Lemonade Magazine 03/ Summer 2012 by Lemonade Magazine

lemonade-magazine.co.uk @lemonade_mag

MELISSA TULLET

RACHAEL DINNAGE

MIRANDA SQUIRE

MARIANNE DEMMO

CHARLOTTE W. SMITH

ALEX LUCK

STEVEN M. HARRIES

VICTORIA MALIN

OLLIE JARMAN

LAUREN ANWAR

HERDIS JAKOBSEN

GAVIN WITHEY

PASCALINE HOFMANN

SAMANTHA CHTIMI

ARABELLA PACKFORD

SOPHIE INGLEDEW

EWA SIWECKA

REBECCA KARENZA

NIKOO BAFTI

GRACE ERSKINE CRUM

interviews with

AIMEE WINSTON

lemonade summer 2012 In this issue WE PUT THE SPOTLIGHT

ON THE BEST OF THE UK’S RECENT ART GRADUATES

CONTENTS

MARIANNE DEMMO

EWA SIWECKA

ARABELLA PACKFORD

PASCALINE HOFMANN

AIMEE WINSTON

SOPHIE INGLEDEW

SAM CHTIMI

HERDIS JAKOBSEN

VICTORIA MALIN

OLLIE JARMAN

MELISSA TULLET

FRONT COVER: PASCALINE HOFMANN INSIDE COVER: REBECCA KARENZA

REBECCA KARENZA

MIRANDA SQUIRE

LAUREN ANWAR

ALEX LUCK

GRACE ERSKINE CRUM

GAVIN WITHEY

RACHAEL DINNAGE

NIKOO BAFTI

CHARLOTTE WILSON-SMITH

104

STEVEN MANSEL HARRIES

108

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MARIANNE DEMMO SWANSEA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY FREE RANGE/21st JUNE 2012

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name is Marianne, I'm 24 years old from Norway and a recent graduate from Swansea Metropolitan University where I just received a BA (Hons) Photojournalism. For the last two years I've been documenting the lands of the 'East'. I'm interested in the human landscape, how it is imagined and portrayed. Inspired by the writings of Edward Said and his ideas on Orientalism I seek to challenge the common perception of these 'exotic' lands and aim to deconstruct the way we in the west 'look' at the east. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? From a young age I was encouraged by my parents to take an interest in art â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they would often take me to see exhibitions and visit the local galleries. My mother is also a painter and our house is filled with her wonderful colourful paintings. She's also a keen hobby photographer and encouraged me to pick up the camera.

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natteranglerne You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time studying and did it help you to become the artist you are today?

You have amassed a strong body of work so far, what is it about that particular project that is so special to you?

I loved my three years in Swansea and I got to learn from some great people. Nonetheless I found my time at University to be very challenging at times, especially in the last year or so figuring out where the hell I want to go with my work â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the support I got from my teachers here has been indispensable for me.

There is so many aspects of Marrakech that fascinates me and interests me as a photographer. I started to document Marrakech two years ago and at the moment I have several projects there that I'm currently working on â&#x20AC;&#x201C; some which are more developed than others. Hopefully one day it will all come together, perhaps in the shape of a book, but the fact that I'm not entirely sure yet where these projects will take me is also something I enjoy very much.

How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? My approach is definitely more organic.

Tell us about the work you exhibited at Free Range, what was the aim of the project and where were the photographs taken?

marrakech medina At Free Range I exhibited a project of mine entitled “Amr: Aqaba”. The title itself is based upon Ibn Khaldun's concept of Omran; which comes from the Arabic word amr, (filling an empty space). Amr: Aqaba consists of a series of images I took in the Jordanian city of Aqaba. On my travels in Jordan I was struck by the nature of the landscape of Aqaba; half finished buildings that made a mockery of the 2006 Jordanian Government's announcement that they would transform the area of Aqaba (“one of the most sought after parcels of real estate in the world”) “into a commercial, residential and tourism powerhouse”. The aim of this project was to show how the desire of the Jordanians to open up their country to the West had in many ways become a failed dream. Your choice of landscapes differs vastly across your portfolio, from the dry, arid scenery of the Marrakech series to the frigid and often desolate landscapes of your 'Natteranglerne' project. Was this an intentional contrast or were you merely showcasing the different worlds that inspire you? I would say this is partly due to the fact that I have developed as a photographer but it also comes from the fact that I approach different 'worlds' differently according to my relationship with the place as well as the aim of my project. 07

