artists’ perspectives on this question. It’s interesting to hear your thoughtful response.

Lorelei: Thank you. I’ve actually thought about this quite a bit, as I’m writing my thesis on it.

Zoe: Does that perspective align with your digital art, especially when you delve into abstract themes? Your body of work is extensive, so it’s challenging to narrow it down. But it seems to relate to the concept of existence and the infinite nature of digital art.

Lorelei: Yes, that’s a great observation. In my digital art, I do explore abstract themes and the infinite possibilities of the digital medium.

It allows me to explore and understand the concept of existence in unique ways.

Zoe: Finally, do you have any major artistic influences? I know you have many, but feel free to mention a few.

Lorelei: I have numerous artistic influences. One of my favorites is the medieval painter Hieronymus Bosch.

His work was ahead of its time, surreal, and intricately detailed, creating worlds within worlds.

While not all of my paintings are directly influenced by him, I appreciate capturing the complexity and abundance of detail in certain types of my artwork.

Images from Lorelei’s website

By Zoë Goetzmann

Interview with Anya Mokhova – A Glimpse into Creativity

 

This week on Cosimo Studio Tours, we head to West London to the studio of Anya Mokhova (@anya_mokhova). Anya is an artist who creates artwork from tallow, bee’s wax, soap, gold, and brass. With a passion for art history and media experimentation, her work draws on the traditions of fantasy and mythology, seeking to question the boundaries of the notion of existence: and exploring a narrative between the real and the metaphysical.

In this interview, we have a thought-provoking discussion about Anya’s work, her inspirations, authenticity, art world barriers, and its ‘snobbish elitism’ as well as how we can strive to create more of a community in the art world.

Anya Mokhova holds a Graduate Diploma from Chelsea College of Art & Design. She also holds a Master of Arts Degree from Chelsea College of Art & Design. Some of her most notable art exhibitions include: New Japan (exhibited by Solyanka VPA), The Impossible is Inevitable (exhibited at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre), MYTHS (shown at the 6th Moscow International Biennale For Young Art Parallel Programme) and How Can one Tell the Artist from Her Art (shown at the 7th Moscow International Biennale For Young Art Parallel Programme). Her solo exhibitions include The Intimacy of Vision (exhibited by CUT CUT Gallery) and In the Depths of Reflection (exhibited at the Regency Town House, Brighton). Her works have also been exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Student Show in 2017.

Currently, she is working on artwork for 4BYSIX –  an organisation which, according to their mission seeks “to bring new life” to “retired London buses.” Through this initiative, 4BYSIX looks for artists to create pieces of art using this recycled material.

Listen to the interview in full via our podcast.

Zoe: Thank you for being here. As always, could you start by telling us your artist’s story? How did you become an artist?

Anya: Thank you for inviting me! So the first thing we’re going to talk about is probably my creative path and how I happened to become an artist.

And as it happens, sometimes with some people, I was just drawing, like from the age of three or four, I was drawing every day.

And that’s what I was enjoying.

Basically, art was my favorite subject in school and kindergarten. So, at some point, as an additional, you know, like courses that you get after school, I applied for an arts school for children. So I was doing that for a few years.

And then at some point, I had to decide on my career path. So as art, at that point in time, seemed very intricate as a profession, so I had to choose something a bit more stable, which was design and architecture.

So that’s how I got my first BA degree, a very classical one from academia. But then I decided that I really wanted to get the contemporary approach to that. So I decided to move to London to study at Chelsea College.

And the first thing I did, I applied for an interior design course. And the director of the course was Peter Stickland.

And he had this particular methodology when you would not design the space with all the layouts and visualizations and images, you would actually create a book with a journey through that space. So everyone was really excited about the conceptual side of that course.

And I decided to go for a master’s. And then during the master’s, with all the fantastic workshops at Chelsea, I really returned to making things by hand, sculpting by hand, working with materials.

And at that point, I just decided that I love to speak and explore ideas about people and the spaces they’re in. But I decided that’s something I want to do through sculpting, through making objects. And that’s how I became an artist.

Zoë: Okay, perfect. And can you walk us through your practice? What is your artistic practice, and what media do you work with?

Anya:

So, yeah, like 12 years ago, I started working with wax. And I found it absolutely fascinating. The way it works with temperature, the way it bends when it’s hot, the way you can actually shape and form it with your hands, especially if you put it in hot water.

I was so excited about that material. And at the same time, I was working with metal, so I started working with brass.

And so 12 years ago, these two materials, which I merged together in one sculpture, became probably the foundation of my practice.

So my practice is very much about having a rigid structure. And for that, I would normally use brass sheets or brass rods.

One thing that I love about being an artist is the ability to create fantastical worlds and immerse myself in another reality.

I enjoy working with materials that can transform and appear as something they are not, like soap resembling marble or tallow resembling marble. It allows me to tell stories that are metaphysical, fantastical, and mysterious.

I often draw inspiration from personal events in my life and connect them to mythology and mythical thinking, where people associated themselves with the forces of nature.

For example, in my current project, I explore the mythological ways animals were mummified or connected to mythical creatures or gods. I mix various cultures in my research, not just European mythology.

As for my upbringing, I was influenced by the close connection to myth in the region I come from, where beliefs in creatures from the forest, fields, mountains, and lakes were still present.

It felt like a complete reality to me as a child. Being an artist allows me to embody different narratives and stories, living out my fantasies through my work.

Zoë: That’s wonderful. It really shows how artists have a unique connection to stories and narratives, allowing them to bring their personal experiences and imagination to life. 

Now, let’s discuss your experience in art school. Were there any positive lessons or aspects you gained from attending art school? And on the flip side, were there any challenges or negative aspects you encountered?

Anya: I thoroughly enjoyed learning and had a great time in art school. The availability of resources like workshops and libraries was fantastic.

I relished the opportunity to dive into them, sometimes waking up at six in the morning to visit the library or spending hours in the workshop.

Another positive aspect was the sense of community. Surrounding myself with like-minded individuals who share a passion for art and creativity was inspiring. It provided a supportive environment where I could explore my thoughts and ideas.

On the negative side, I found my experience with obtaining an academic degree a bit tedious. The focus was mostly on technical aspects, and there were limited opportunities to explore and express creative ideas.

Originality and authenticity were not actively encouraged. However, I still value having that academic foundation and the ability to draw proficiently.

Despite the limitations, art school allowed me to expand my mind and experiment, which I believe is a fundamental aspect of the artistic journey.

Zoë: If you could pick one thing that you like about being an artist – that can be several – what is one thing that you love about being an artist?

Anya: I think it’s about the freedom to be authentic. You don’t have to conform or fit into a certain mold. You can truly be yourself and explore your true self. I find that really cool, and it’s something that’s hard to achieve in other professions, to be honest.

Zoë: It is very hard. Well, I love that you said that. You’re the second person who mentioned that authenticity is key for artists. 

When it comes to your work, how do you find that authenticity?

Anya: I believe it comes through constant experience, just by doing it consistently. Finding your own style, the way you look, the way your work looks, and even the methods you use.

It takes a lot of time and can only be discovered through experimentation. You can’t just sit down and declare, “This is my style.” It evolves through the journey that an artist goes through. In my experience, it has taken many years.

When I started, I used an unusual mix of wax and brass, but as my projects developed, I had to explore and experiment with more materials and techniques.

Over the years, through all these projects, I’ve refined and defined my style. But it’s always a constant process of growth and change.

Zoë: Definitely. And, what is one thing you with people knew about what it was like to be an artist about your the experience of being an artist? 

Anya: What I think I think people should really understand is that artists do need support. I’m not talking about just financial things, you know, but actually, sometimes hearing a good word about your work, not being criticized… being supported.

I mean, it’s really nice to hear that what you’re doing – somebody likes that.

And of course, artists, we work from our hearts.

So it’s very sad to hear when somebody’s criticizing your work.

Zoë: Do you have any insights or advice for other emerging artists or people just starting out, about how to navigate the different levels?

Anya: I definitely have some advice for young, emerging artists. To be honest, I always want to emphasize the importance of staying true to yourself.

Building a career as an artist takes time, it’s impossible to become a famous, popular artist who exhibits in galleries and art fairs in just one or two years. You need time to find your own artistic language.

Zoë: And as for your day-to-day practice, because you also work as an educator, how do you balance the artistic and business aspects of your work? How do you manage your day-to-day activities?

Anya: Well, what I do is I try to plan everything out. But the majority of my day is actually spent on communication rather than making art.

I spend time finding projects, applying for grants, competitions, and opportunities. The best part is when I get those opportunities.

I also enjoy working out the logistics, calculating how much I need to spend on materials and organizing everything. I love planning, drawing on my wall, and putting things in order.

But when it comes to the actual creation process, I don’t do everything by hand.

I rely on communication with production sites and places where I can order materials or get work done for me.

So, the majority of my day is spent on the phone or on my laptop. That’s the reality of the job.

Zoë: Is there any other advice that you would give to an artist just starting out and embarking aside from staying true to yourself? 

Anya: Experiment. I think that I did find my artistic voice simply because people easily recognize when the work is mine.

Even if it’s made from different materials, they start knowing easily that this is done as work.

So I think this is something that tells me that probably found my voice.

By Zoë Goetzmann 

Artist Spotlight – Interview with James Robert Morrison

 

This week on Cosimo Studio Tours, we head down to James Robert Morrison’s studio in southeast London. Born in Elgin, Scotland, James is an artist whose artwork stems from personal experience. 

The artist aims to reflect on the pivotal experience of discovering an individual’s sexuality and the journey that they must take when it comes to understanding, accepting, and valuing it. 

His pencil and cigarette paper, or ‘Fag Series’, entitled ‘There’s Never More Than a Fag Paper Between Them’, engages directly with the subject matter through which he depicts and captures LGBTQ plus couples and intimate yet tender moments. 

In this interview, we speak all about his process, his delicate drawn creations, representation, queer artistic perspective,  working in the commercial gallery and government art sectors, as well as how emerging artists can build and shape their professional careers.

You can listen to the full interview on our podcast here.

Zoë: Thank you, James, for being here and taking the time to speak with me.

James: Yeah, thanks. No problem. It’s nice to have you.

Zoë: I’m so excited because we’ve known each other through art world events, and I really admire your work. I got to see your previous work, so I’m excited to speak about where you are now. 

So, to delve in, I like to start each interview by asking about an artist’s story. Essentially, how did you get into this career? How did you choose to become an artist? 

James: So both my sister and I are kind of the creative people in our family. She’s two years older than me, and we’re also very close. I think growing up, she kind of encouraged me to be creative.

Then in primary school, an art teacher must have said to me, “You know, you’re good at drawing or something.” When someone tells you that you’re good at something that you actually like doing, it kind of makes it even better.

So then in secondary school, I studied art. I chose to do Scotland standard grade, which is like GCSE, and I also did higher, which is like A-level, which I really enjoyed.

They were also really encouraging. I knew I wanted to go to university, and I knew it was art school I wanted to go to, but I don’t think I ever said out loud to anyone that I wanted to be an artist.

I probably said graphic designer because there were more job opportunities and my mom would have been less concerned about me being a graphic designer than an artist.

Then I went off to study straight from high school and did my degree in Fine Art at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. In Scotland, it’s slightly different than London.

So your first year, you do kind of everything: painting, sculpture, printmaking, graphic design, textiles, and product design.

Then at the end of the first year, you specialize in something for the next three years. For me, I’d always wanted to do painting. The painting course is the most popular, and you might not get it, but luckily, I got it. I did painting for three years.

When I finished, I knew I wanted to do an MA in London at one of the big schools. So I had a difficult final year; I couldn’t really make what I wanted to make in my head. Even on the last day of the final show, I was still making a painting, which ended up being the most popular one. I got the 2:1 I needed to do the MA, and in the summer, I basically phoned around to ask if anyone had spaces.

Central Saint Martins did, so I went there, did my MA for a year, had a great time. When that finished and I graduated, I just came back to the studio.

I don’t come from a wealthy family that could help me or support me to be an artist. Within a month of completing my MA, I was basically signing on the dole here because I had no money. Then I just had to find a job basically.

For the next 17 years, I worked in the museums and galleries sector. It was only in 2019 that I was in a position where I could go part-time and go back into the studio and start my practice again. It’s been a long and difficult journey.

I would have loved to have been an artist straight out, but it just wasn’t possible for me then.

I had to pay debts and I couldn’t find a way to do it, really. And maybe I was too young anyway.

And you know, I just wanted to have fun really, I don’t think I would have taken it so seriously. But you know, but 44 this year and I think coming back to this in later life, I take it much more seriously and try harder.

Zoë: Okay, can you talk about your artistic practice? It can be how it’s changed or progressed… Maybe your influences?

James: I’ll maybe go broad because there are two key elements in my work.

The first is personal experiences and subject matter, and the second is the referencing and reappropriation of a personal archive of gay pornography that I collected during my teenage years. I knew I was gay at the time (13-14 years old), but I didn’t come out until 2021.

Back then, things weren’t as acceptable, and there was little representation of being gay in mainstream media. Most of it was negative, like the AIDS pandemic.

These magazines were the only place I could see representations of intimacy between two men, which I craved to see. I started making work about my sexuality in my final year of university, but I didn’t have much to say other than “I am gay.”

Going back to it 17 years later, I want to normalize non-heteronormative identities and make work that has a nostalgic narrative to it. I’m working with material from my teenage years, and I want to fill that void of positive queer representation that I and many others didn’t have in our formative years. I do this through three series: “Never More Than a Cigarette Paper Between Them,” which is drawings of male gay couples being intimate in domestic settings, taken from and referenced from pornography. It has been ongoing for a while now.

I also do a series called “Ghosts Within Me,” which uses pages from pornography magazines. I discovered that I could erase the image of the model with a Mars eraser and embroider the figure from the other side.

It’s playing on the idea of what a person conceals or reveals, and the images look like ghosts. This series is about how I concealed my true sexuality growing up, and my true self was like a ghost living within me.

The third series is paintings that haven’t been exhibited yet, which marries imagery from paper clothes patterns and porn magazines. I’m deconstructing my past decision to protect and cover myself by not being open about my sexuality.

Embroidery plays a significant role in my work, like masturbation or sex. It’s repetitive, emotional, and physically enduring. You’re going in and out of the canvas or linen. Embroidery also has a link to clothes because you can stitch clothes.

Zoë: Okay, well, I’m going to the next question. So, if you could tell me, what is the least favorite part of being an artist or of the art world, and you can try to be as careful as you can or not. 

James: I struggle with art speak. When I was studying and we had contextual studies and things in theory and stuff that I was like way out of my depth, and I had no idea what it meant. I really struggled.

You know, I went to art school thinking, I’m just going to be doing art, not writing and dissertations are quite difficult.

I also find it quite hard to write about my work. It’s taken me a long time to get my artist statement where I wanted it to be, but I persevered and got there, but it took a long time.

So yeah, I find exhibition descriptions and even artwork descriptions sometimes are written in such a way that it’s just above my head, and it must be above many other people’s heads. And I don’t know why they do that. It’s kind of strange.

They like to make it sound more intellectual than it is, or I think. If I’m going to see a show, if I can find a curator talk or an artist talk about the show, I will go to that.

Because I always get so much more from that if it’s the artist or the curator talking about the work to me, rather than reading it on a panel. And it’s just, I think people speak differently than how they write sometimes.

I’ve been told that before that, you know, if you didn’t find an application, speak it out yourself and write it down. Because I’ve been told sometimes that when I speak about something, it’s much more exciting than when I write about it.

So, I think yeah, just it puts people off a bit and yeah, people that are already afraid of contemporary art because they don’t understand it. And then if you try and read a label to understand it, and it’s not written in a language that you kind of understand.

Zoë: Okay, but maybe going into that what advice – artist-to-artist – what advice would you give to up-and-coming artists? 

James: Yeah. I think the main thing is, I don’t think there are many artists out there who make a living just from their artwork, so you’re probably going to have to have a part-time job.

If it’s related to the art world, it might help with pay, as well as definitely help. So you’re probably going to be splitting two, which is good, but difficult as well.