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For example, 'Natteranglerne' is one of my earlier projects and it was made for the book I had to produce in my second year of university. It was shot around Christmas 2010 and it documents my hometown Bergen from the perspective of my mother, who is a 'night owl' and at night in her travels she interacts with different characters that you find inhabiting Bergen's nightlife. It's quite an intimate and deals with my personal relationship with my hometown, whereas in my later work I've aimed to be more political. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Amongst many artists that inspire me, I'm deeply fascinated by the life and work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. As for photography, there's so much fantastic work out there but my favourites are Robert Mapplethorpe and BrassaĂŻ as well as August Sander. Then of course there's Pink Floyd and the amazing Patti Smith. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? It would be very hard for me to single out a particular piece of work as my favourite, but nothing inspires me more than the music and art of Pink Floyd. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I love experimenting with different films and cameras it's part of what I love about photography â&#x20AC;&#x201C;there's always something to learn and the medium is constantly changing. Nonetheless, for most of my work I shoot colour film on Hasselblad (6x6 medium format camera). Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? My best advice is simply to work hard. I think it's also very important to be critical of your own work. I think it's very important to seek advice but at the same time it's important for you to stay true to yourself and what you believe in. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? It's hard to say. All I know now is that I'm moving to Marrakech to work as an au pair for a French family there. This is fantastic for me because it means I can develop my projects and carry on working in the city I love. www.mariannedemmo.com

Amr: Aqaba

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For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I returned to studying after a very long absence. On leaving school, I did a Foundation Year but it was many years before I returned to finish what I had started. Over the years I have always been interested in architecture whether it was cutting age or ancient historical castles and palaces. It therefore seemed natural that I would be mainly interested by the Urban Landscape/Cityscape. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? What I really wanted to be was a textile designer but, gave that up when marriage and children came along. It was my daughter who gave me the confidence to take up painting with a more professional outlook and encourage me to apply to University and start a Degree Course.

You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time there? My time at University was filled with highs and lows, lots of self-doubt but without question it gave me the skills and knowledge to develop as an artist. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? My creative work started with a camera and a good pair of walking shoes. There is a lot of research involved which came from reading and remembering the places that meant a lot to me in my formative years. Your Urban Landscape paintings are stunningly beautiful; can you tell us about inspiration for the series and the creative process you under take to produce them?

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I mainly looked at the paintings of the Precisionists and out of these paintings I realised that painting the urban landscape could be a beautiful thing. It was not just a question of painting any urban landscape but one that I was emotionally engaged with. I was born and brought up in London but it was only really after I moved that I realised how exciting London is. Compositionally the series is rather unique, particularly with the use of both flat planes and distorted perspective in the same painting. What was the thinking behind this choice of composition? Was it pre planned or did it evolve naturally? I had been playing about with images in a sketch book and it was on first waking up one morning, that the image of how I wanted my drawings to look came to me. It was then a matter of thinking through how to achieve the desired effect. The individual drawings were traced from the image of the photograph that I took or during my research into finding images of London. I had initially wanted to do only modernist buildings but after several attempts, the look kept coming back to a grid and I felt my work was going in the direction of Sarah Morris or Brendan Neiland. So to break up the grid I decided to incorporate old iconic buildings of London e.g. St. Pauls, rows of Victorian and Georgian terracing. It was then a matter of patiently arranging these individually under a sheet of tracing paper and creating a balanced feel to the drawing so that at no particular time was one part of the drawing overshadowing another. Because some of the images were taken from a distorted perspective, this added another dimension to the drawing. Obviously the colours used for the paintings are not representative of the real life buildings; however the choice of colours used raises some interesting questions. Each painting seems to have 2 or 3 dominant colours which almost single out specific buildings. Was there any intention to emphasis particular buildings and what inspired the colour selection? I needed to keep, more or less, to a colour pallet. I tried using more subdued colours but brighter colours appeal more to me. There was no conscious reasoning behind which colour I placed in a certain position on the canvas; I just wanted the colours to speak to each other across the canvas and to create harmony. Although London and the British climate is usually regarded as dull, I wanted to make the