I have found that difficult for the past few years because, you know, that’s not my studio days. Monday, Tuesday, I’ve been in the studio that weekend as well. And, you know, by Tuesday, I’m getting really into what I’m doing, and then I have to stop and then I have to become Government Art Collection James and then do that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, then I got really into that, and then I have to stop that and then have to go back to the Norris gym.

So it feels a bit like you’re kind of leading two different lives, and you try not to let them overlap. But sometimes it does.

You know, sometimes I have to swap days if there’s something big happening at the art collection. I might have to go in on a Monday or Tuesday to be part of it. And other times, sometimes I have to deliver stuff from exhibitions or pick stuff up on a Friday or a Wednesday or Thursday, and then I have to try and swap stuff around.

So yeah, that’s quite difficult. But then you get used to it as well.

Zoë: How do you balance between these two lives? And do you have any other advice for artists?

James: I think it depends on what you want. You know, I mean, what do you want? Do you want this to be your main career? Are you just making some work and selling it on the side or so it really depends on what you want.

But you have to work hard you know, you get back what you put in. I think even with materials, and it’s not always easy, but always buy the best materials you can afford.

And if you work on paper, always get the best frames you could afford. And get them done by a proper framer, don’t just go to IKEA and buy an Ikea frame. Get your work professionally photographed.

If you can’t do it yourself, find someone, ask around your studio, there’s usually someone that does. I think you have to present it the best way possible and use the the best kind of materials you can I think you have to be confident in your work as well.

Because if you’re not that confident in what you’re doing, I think it’s a big ask to ask other people to be confident in what you’re doing. And talk to other artists. You know, I’ve always been a bit afraid to do that.

But over this past kind of year or so, I’ve put myself out there and just asked people something I want to ask them, and I’ve never had a negative reaction, or been ignored, you know, so I think other artists are supportive of each other as just maybe how you approach in covering understanding, you know, someone might be busy doing work and make them work for a new show or something, but they’ll probably tell you that anyway.

And they might find a time to speak to them. But you can always ask people, you know, if someone asks me anything, I’ll try and help if I can. You know, we’re all in the same boat, and we should kind of be supportive of each other.

I think if you want don’t sit in your studio waiting to kind of be discovered because it’s not going to happen.

Go and see shows that other artists are making, it’s good to see what other people are doing. Network.

You know, this is if you’re like me, I’m quite awkward, that kind of thing. And I don’t like to. But, you know, a lot of the time that seems to be who you know, and not what you know.

So it is probably worthwhile getting out there and talking to people and getting to know people and you know, trying to find common ground, but it’s time as well.

You know, sometimes you don’t have time to go out to these things. But apparently, it helps. And, and this is a good one, which like I never really thought of this like but it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint, you know, most artists are in it for the long term.

Zoë: I think I think those are perfect. Thank you so much, James for taking the time, it’s been such an in-depth discussion. 

By Zoë Goetzmann 

Interview with Mia Hawk – Pop Art Illustrative Artist

 

This week on Cosimo Studio Tours, we stopped by artist Mia Hawk’s (@miaskyhawk) studio in South London.

Mia is a full-time artist who works in a variety of mediums and artistic disciplines, from hyper-realist paintings to surrealist, pop-art illustrative works and designs.

In this interview, we delve into many different topics, including social media, the art world of Instagram, the female vs. male gaze, how Mia balances both the entrepreneurial and creative sides of her artistic business and career, mental health, as well as, her multi-disciplinary approach to creating her bold, expressive, imaginative (often funny and/or humorous) works whether they be fine art, digital prints, or silk-screened creations.

You can find (and see) Mia, her artwork, and her designs in person at Canopy Market in London, where she will be showing her artworks in an exhibition in October 2023. She will also exhibit her works at Ruby’s Rooms in Hastings next month.

Zoë: Thank you so much, Mia, for being here with us today.

Mia: Thank you, it’s really exciting!

Zoë: So, the first question we’ll delve into is your artist story. Can you tell us how you became an artist, the journey that you took to get to this profession or just your art career?

Mia: I think I always knew I wanted to be some sort of creative when I was growing up. That was never a question.

However, I never thought I would end up as an artist or a painter. When I was a kid, I used to draw just for fun. My best friend and I used to draw Pokemons and watch Disney films when it rained, which was quite often since it rains a lot where I’m from.

My first choice was actually to become an actor because I had watched so many films growing up, and I was completely lost in the amazing worlds that people had created.

So, I pursued the Norwegian equivalent to acting A-levels and then got into a UK drama school that focused on actor-musicianship. I went there for three years, graduated, and then worked as an actor.

However, while I was in between acting jobs, I was doing a soul-destroying market research job where I had to take down verbatim what the client was saying. I started doodling in my notepad in between because it was so boring.

I realised it was kind of fun, and I used to draw, so I started making these little characters that would look really cool on a t-shirt. I taught myself how to screen print t-shirts, and that became a bit of a hobby.

I started doing more illustrations and thought to myself, “why don’t I sell this to the market? Maybe I can do a side hustle doing this.” So that’s kind of how it started, and then I started selling at markets for about five to six years.

Around 2014, I was doing some quite long, big acting jobs, and I realized that I was putting every penny I earned into this art business. By that point, I had probably been drawing again for four or five years, and I had started painting more figurative art.

My painting journey was really evolving, and it wasn’t just small, fun animal drawings anymore. It was big figurative pieces, and I started moving into my hyperrealism.

I was like, “Wow, it’s kind of a lot having two careers. Why don’t I just go into the art thing and see how that is? I can always pick up acting if I don’t want to do it anymore.”

So, I went full-time artist, mainly going through an independent route.

All the commission work and all the stuff that I do mainly comes through social media, people that have met me at markets. It’s kind of just evolved since then.

During the pandemic, I delved into animal art, and I got loads of commission work doing bird art pieces, and that became a thing. Then I started Patreon for that. Last year, I had a big shift, moving away from the hyperreal animal stuff into more of what I’m doing now.

Now, my business is doing craft fairs, having a couple of big commission works on the go, selling through social media, and doing art fairs every so often.

But, my journey has been independent… And I’d also add I’m an introvert, but I’ve got a very extroverted energy, so when I’m passionate about something, it just explodes outwards.

Zoë: So, you are a full-time artist. Before we go into your art practice, did you go to art school?

Mia: No, I didn’t go to art school.

Zoë: That’s interesting. So, how did you practice? What was your routine when you first started drawing or painting? Aside from when you were a child, how did that work? Or when you decided to make this jump into art, how did you set up your learning practice?

Mia: I think it was very much interest-driven. So, at first, it was about getting together stuff for a business. And then, it was very much interest-driven. Like, “Oh, I really want to create something specific.”

When I was learning how to do portraits, for example, it was very much like, “Oh, I have this idea for a portrait. I don’t know how to paint hair. I need to learn how to paint hair.”

Then, I had to buy lots of books. In terms of having a practice, I grew up playing music, and I learned how to be disciplined. It gave me a really good understanding of how to get good at something. It’s basically practice and learning, having a good basis of understanding.

Actually, I would say one of my biggest weaknesses is that I’m not that great at drawing. I’m not as good as I want to be. It takes me a long time to do a good drawing, but I’m very good at painting. It’s very funny.

Like, painting, I really get along with it. Drawing can be difficult for me, and it takes me a long time to get my head around it.

But because I played in brass bands growing up, and they were very good, there was an understanding that if you want to get good, you’ve got to practice every day, and you’ve got to do your scales, you’ve got to do your warm-up.

So you’ve got to do everything. You can’t just wish that you’re good at something; you’ve got to put in the work. I think I applied quite a lot of the same mentalities that I learned from playing an instrument.

Yes, it does take a long time. For me, it takes about five years to consistently practice something to get intermediate to very good at it.

You’ve got to put in the 10,000 hours or whatever it is, but that also gave me the understanding of if I really want to learn this, then I’ll be able to do it.

It’s not a matter of necessarily having a specific talent. I would say my talent lies more in having vision, being a good visionary person, and composing and storytelling.

Zoë: Can you say what you love most about being an artist, if you could pick one thing?

Mia: It’s definitely like you feel like there’s an overload of inspiration. So, it’s just the feeling of possibility, like, “Oh my God, wouldn’t it be cool if we’re like, ‘Oh, that would be really fun!'” Or, seeing things that you have as an idea in your head coming to real life can be quite an amazing experience.

The creative process can be very frustrating, but it can also be incredibly pleasurable. When you have one of those paintings where everything just flows, it’s a really amazing experience.

So, I think that’s a very positive thing about the practice. The second thing I would say – you said one, but I’ll give you two – is when you find someone who loves your paintings, or when you’re doing commissioned work, and they just love it because you connect with people on what they love. If they really connect with your painting or what you

Zoë: I think that’s great, though. I mean, that’s what Cosimo is, it’s a little bit more independent. We’re making our own bridges. That’s why.

Mia: That’s fantastic. I love that. I guess I’ve never really felt like I connect with the art world in the same way that maybe other people do.

Because I didn’t go the art school route, it feels a bit foreign to me. It can feel unapproachable at times. I try to network by going to openings at least once or twice a month, but that’s not a lot. It takes a lot of time running your own business – so, it can be difficult.

For me, the art world can feel a bit unapproachable at times. I find it difficult because, like it does take a lot of time running your own business.

So, you know, things like things that I need to be better at, for example, like networking, like I try and go to like openings and stuff and I try to go out and see at least like once or twice a month.

That’s not a lot… But you know, it’s it’s kind of like what I can manage on top of my already like huge workload and I also need to actually have a life!

And I think I think I maybe lack a bit of knowledge, because I’m perhaps like a lot of artists…we’re good at the creating, and it’s perhaps more difficult to relate to some of the galleries.

I find it difficult but haven’t really put that much effort into it either, to find where I fit into it, because if I can do things myself, I will try and go that way. I just want to show my work to people. And it was really that simple.

Zoë: I think that’s great. That’s the freedom of doing it yourself, which is the benefit of being independent… Do you have any advice for other people who are starting out as artists or who might be thinking about it as an option?

Mia: Like, don’t do it unless you can do it. Like, it’s not an easy journey. It’s not an easy life, and you sacrifice a lot of things. So, don’t do it unless you can’t not do it. Unless that drive is there.

Zoë: Okay. Do you have any advice for emerging artists going into this career path with the hope of becoming a full-time artist?

Mia: My advice is to read up on business, and understand that running your own business takes a lot of work. Sacrifices have to be made, but if you have the drive and the passion for it, it’s worth it.

Zoë: I think that’s good. Yeah. No, I thought it was more like don’t do it. I thought you were talking about like a part-time job, like a half-time job. I thought it was like an economic also an economic thing. Probably, whoa, I like Okay, so this, I always have this need to create, create because you love it. Yeah. And…

Mia: Then. So it’s that, I mean, the thing is, there isn’t a straight-up answer because everyone has, like, probably the best advice is to understand that you are going to have to find your own way through this.

And, and it’s going to be a combination of things. So obviously, what your style is, where does that fit in? Where’s your audience?

Like what business model works best for you? Like some people don’t like selling in person. I find it exhausting. But I also like it, for example, I like being on social media, I like talking to people, sharing, you know, so that really works really well for me.

Some people it might be art licensing, and that works really well for their style and their business. And they’re gonna get, you know, some people it might be selling stickers online, or whatever, you know, because they know how to hack that.

And they’ve got that. And so it is really and some people it’s going to be getting into a gallery, some people it’s going to be doing a lot of commissions because that’s what they love to do. So it is really like kind of exploring things, seeing what you are comfortable with.

And kind of for me that like a lot of this with the new style was me also realizing that, you know, I’ve got to work with my own energy, which isn’t actually to sit still and do a lot of detail work.

And I need to actually create art that more reflects how I work as a person. Also, like, yeah, consistency, probably be consistent in the things that you do.

When you try things, try it a few times, not just once, because you never know, especially with markets, you might have a good day, you might have a bad day, you never know until you’ve done a few how it’s going to be.

I would say don’t be afraid to try something else if one thing isn’t working. Like, don’t get so stuck up on one idea that that’s how it’s going to go through that you know that it that you’re afraid to give up almost like I’ve changed styles, I’ve changed tactics so many times.

Sometimes maybe that was a bad idea. Sometimes it was definitely a good idea… Just have integrity I would say.

Zoë: That’s helpful. Is there anything specific that you would like to highlight or focus on?

Mia: Yeah, I mean, I now, as many people do after the pandemic, suspect that I might be neurodivergent. I don’t know because obviously, I don’t have a diagnosis and it’s a very long waiting list to see.

But I’ve always had certain issues with my mental health that have been very perplexing to me that are now falling into place.

And now that I understand myself better, I’m creating ways of doing things that are making my life so much easier. For example, changing my art style into something that goes with my energy more, so that I don’t have to sit still for five hours to do one painting, for example, has been massive for me.

That’s been really, really positive. I know, for example, that I need to keep exploring and always pushing things forward. So that’s one reason why I created this style, to accommodate my need to keep exploring.

So, my advice would be – and this is what I’m working on at the moment and which I think, if I understood this a bit further a lot before, probably would have made my life a lot easier – try not to focus your practice on outcomes.

I don’t wait like, “Oh, my life is going to be solved when I get that big exhibition” or “when that big exhibition happens, that’s all I’m working towards” or “that acclaim” or “that whatever it is”.

It’s like put your effort into keeping the system going, if that makes sense?

Whether that means, okay, have I had my daily or weekly website checkup? How’s my social media doing?

And also scheduling in things like, “Remember to have fun. Have you painted anything fun recently?”

It’s very much like creating a system that supports you is what I’m working on. And instead of working towards a big show, it’s like I’m creating habits where the byproduct will be a big show, or where the byproduct will be having enough paintings for an art fair or where the byproduct will be networking enough to…

Like that’s where I’m putting my focus, rather than achieving things, if that makes sense.

Zoë: That’s such great advice, well thank you, Mia. This has been a really good in-depth conversation.

Mia: You’re so welcome. Thank you!

By Zoë Goetzmann

Interview with Fiona G Roberts – Inspiring Art Journey

 

This week on Cosimo Studio Tours, we visit artist Fiona G Roberts’ studio located in Bank at The Koppel Project in London.

In this interview (which you can listen to in full here) we delve into a variety of topics ranging from her latest body of work, women artists, as well as gender inequality in the art world (running through the statistics as well as the stagnant two percent of top-tier female artists who sell at art auction).

Fiona G. Roberts holds an MA in Painting from Wimbledon College of Arts – University of the Arts London where she received the Vice Chancellor’s Scholarship.

She completed two years at the Turps Banana Painting School (2019-2021). She has participated in multiple group shows in London and in the U.K., including Dentons Art Prize Exhibition, 2018, Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Exhibition, 2018-2019 (Runner-up and Winner of Staff Prize), ING Discerning Eye, 2020, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 2021, ‘We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On’ at Aleph Contemporary, London, 2021, ‘Two Doors’ at Tart Gallery, Winners: Award Winning Artists, Mall Galleries, London, 2022.

She was also shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2021 and the 2021 Figurative Art Now Exhibition where she was awarded a Mentorship Prize.

Zoë: Thank you so much for being here, Fiona. I was excited to delve into your work. I love sitting in the studios and looking at everyone’s paintings.

To kick things off, can you tell me about your artist story? Essentially, what was the journey that led you to becoming an artist?

Fiona: I think the honest answer is, I’ve probably always been an artist. I think if you’re an artist, you’re just compelled to make things and to do things and to make art.

And so I’ve always done that, really. And it was the thing that made me happiest as a kid or even throughout my whole life, really.

But my parents thought that going to art school wasn’t a great idea. So I did other things first.

My first degree was from the London School of Economics, and I did another degree after that.

From there, I went to Goldsmiths, actually. And then I was a research fellow and academic research fellow and a teacher. So I’ve done lots of things.

But all the time, I was building up my art practice. I never stopped doing art. I was always making art. And eventually, I did my MA in painting at Wimbledon, University of the Arts, London.

That was in 2016. I got a scholarship to do that, which was really brilliant. And I graduated in 2016. Then I launched myself as an artist after that.

Zoë: Can you tell me a little bit about your paintings and your practice?

Fiona: Sure. So, I’ll tell you about the practical aspects first. I work in quite a broad variety of mediums, mainly oils on board or canvas, sometimes on perspex.