paintings more alive rather than using traditional representative colours that London is usually associated with. Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? It's difficult to say which my favourite piece of work is. I find qualities in one that are special to me and qualities in another that mean something personal. My last painting is perhaps the most special because the images that I used I was directly involved with; they are; the hospital where I was born, the church in which I got married and the school I attended. On the other hand there is one painting where although the linear qualities are becoming more apparent, it is actually the colour pallet that appeals to me most of all. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Apart from the Precisionists, I enjoy the work of Robert Delaunay, Lyonel Feininger and from recent painters I found the work of Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebald, Richard Estes and Carl Laubin amongst my favourite artists. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? Perhaps my all time favourite piece of work is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jan Van Eycks: The Arnolfini Marriageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. I think it was the first time that I ever saw a painting which made an impression on me. I was about ten years old at the time and it was for a project that I was doing at school. I can remember, as if it were yesterday, walking into The Tate Gallery, walking round a corner and seeing it hanging on the wall. It took my breath away. I thought it was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. It had everything that a little girl of ten years old could fall in love with, a romantic story, love, the dog, the reflection in the mirror, and it shone. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Still being a very new artist, the only advice I would give would be to paint a genre that you feel passionate about, something that is very personal, and to just keep going. To expect bad days, but, just to work through them and not give up. As an artist to expect these bad days where everything seems to go wrong, but the next day will always be better.

URBAN LANDSCAPE

Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? As an artist I like to think that my work will develop and change constantly. At the moment my technique for drawing is dip pen and ink on tracing paper. I like this method as it gives a softness to what could be just a technical drawing. My painting after some experimentation is oil mixed with a transparent glaze on an acrylic base coat on canvas. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Patient, hardworking and selfmotivated. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I want to develop my work taking it further using different techniques and exploring more diversely and going into printing. I also would like explore the use of mixing mediums in the one drawing or painting.

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ARABELLA PACKFORD_

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I am twenty-four years old and have just graduated from The University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. Prior to Farnham I studied Chinese at Sheffield University. The repetitive studying within this subject and lack of creativity drove me mad, so I terminated this degree and moved to Farnham to study photography.

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A SPACE OF MIND

Farnham encourages one to make personal projects. This can sometimes be quite mentally challenging, as you don't always want to publicize your secrets. However, it is true that personal projects are often the more successful ones and in fact it can be quite therapeutic; I therefore quickly learnt to become less secretive. I brought up my issues with anxiety and panic attacks. This has been my most recent topic. Firstly, I made an installation piece that represented the experience of a build up to a panic attack. The viewer was made to sit in a tiny box room in pitch black apart from the screens that went off. I wanted to create the experience I felt. Moving on from creating this uncomfortable environment, I continued with the topic of anxiety, but instead looked at ways to control it. This latter project is called A Space of Mind, which I exhibited at Free Range.

I would like to go further into this topic which is rarely talked about, as it affects more people than expected. Photography can be a great means for therapy. It would be interesting to discover what helps calm down other anxiety sufferers and see whether photographing it helps. Other than personal work, I am in the process of setting up an artist collective/ company with two others. We are called So Rough so please check us out if you are a fellow creative and hopefully we can collaborate. We specialise in photography at present but will also welcome other mediums. I studied photography at A-Level and absolutely loved it. However, in going to a very traditional academic school, it was not encouraged to further this at university. A few confused years down the line I realised I wanted to return to it and work with ideas again; I therefore applied for university.

How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? I am so happy that I studied at UCA. The tutors have been approachable and encouraging and my process of working and way of thinking has developed hugely. You create a real bond with some as they learn about you, how you work, and make you see your strengths and weaknesses. My studies in photography at university have trained my brain to open up and see things from different perspectives. I have learnt that you may start with an idea and this will develop and most possibly change into something else but you should go with this and allow this evolving process to take place. In looking back at very early projects I made I can see the different way I now work. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? I take a long time doing anything in life because I am always thinking. My ideas start in the shower, getting dressed, walking somewhere, listening to someone and elsewhere. From here I discuss my ideas and thoughts with others and bounce off their responses. I spend months researching my topic of interest; reading philosophy and relevant psychology, researching other artists, watching television documentaries, and sourcing out first hand information through interviewing. Through this approach my idea naturally develops and gains more depth.