I also use acrylics sometimes. And I also use inks quite a bit. And whatever I’m doing, whether it’s with across all those mediums, I’m doing the similar thing, really, which is sanding down the medium and using lots of layers.

So I’m building up layers, and yeah, lots of watery layers. Although the medium is quite different, I’m doing the same thing.

Zoë: Where did that thinking and process go from that this intention to do that sort of technique?

Fiona: I think it’s just something, if I’m honest, that has developed over the years. You know, a lot of art is about trial and error. In fact, so much of it is trial and error.

And actually, a lot of the breakthroughs that I’ve had in my art practice have come through errors. What you might see as errors, but they’ve actually been something that I want to keep because I think, “Oh, actually, that’s a breakthrough. It’s really worked.

It’s really good, but it was unintentional.” So I think it came from just years of doing things, and I realized that’s what I liked the best. So from that really.

Zoë: Can you tell us a bit about your artistic journey? Were you always interested in painting and were there any particular styles or mediums that you experimented with?

Fiona: Yes, I’ve been interested in drawings and paintings my whole life. I experimented with different styles and mediums, but a lot of it depended on practicalities.

For example, when I became a mom, I couldn’t use oil paints anymore because of the toxicity of the thinners and other chemicals. So, I switched to acrylics, which are much less toxic.

And when I didn’t have a studio, I went back to my drawings or worked on smaller pieces. As a woman artist, you have to be flexible and adapt to your circumstances.

Zoë: Speaking of women, can you talk about the subject matter of your work? I’m looking at the piece behind me, which reminds me of the title “Start Here”. Can you describe any of your works and the themes behind them?

Fiona: Well, as you can see, some of them aren’t gender-specific. That’s true, but a lot of them are women. And I’m fascinated by the human condition, by how the world is navigated and negotiated through emotions, and by what it’s like to be a woman in the world.

I often work in series, and in this latest one, most of the subjects have red hair. This is because my mother and brother-in-law both died recently, and they both had red hair.

Since their deaths, I’ve been compulsively making paintings of people with red hair, without even realizing it until my husband pointed it out to me. I think a lot of artists work subconsciously like that, with a compulsion to create.

It’s only afterward that you realize what you were doing. I think sometimes I’m conveying emotions or working through them, sharing them.

The latest series is about that, but they’re not specific portraits of my mother or brother-in-law. They could be seen as portraits of emotions or, as the arts writer Paul Carey-Kent wrote about my recent show, “non-portraits of real people.”

They’re about loss, grief, remembering, and emotions. Does that make sense?

Zoë: When you look at figurative painting, it’s not so much a trend, but it’s what I’ve found with artists. They really understand that it’s an extension of the self.

It’s a perfect expression, drawing somebody else, but even if you’re drawing someone else, it has your own sense of identity because it’s your interpretation of that person.

But it’s also in your memory, so it does make sense. It’s not coined your own phrase, but it’s an observation of humanity.

Fiona: That’s right. And the other thing is, well, that’s just made me think about Oscar Wilde, who said that every portrait painted with feeling is really a portrait of the artist.

And also, although they’re about individual feelings and emotions, because those emotions are universal, we all go through them, like grief.

So there’s a kind of universality to it that I hope people will recognize and relate to. It’s not just about me and from me, but it’s something that’s universal that others can relate to as well.

Zoë: For the bonus questions that we do for Cosimo, it’s all about making art accessible, reaching out to emerging artists, and we like to have artists’ insights for any artists listening, or for patrons or collectors as well.

What do you love most about being an artist? If you can pick one, it can be several, but if you can pick one.

Fiona: Just making the art, just making the work. I love it. I’m compelled to do it. And when it goes well, it’s the best feeling in the world.

But when it goes badly, which happens a lot, it’s the opposite. So just making the work, solving those problems and seeing what emerges on the canvas.

Zoë: Has art always been a form of therapy for you, or is it just more recent with this recent work?

We’ve done a lot of things about memory and nostalgia, and it’s interesting. It really is like this sense of a symbiotic relationship that one artist wants to impart between artist and viewer, that they have their own subjective ideas about what the story of the painting is and what trauma or nostalgia it invokes.

Fiona: As an artist, I don’t think I ever for a minute thought of it like that. It was just something I liked doing. There’s something so meditative about it, and it takes you into a different space of thinking.

And when you’re making the work, you can’t think of all those other things. So, in a way, there’s something a bit Zen, a bit meditative about it.

But I never thought, “This is therapy.” I just feel compelled to make it. If there’s some sort of therapy there, then that’s great, but it was never my intention.

However, we know that art therapy exists for a reason, so maybe it comes together somehow.

Zoë: Yeah. And with artistic influences. This goes back to still art making, or we can go with what you love about them.

Do you draw from any? It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Yeah. I’m trying to draw from any artistic influences, or do you have any? Did you have any inspiration?

Fiona: Yeah, I mean, obviously, as an artist, I’m fascinated by our history. I mean, my daughter when she was little, she said, ‘Please, mommy, no more art galleries.’

We were constantly looking at art. I suppose, off the top of my head, Marlene Dumas. Love her work, especially her inks, but also her oils as well. I mean, she’s an amazing female artist.

Alice Neel. Fantastic. I mean, just beautiful. And again, a female artists – both doing similar subjects to me… Chantal Joffe, I mean, I adore her work. She’s just amazing.

Zoë: Why did you focus on women as subjects, or do you have any other things that really make you compelled to be, and not just because you’re a woman?

Fiona: Again, it’s because it’s so instinctive, it’s really difficult to answer that. But I think that’s a good thing. We maybe already answered it in that I just feel compelled to do that as what I want to do.

I don’t really, you know, to keep kind of in touch with like to be authentic, I almost don’t want to analyze it too much. I just want to do it. You’ve got to kind of be in touch with yourself and just do what you want to. I found a book that I made when I was 12, and it was kind of similar things.

I was doing it then. I mean, I have done other, I’ve done landscapes, and I’ve done, you know, I’ve done all sorts of things over the years. But I come back to this. It’s just, it’s what I want to do mostly. And that’s it. It’s sort of as simple as that, I think.

I really believe that. You’ve got to be authentic. The best art, I think, is the most relatable art when you are authentic and you’re just in touch with what you want to do, and you’re doing it because you want to do it.

Yeah. And that’s it. You shut everything else out because nothing else matters. So this is where I want to be doing this if I was with a gallery or not with a gallery, if I was paid or not paid.

I would be doing this.” I honestly think it’s pointless unless you’re going to be authentic. That’s what I feel, that’s true. It’s taken me a while to acknowledge that and realize that, but I think it’s absolutely vital.

Zoë: Did you find, as you’ve gone through your career as an artist, that the best thing to do is to make work that you love?

Did you ever fall into trends that you said, “I have to sell?” Or do I have to be pressured by people to do that? Certainly, that’s part of the journey.

Fiona: It’s very easy to say, but it’s not always easy to stay authentic. Yeah, it’s all part of the journey, and at various times, you have to be flexible and do things that maybe you wouldn’t want to do, really, but you might be part of a course you’re doing, might be part of what a gallery wants you to do, or you might be influenced by what other people are doing.

And all those things are fairly valid parts of your artistic journey. You have to do them sometimes. But at the end of the day, the best work comes when it’s just from the heart.

Zoë: And so however you would like, what would maybe be your least favorite thing about, let’s say, the art world? If you can, you can take care of a few.

Fiona: I think we touched on it already. And I think it’s the sexism, you know, the inequality. When I was doing my Masters, part of that was to do a project and give a presentation about sexism in the art world.

As someone who is quite switched on about things like that, because I went to LSE and I’ve done research, I was even shocked at how bad it is. You know, there have been some inroads, but there are some terrible statistics about how bad it is in the art world.

Even now, I’m not talking about 50 years ago. In art schools, women make up 60 or 70% of art students, way outnumbering men. So they’re quite happy to take our money for that. But when we’re out in the world, our participation is hugely reduced.

We’re only in far fewer shows and have far less representation in galleries. I was looking at some figures the other day. The National Gallery, which has 2,000 works, has only 21 by women.

Yeah. In all the top galleries, those with the big owners, we make up only 7% of art in top galleries. And there are just some horrific figures, really.

For example, when we have artists represented by commercial galleries, in Europe and North America, only 13.7% of living artists are women. This isn’t the past; this was from last year.

Zoë: I think it’s still 2% that make up the top tier art market. Yeah, I don’t think that statistic…

Fiona: Yes, 2%… We know sexism is everywhere but I would honestly say it’s worse in the arts than in all the other things that I’ve done.

And I tried to work that out. I tried to kind of think, why would that be? And I think it’s because in the arts, we’re not used to quantifying things and counting things.

Yeah, if you worked in a bank, you could say, there are X number of women in this bank and X number on the board, and we need to change that. It’s not fair. You can count them. It’s very specific. It’s very easy to do. And in fact, it’s done in the banking world.

They probably haven’t achieved parity, but they try to. In the arts, they can get away with saying, “Well, it’s a meritocracy. It’s, you know, they’re just not good enough. It’s all subjective.” It’s like, “I don’t like their work”. There’s no objective measure.

And that system is open to abuse. And indeed, it is abused. Otherwise, why are we making up 60 or 70% of the art schools and then getting just crumbs when we come out?

The system is very difficult to police because it’s so open. Of course, you can argue that it needs to be open; it’s about creativity.

Yes, of course, we need to be open, but I think we could take it seriously. We could put measures in place to make it better for women.

It’s not just about sexism, but there’s racism, and we should be trying to achieve parity, thinking about it and working towards it. I’m not saying it’s easy, and I’m not saying we’re going to do it overnight.

Zoë: Is there any advice that you can impart on any aspiring or emerging artists who are making this decision to choose this career path?

Fiona: On a practical level, I’d probably say you’re probably going to need a day job unless you have family money. Seriously, you need to have a roof over your head and food to eat.

So, having a day job is a good idea. Then the advice I think, be true to yourself. It takes time. You’re in it for the long haul. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon, and you’re going to change along the way.

Try to be true to yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself, try to have self-confidence in your work, at least, if nothing else, just believe in your work.

It’s your work, it’s come from your heart. So, have confidence in what you’re making. Don’t think too much about whether your work will get into a particular gallery or show.

If you do that, you’ll lose your authenticity, and that’s really important to make meaningful work for yourself and others. Just believe in yourself and don’t give up.

Zoë: Okay, great. That’s encouraging to know. Is that all for this project?

Fiona: Yes, just for the next few months. More to come. Thank you so much, Zoë, for having this discussion. It’s been great.

Zoë: Super, thank you so much. I really enjoyed it.

By Zoë Goetzmann

Interview with Caitlin Flood Molyneux – Pop Art

 

This week on Cosimo Studio Tours, we are incredibly excited to present a special podcast episode and interview with artist Caitlin Flood-Molyneux (@floodmolyneuxart) which we recorded after the artist’s first solo show in London, Suspended in Time (April 3 – April 9) at Fitzrovia Gallery. 

In this interview, we speak about Caitlin’s ‘Artist Story,’ the artist’s process, the curation of the show, Pop Art and DADA inspirations as well as the healing power of art. 

Caitlin was included in our list of “Highly Commended Artists” for the Cosimo Art Competition in 2022. The artist is a contemporary Welsh Artist residing in South Wales. Their practice delves into the relationship between pop culture imagery, memory, and nostalgia. Through Caitlin’s work, it is important to the artist that audiences develop their own subjective opinions: forming their own symbiotic relationships with the artwork. In this way, audiences establish a sense of personal self-reflection: reconciling with past trauma and hardships.

Caitlin Flood-Molyneux holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Degree from Cardiff Metropolitan University (also Bergen Academy of Art and Design). The artist also holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Art from Cardiff Metropolitan University. Flood-Molyneux has exhibited in group exhibitions in the United Kingdom, the United States, Hong Kong, and Japan. 

Zoe: So, we’re sitting in Fitzrovia Gallery after the launch of your first solo show in London. Congratulations! It’s such a lovely show, and we’re sitting with all your works as well. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me.

Caitlin: Thank you for inviting me!

Zoe: You’ve been a great support with Cosimo – we’ve loved showing your work and everything. And we had your work also in the highly commended list of artists for our competition last year.

Caitlin: Which was fantastic, and I was really honored to be featured on that. So thank you as well!

Zoe: So, there are going to be some questions about the show from last night… but we’re interested also in your artist’s story. So can you kind of delve into what your artist’s story is? Tell me about that journey.

Caitlin: So my story is, when I was younger, I always painted. My mum was always encouraging me to paint as a young child, and I hated school. It was really hard for me to even be in school; I just hated it. And she saw something in me and she loved art herself.

And she said, “You know, go to art college.” She pushed me; she was like, “Go to college.” And that’s where things really kicked off. I started to delve deep into graphic design and then exploring printmaking and screen printing.

I carried on to do a foundation degree in art and design, which I really enjoyed. And I then went on to do an artist designed to make a course. But it was so, it was more products and making tables, stuff like that, and ceramics.

And at the time, I thought maybe it would be more of a job opportunity-wise; it would be a better course. But then in my second year, I figured out that, no, I want to be a fine artist.

I was very ambitious when I was in my foundation degree, making these really large, abstract pieces. And then I went into my second year and went to Norway for Erasmus.

And I did my second year out in Norway, where I then expressed myself through more collage-based work. I met artist Dexter Dalwood, who was just really inspiring.

And he gave me the confidence then to say, “No, just do what you want to do, paint what you want to paint.” And then I went back into my third year, then did my masters, and yeah, here I am!

Zoe: Yeah, there’s so much travel as well, but always the best and always good influences. That makes sense. What kind of work did your mum do when she was doing art?

Caitlin: Very bright, abstract work, very landscape-based. So, I was very landscape-based when I first started painting. And she used a lot of textiles in her work and collage.

So I think that’s where that influence came from. And that’s where I learned how to use all the different materials. She was actually a staff nurse.

She didn’t carry on doing a fine art degree, and she went back to it years later but then had to stop again. But she was always a nurse. So it was nice then because she was teaching me all these techniques.

That’s where I really learned how to paint, especially use oil paints.

She taught me how to do that. And I had no clue. So she was teaching me how to mix paints.

And she was like, “Don’t use the whole tube! And, you know, you only need to use a little bit.”

Zoe: So, she was your beginning… The idea of time is especially interesting, particularly in the context of the pandemic. Did the past three or four years have an effect on the title? With everyone talking about the concept of time and identifying this as a topic?

Caitlin: It definitely seeped in. But my stuff was going on before the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, it was more like, “Right, I’m going to make work that I enjoy doing because I’m stuck at home, and I can’t get to the studio.” I lost my studio at the time.

So I was painting in my garden. I was making work then that I wanted to just make, instead of just making work to sell or show. So I definitely think that impacted things because it made me look more into myself and my work.

What do I want to get from painting? Why do I paint? I definitely think maybe that time element was kind of pointing back at me where I was thinking, “Time isn’t what it seems, and what do I want to do with my life? And what do I want to do with my art?”

And I definitely knew I wanted to be an artist, so the pandemic kind of helped me to focus on my work. I wasn’t showing work; everything was online.

So it was based on me having a real kind of talk with myself.

Zoe: That’s great. You mentioned you want to create, which is a very important thing. I fully support artists selling because you need to make money – but you’ve got to identify that passion because that’s why you make art. It comes from this passionate place, you know?

Caitlin: Yeah, definitely. In the pandemic, I actually sold a lot of pieces because I was just exploring making paper works. And I was selling those and people enjoyed it.

And it was refreshing because I didn’t really have the space to paint massively.

Zoe: So, with the show, because we’re studying your work, can you talk to me about the curation and how you put everything together?

Caitlin: So I got a studio in an industrial unit where they’re so supportive, and I kind of turned up to this big storage unit, and I said, “Look, can I paint here?” And they were like, “Yeah, that’s great.” And they let me.

I’ve got this big container where I work in, and they let me take work out. And I have people come to visit, and they let me kind of spread out all over this giant unit. And it’s great. It contrasts well with the work.

So I was kind of spreading things out before where I was thinking, “How do I want the show to look?” And then it was a different ballgame when I got into the show and got into the space.