Your series 'A Space of Mind' really grabbed our attention when we saw it at your recent exhibition, how did you go about creating it and what was the creative process like? I became very interested in the theory of The Sublime, researching Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant's philosophical theories. I then became fascinated by the idea of the void and Infinity, aspects of the Sublime. The Sublime was traditionally represented through paintings of landscapes but more modern day representations are very different. Modern artists including James Turrell and Yves Klein have looked at the sublime and expressed it in a very minimal way. I was so involved in the theory that it was only much later that I realised I wanted to continue with the topic of anxiety. I found that these landscapes and images that I had been looking at had influenced the way I chose to represent tranquillity and space in my photographs. The series conjures up thoughts of isolation and tranquillity, was this concept intentional and if so how did you go about selecting the specific locations for your shoots? This is exactly what I was trying to portray. The intention was to source out locations that were spacious and tranquil and looked like they could go on infinitely. This meant trying to find landscapes that were completely minimal and had nothing obstructing the horizon. This whole project for me was a means of trying to tame my anxiety and find a place I could remember whenever I felt a build up to a panic.

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Open spaces are limited in the south west of England but I chose my locations here because I needed them to be accessible to me whenever I felt in a state of anxiety. I did some research on the Internet and asked people directly about any known suitable areas to explore. I also went for many drives and some days I would simply hop in the car and use a compass to drive in a direction until I spotted a space that I liked. When I spotted a location I would pull over and have a walk around the land and if it felt right I would then go about setting up my camera and photograph the space. Your project 'How Sublime' looks as if it is almost an extension of 'A Space of Mind' because of its calming nature. Was it your intention to further explore this theme or did you aim to explore new ground? It is actually the other way round. How Sublime instigated the idea for my body of work A Space of Mind. I took the photographs of the seascapes in South Africa whilst I was researching the philosophy of Immanuel Kant on the sublime. In taking these photographs I realised that these great big open spaces are the most calming places for me. This trilogy which you can see on my website was the beginning of realising how to calm my anxiety. Your series 'Café de Paris' has an interesting narrative running through it. What was the inspiration for this series? It was quite a challenging project but one which I thoroughly enjoyed. The aim of this project was to gain access into an exclusive place, seeing a side of it that the public would not. This is the beauty of being a photographer; once you are trusted, you have access to so many places and I wanted to use this to my advantage. I researched into this venue Café de Paris, which is an exclusive club in London, opened by a Prince and where Royalty and celebrities used to regularly visit. In more recent years it has become less elite but still maintains a good reputation. Within this body of work I wanted to document what went on inside the club; get a general feel for what goes on but also show the more seedy side that not everybody sees. I came across an elaborately decorated, dimly-lit room at the back that was full of red velvet beds. You say that it has an interesting narrative running through it. I started by taking a few overall photographs of the venue and the people dancing but this was too general an approach. The place possessed a lot of character and so too did the people that went

there and these initial photographs did not do that justice. I decided it necessary to change my photographic approach and chose to focus on the more detailed aspects that made the place so special. I also wanted to communicate the flow of movement and dancing and give an idea of the intimacy of the club. Did you encounter any difficulties photographing in a different style for 'Café de Paris' series? Did you have to change your approach at all? No I didn't have to change my approach all that much. The only real difference was that I photographed Café de Paris on a digital camera, as this was the most appropriate medium. I dislike using digital unless I have to. I also usually work with square format, which the digital camera is not. It is good however to sometimes mix things up and use something a little different. These are the main differences between my normal photographic style and that which I used for this. However, the way I went about researching is very similar to and I cannot stress enough how important this is in my work. You have also explored the world of portrait photography; tell us about your interest in portrait photography and why you chose to venture into it. I love faces. I sit and watch somebody whose face I like. I realise it is disturbing when someone stares at you so I try and stop myself, but if someone catches my interest then I cannot help it. I simply love an interesting person to look at. I have not ventured as much into portrait photography as I would like but I am happy that you have recognised my interest in this area. I am sometimes tempted to stop people on the street and take their photo but this doesn't always work that well. The most successful portrait photographs I have taken are when the subject is so used to my camera knocking around that they act themselves. I will always take portraits if the time and the face are right but this cannot be forced. I would however like to explore this area further. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Depending on the work that I am making, I will be influenced by different artists each time depending on the subject matter. However, the most influential artists I found during A Space of Mind were Michael Kenna, Franco Fontana and James Turrell's installation on the sublime. Aesthetically, the work of

CAFÉ DE PARIS

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Michael Kenna and Franco Fontana mirrored something similar to that of which I was trying to create. Turrell's installation on the sublime appealed to me because his work was able to create a feeling within the viewer, which is something I wanted achieve within my own work. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I am an irritating perfectionist and work in very slow manner. I mostly photograph with my medium format Mamiya c220, which works perfectly with my pace. For A Space of Mind I was best working solo because I would take a very long time choosing how I would want each image to look. After finding each location I then had to wait for the desired lighting which involved sitting in fields waiting for clouds to pass over. This slowed down the process even more but allowed me time within the space to get a feel for the tranquillity I was seeking. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Go with your heart on any Project. Choose one that you have enough interest in that you will see through to the end. As I learnt at university personal projects are usually the most powerful and interesting. Research, research, research, this is key to all of my projects and I find it gives more depth to ones work. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Perfectionist , peaceful and patient

I am in the process of setting up an artist collective with two other people, which is taking up most of my time. As I mentioned earlier, this is called So Rough and it will be up and running shortly. On a personal note, I am starting to research for a documentary project that I will be photographing abroad over the winter months. www.cargocollective.com/arabellaP

PORTRAITURE

What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take?

HOW SUBLIME

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64 DAYS OF SKY REBECCA KARENZA/FARNHAM UNIVERSITY FREE RANGE/21st JUNE 2012

For you or or your your For those those who who aren't aware of you art artcould couldyou yougive giveususa brief a briefintroduction? introduction? I'm Rebecca, 23 and a recent graduate specialising in landscape, documentary and fine art photography. I work predominantly with vivid colours, using a combination of digital and analogue, and use my work to reflect issues that stem from my personal life. I am always striving to evoke an emotional response within the viewer, playing upon the most primitive element of the medium. what inspired inspired you WhoWho or or what youto start to start photography? photography? Photography has always been, as for most people, a large part of my life. Growing up as part of a large extended family I remember visits to my grandparents always ending with a few photos to document the visit. I, like most of my young cousins at the time, hated posing for these, but as I started to grow up I realised the pleasure and happiness that was derived from this action of using photography in its original context â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to make a record of a frozen moment in time.

www.rebeccakarenzaphotography.com

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At 16 I received my first camera (an automatic compact film camera) and started my journey with photography, driven by this inherent need to document change, to make a record of everything around me to serve as visual prompts to memories. It was the joy in this action that naturally led me to further explore the medium and its endless varying forms of representation.

Can you tell us a little about your education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University?

I first came across fine art-photography in a GCSE art lesson where we were asked to make our own versions of David Hockney's photo montages. I had never before considered using photography in any other way than for family snapshots and was instantly fascinated by its potential. I started studying photography formally at A-level, taking it as my 'fun' subject at Truro College in rural Cornwall. I did very well here and stayed on to complete a Foundation Diploma in art and design before starting a BA Hons Degree at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, from which I have recently graduated from. However, due to the nature of these courses and their

primary function is to guide and inspire your own independent learning, I would consider myself at least partially self-taught. How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? My time at uni was a bit of a struggle, both financially and in getting the help and advice that I needed, but overall was a very useful experience with much of the theory that was taught inspiring my practical work. However it did teach me to work in a fine art context and, above all, to follow

my instinct, trust my own judgement and work with subjects that interest me personally. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? I feel like I seem to stumble into ideas, finding inspiration in the most banal sources and often from indulging myself by being present at a location or event that I know I will enjoy photographing. From here I then try to establish 25