Yeah, I just kind of set out things first and thought, “Right, I don’t want to overcrowd, but I don’t want things to look too blank.” And obviously, I’ve got a lot of work.

And I wanted to have the frames contrasting with the canvas pieces so that things were kind of contrasting with that.

But yeah, I kind of just looked at colors and what went well, what was contrasting well. I think that’s something I do in my work anyway – I kind of look at contrasts and what kind of goes well or things that blend well.

So it kind of came naturally to me. Putting it all together now, I’ve only ever done a show for small areas, but this was a completely different ballgame.

But it was quite natural how it all came together, which was really nice.

Zoe: And you got it how you wanted it to look, so because it’s your own work that you’re putting together in the show, I’m always curious when you’re working on a piece and you want to exhibit it, does that ever enter your mind? Like, how is this going to look in the gallery space… Do you ever think about it?

Caitlin: Do you know what? It’s weird because I used to think like that, where I’d be thinking, “Right, what’s this going to look like? Is a gallery going to like it?”

And now I just think about the painting. Whenever I’m making work, it’s never planned out. It’s all in the subconscious – things come out. I let things come naturally.

Zoe: Did you have any influences growing up in art school, like artistic influences that you looked towards? I don’t want to compare you to any pop artists or any of the people that are, you know, the movements that were conducted, but did you have any specific ones that you were inspired by?

Caitlin: It’s funny because I wasn’t really into pop art that much. I mean, I liked it, but it wasn’t something I wanted to recreate.

So, it’s quite funny when people say about pop art because people always think of pop art when they think of screen printing and stuff like that.

But for me, when I was growing up, it was sort of Gillian Ayrs, where she’s just a big abstract painter, and she would make these really big works, but more her attitude towards paint in this kind of, “I don’t care, I’m just going to paint what I want to paint.”

And those influences because I still think that abstract presence is there… Peter Lanyon who was, you know, doing aerial views of St. Ives.

But it’s funny because all these influences were just abstract people, okay? But I think it’s one of those things where I was influenced by those people, but I can definitely see sort of presence of that abstract mess in my work.

I mean, if you took away the figures or even just broke down the figures, it would be purely abstract. It’s just recently that I’ve started to play with figures and people, but there are still very big, heavily abstract influences in the work.

Zoe: Yeah, definitely. And what made you gravitate toward the collage aspect of your work?

Caitlin: I always really enjoyed collage when I was a kid. And I was always using the Argos catalogs and making collages and stuff like that.

And I just always really loved it. And it’s something that I would do with my mum. And yeah, I just always did, especially in graphic design, we learned more about collage and the Dada movement, and you know, how people used the color orange to express themselves.

So kind of using all that was something that I was really inspired by. And yeah, I just kind of was like, “right, I’m going to start putting all these things together.”

And what happens when all these different things align and they meet.

So that’s kind of where the work is kind of gone now where the collage is meeting the painting. And what happens if I paint from the collage and all these different elements?

Zoe: What do you love most about being an artist? 

Caitlin: I just love being able to say I’m an artist and to be able to wake up and do what I love and spread that joy to other people.

My work involves doing workshops with communities and in hospitals.

So, to be able to do that and share these skills with people and give them skills that they can use to help themselves is just fantastic. And I’m really grateful every day that I wake up.

I’m grateful that I’m still doing this, and I’m still being an artist because there was a long time ago when I thought maybe I couldn’t make it. For years, I just never thought I would get to a moment where I could actually do art full-time, but now I do, which is amazing.

To hear more about Caitlin’s work, you can listen to the interview in full over on our podcast.

By Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera)

Interview with Phillip Reeves – Spotlight on Artistry

 

In this week’s edition of Cosimo Studio Tours, we headed to Bethnal Green to visit artist Phillip Reeves (@phillipreeves_). 

Reeves holds a BA in Fine Art Printmaking and Painting from London Metropolitan University. He also holds an MA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths.

In this interview, we speak in-depth about his ‘Paper Clothes’ series. The series combines the art of clothing with the art of clothing-making. Inspired by the concept of uniforms, Reeves creates ‘paper clothes’ via oil painting and dress-makers’ paper. His works draw on Colour Field Theory and the Colour Field Movement. 

When creating his ‘paper clothes’ designs, Reeves draws inspiration from artists such as Joseph Albers and Agnes Martin for their uses of colour, line, and form. He also shares some amazing, (juicy even) behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the art world, auction houses, and his life as a painter in our podcast interview. 

Reeves has participated in residencies, and solo and group exhibitions in London and New York (he was also an Artist in Residence at the Embassy of Foreign Artists in Geneva). Most recently, he took part in a group residency show at 13 Soho Square for The Earth Vision Charity Exhibition. 

He has been nominated for The Jealous Gallery Art Prize, shortlisted for The Dentons Art Prize in 2017 (Curated by Niamh White), and received the Husk Studio Residency Aware in 2018-2019.

Zoë: Hello everyone. I’m here sitting with artist Phillip Reeves in his studio near Bethnal Green. Thanks so much, Phillip, for being here. 

We’re going to dive into some questions. I like to start out every interview with what I call an “Artist’s Story.” 

Could you tell me a little bit about your artist story and how you became an artist and chose this career path?

Phillip: I guess I realized I had an affinity for art when I was quite young. When we had ‘wet break’ at school, it was raining so we couldn’t go outside and play.

I used to get a queue of other children formed up in front of a desk and I’d make drawings of owls. I enjoyed the attention this created, as none of the children could quite draw an owl as well as me [or as I could draw an owl].

I realized there was some kind of currency in this: it was a bit like showing off, and I quite enjoyed it. So, I guess from age six in wet playtime [is when I discovered my passion for Art and for being an artist].

Zoë: I like [that] very specific artist story because most people say [or answer], “I’ve always creative,” but I like that you had this very specific moment.

Phillip: Yeah, it was a watershed moment for me, being able to show off but not getting into trouble for it.

So, it was something in my head, [that] perhaps, ‘clicked.’ And then I liked that I could, in some ways, please people without getting into trouble – which I think is a fine line – which I think one should dally sometimes.

Zoë: So, your currency was your talent: it [Art and being an artist] became your niche.

Phillip: Exactly! So, drawing birds like kingfishers and owls, making paper airplanes. I was really good at making paper airplanes.

So, these two things I could do very, very well. [But] I guess there wasn’t a career in making paper airplanes.

Zoë: Well, we’ll get to your practice later [when we discuss your ‘Paper Clothes’ series]

Then from six years old, how did the rest of your artistic career continue and transpire after that?

Phillip Reeves: Well going through school, art was the only subject I really kind of tried at or did the homework for. Then when I came to choose [my] A-level subjects – [as] we call them in the UK – I kind of flunked a few, and Art was the only one I aced.

I’ve always believed that people should do what they’re good at, if they can. I think it’s a shame to have a talent and tamp it down.

Also, I’m quite stubborn. So, it was kind of art or nothing after that.

Zoë: Can you say where did you do your training?

Phillip Reeves: I did a year and a half Foundation at Reading College – which was really fun – and then I did three years at London Met doing painting and printmaking.

I left my BA and moved to a squat in East London and Hackney Wick for years. We had a studio program, an art gallery, and a lot of squat parties.

So, this was kind of my lifestyle for three or four years, just squatting and making art and making a mess. [Then] that [period of my life and career] ended and I moved to New York for a while, came back, went to Goldsmith’s – did an MA there.

Then more recently, I did a studio program at Turps in Elephant and Castle run by Marcus Harvey, and I finished that last year. So, I’ve kind of done bits and pieces of education, and here I am today.

Zoë: In your studio! But you’ve had two studios, right? Because you’ve done a couple of other residencies.

Phillip Reeves: That’s right. We met at a show in Soho which I’ve just finished. The show is still on, but the residency programme is finished.

So, that was a really nice building in Soho Square. Quite a fancy place to have a studio, but sadly, that has come to an end. So, I’m back in my freezing cold garret in Bethnal Green.

Zoë: What about art school? You said it was ‘art or nothing’… Was there a reason why you wanted that formal education? 

Phillip Reeves: Yeah, in some ways times have changed, but when I was 18, an affordable way to leave home was to go and study.

The fees weren’t anything like they are today, and there were government loans. It was £3,000 a year at the time, rather than I don’t know what now, but they are at least triple that. I know to do an MA at the Royal College at the moment, it’s £16,000 per year.

In a way, a lot of people in my generation did BA’s, just because it was the thing you did to leave home. You could have a nice time for three years, and the government would kind of pay for you. So, it was in a way, a rite of passage.

I’m not sure if it is so much nowadays. But in terms of the formal training, you speak about, you don’t really get that at art school in the UK. It’s quite critical study-based, theory-based, and conceptual-based.

You’re not going to get a life drawing lesson or a lesson in mixing colors or this kind of formal painting techniques.

So yeah, it was more a means to an end in terms of being able to move away, being able to go to London, which I always wanted to do. So perhaps it was more that than wanting formal art training.

Zoë: So, going into your practice… what do you work on now [or worked on previously]? At art school, what were you most fascinated by? Can you delve into what your current practice looks like today?

Phillip Reeves: I’m gonna say that I can’t remember much [about] my BA… but my MA, I can, thankfully. So, at Goldsmiths, we did an MFA in Fine Art.

We split the year [working] in sculpture, painting, printmaking, photography. So actually going in there as a painter was useless. But what was really good about it was I was able to learn about all kinds of theory that wasn’t involved in painting […]

So, it was a very broad education. And we looked at all kinds of topical concerns at the time. So [it was during] that 2015-2018, we did [studied the idea of] ‘Fake News…,’ all kinds of stuff around the Trump election and all these kinds of things that were very topical. Which I wouldn’t have got if I went to a painting school.

So that was good. But I did feel that my quench for painting was unslaked. So, I did then enroll in Turps afterwards, which is a painting school […]

So, I mean, what was I making? I was making figurative works based on costumes. It’s kind of been a theme for my kind of practice for a number of years now.

Zoë: I’m looking at two of them [your ‘Paper Clothes’ works] right now! Tell us about your current practice.

Phillip: I’ve been a figurative painter for about 15 years now.

I gradually realized I was becoming less and less interested in the actual kind of figure itself, the person and the flesh, if you like, and I was getting far more interested in the clothes they were wearing, and what they could signify.

So, uniforms in the workplace – hierarchies of uniforms, things that denote rank or denote importance, and I quite like subverting these ideas or kind of poking fun at them… antiquated ideas of uniforms and what they mean in society.

So, I kind of removed the flesh to look to the costume itself. And I was painting costumes on a traditional format of, you know, ‘square a rectangle’ on stretcher bars – like a canvas or a sheet of aluminum. [However], I felt this [practice] still kind of felt insincere.

I wanted to really break the clothing shapes away from the confines of the canvas. So, I started thinking about other ways to present clothing and uniforms.

[One day], I was stood one day on Savile Row and I was looking down at the tailors with all their tailor tools, you know, leather-cutting tools, dress-makers cloths, dress-makers papers, special rulers for cutting curves [etc.] and I thought: “I’d love to have a go at that.”

My mum’s side of the family has a history of being tailors in Central London. I thought it was something I could explore in light of that as well.

So, I started making work out of dressmaker’s paper.

Zoë: Could you describe dressmaker’s paper for people who don’t know what it is? 

Phillip: Often it has dots, or grids, or scores on it, and essentially, it’s a way of tracing a design over and over again for [a] single garment.

There’s a really great haberdashers in town (I don’t think I should do this interview without saying haberdashers… it’s one of my favourite words to say) you can buy a plain version of dressmaker’s paper without the squares or dots.

So I did a lot of testing with it and found this one was the best [medium] for holding oil paint. So, they’re quite fragile works, very delicate, but they were initially an easy and quick way of making artwork.

[However], the more time I spent with them the more detailed they [became]. Now, sometimes, [it can] take me months to finish a piece.

In the show, you saw, there was a piece I made using concrete stain as well – so the idea was to make Brutalist clothing using [this] concrete stain.

So, there’s a concept to the materiality of them as well – using the dressmaker’s paper to make clothes and then concrete to make brutalist, plain clothing.

Zoë: Clothing is an expression of the self, isn’t it? And that’s why I like this project and this idea. 

Also, what’s interesting is with the time and process it takes you to make something – like this shirt that I’m looking at right now. – it’s quite detailed, so there’s an art to clothing [and designing and clothing-making]. 

And behind every piece of clothing, just like art, there’s a story – so for this one, for example, why did you choose that specific shirt?

Phillip: This is actually a self-portrait because I own this shirt – it’s a carpenter’s shirt from the 70’s. I don’t often make work about myself, or put myself in my work so obviously, but I thought I’d make something that was synonymous with myself and my own style.

It’s something I’ve had since about 2014. I don’t wear it very often. But when I do wear it, people will comment on it. I’m not a very bold or bright dresser.

I normally dress like a Victorian street urchin. But so, this is a blue striped shirt. It’s not particularly loud, but it gets attention.

I own two of them, but occasionally they come up in vintage shops or online and I’ll buy them, and a couple of my friends now have them, and so it’s something I can pass on [to] somebody.

[But] it seemed like the right thing to make if I was gonna make something on [or of] my own. I’ve also made football shirts; I’ve made sportswear and all sorts of different garbs.

Zoë: What I like about this is it does have this weight and the pattern says so much about the history behind it, about what decades it’s from… 

Phillip: I also think it really reminds me of Joseph Albers and Agnes Martin

Zoë: I see Agnes Martin, because of the linear pattern!

Phillip: Yeah, because while I’m making it, I’m thinking of these ‘big hitters’ in art history, and so it also nods to them as well.

Zoë: Do you have any advice when it comes to ‘being an artist?’ What would be your insight about creating? For you: Is it all just about creating art, or is it exploring your craft? Having fun? [Which] do you get the most joy from?

Phillip: I’ve always tried to create conditions [which] mean I am enjoying my time in the studio.

 That’s really important to me. I feel like if it becomes a chore, then that’s when I have to stop.

And obviously, there’s certain parts of doing a painting that can be tedious and boring – that take too long, but the overall experience in the studio has to be fun because it’s how I’m spending a lot of time in my life.

So, yeah, I’d say try and create conditions yourself where you’re doing stuff you want to do because otherwise it just becomes a bit of a folly.

Zoë: When you’re in your studio, do you have any like do you listen to music or do you work in silence? How do you get inspiration?

Phillip: Yeah, I listen to music, or I listen to podcasts or I listen to either twaddle on the radio.

Zoë: How do you get ‘in the zone?’

Phillip: What is that Philip Guston quote? I’ll paraphrase it [badly]… but it’s basically him saying ‘you can’t start making work until all your heroes have left the room.’

So, what he’s trying to say is you can’t think about, all your influences and great painters and art history [when you’re creating an artwork] [you have to ‘get out of your head’ when working on your artwork].

I actually think he’s playing a joke on people [when he says or said this quote]. I think he’s trying to make people think about him as the final person to leave the room (but that’s just my opinion).

But the idea of just kind of closing off, shutting out but… I’m here a lot and I’m here on my own. So, I do. I do kind of like listening to more and more audiobooks, for company really!

But there are times when you know you’re doing something like tidying up or something a bit more physically aggressive, like stretching canvases or throwing stuff about where you do want to listen to the Ramones.

Zoë: As far as when you say artistic greats… Who [or what] have been [some of] your other influences? Do you have any great artistic influences?

Phillip: I mean, I love reading about the kind of ‘downtrodden’ – maybe that’s the wrong word to use – but these like really kind of strong characters. People like [artist] Leonora Carrington: I love reading [about her work]. [I also love] reading her written work.

She wrote some really amazing novels and short stories. [I love reading about this] the era that she lived in and all the weird lives these people led.

There are so many examples of artists who have these amazing histories and lives and yeah, I could reel off so many.

Zoë: I like that, I think Leonora Carrington, she’s now coming back into the art world. 

Phillip: Yeah, very topical! Helma af Klimt, as well.

She was really interesting, and into séances and all these ritual things and I love reading about that kind of life, which is so far removed from our [daily life] experience.

Zoë: It’s the escapism too. Thank you so much, Phillip, for being here this has been a really great discussion!