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64 DAYS OF SKY

I am intrigued by the idea of beauty and how, despite the existence of a shared consensus, our individual definitions vary dramatically.

why it is that I enjoy this particular theme, space, group of people etc. by researching psychological, sociological and philosophical theories. Once I have reached this initial conclusion I seem to always start with an idea of how I would like the final piece to look, of one particular image I would like to achieve. However lately this has become more vague and I think this has helped me to produce stronger projects. Research has always been a large part of the process, taking inspiration from as wide a variety of sources as I can and combining the relevant elements of each of these to represent the message I am trying to portray. Whether it is a universally relatable topic or a current issue that the images address it is always vital to consider how different audiences will perceive your work. This also contributes towards deciding how and where the final piece will be displayed. Your series '64 days of sky' really caught our eye, how did you go about creating it and what was the creative process like? This project was quite a personal one and indulged my love for the countryside as well as a recent fascination with landscape art and the sublime, which I had started to investigate in previous projects. I am also intrigued by the idea of beauty and how, despite the existence of a shared consensus, our individual definitions vary dramatically. I started the project at a bit of a creative block and decided to look at what kind of images I shoot for pleasure to try and gain some inspiration. This self-review highlighted to me where my passions lay- in landscapes and sky photography- and lead the way for the research. Through investigating the cause of the sublime (which is defined as something that causes a feeling of over whelming emotion) and its traditional representations and comparing this to the pictorial structures of 18th Century landscape art and theories of beauty, I was able to draw many similarities and reach a conclusion that these could be represented in the same way. To demonstrate this I wanted to create images that were both beautiful and evocative while still being displayed according to traditional pictorial structures.

The creative process for this project was one of the most enjoyable so far, consisting of 19 shoots over 3 months in 5 locations. Each shoot started with packing the kit into the car at the appropriate time of day and driving to a beautiful patch of Surrey countryside. To get to the vantage point I was after this usually meant lugging a very large and heavy camera or two up a very big hill. However once we were at the top it was always worth the climb. Once set up I started shooting away while my partner watched the weather for me (especially as rain storms approached) and helped me to spot the subtle changes in tone, colour and texture I was after. Once the film was all exposed, and/or I had spent a good hour or two shooting and observing with my digital camera and the light began to fade, I sat back and absorbed the peace and beauty of the nature that surrounded me and reminded myself of the simple pleasure of indulging that feeling of escape from modern worries that only something so naturally beautiful can provide. The colour palette that is evident in this series is spectacular, how did you manage to capture such vibrancy? By being in the right place at the right time, however this was determined through a lot of research. I started by investigating how different cloud patterns were formed, where they formed and how they moved. I also looked into the science behind how different colours were created in the atmosphere. Through this, and continually refereeing back to weather forecasts and weather station reports, I could make an educated prediction about when and where the right light conditions and colours would occur. Due to the time of year I was shooting, in the transition between winter and spring, the whole operation a little less predictable but did however create a fantastic array of colours as everything began to warm up. Most of the research images were shot digitally and tweaked very lightly in Photoshop, but the few that became the final pieces were shot using a 5X4 camera 27

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and Kodak Ektar 100, which is a colour saturating, fine grain film. These were then processed, scanned and edited but only to remove any dust or scratches. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? I can't really say I have favourite artists as such, but I certainly have memorable pieces or collections that have inspired me to work in particular ways. When I was younger I loved Franz Mark's expressionist horses, and shortly after discovered the highly saturated fashion portraits of David LaChapelle and Nick Knight. I think this influence has been evident through most of my work and was the foundation for my passion for using bright colours. Don McCullen, Corinne Day and Annie Leibovitz have also been instrumental in my work through illustrating the power of emotion that the narrative within an image can create. However more recently I have, of course, found myself returning again and again to landscape artists. Through '64 Days of Sky', and the projects leading up to it, I have discovered series that have stuck with me and produced within me the sense of awe and peace that I strive to create in my own work. These were most predominantly: John Constable's 'Cloud Studies', Ori Gersht's 'Afterglow', Joel Meyerowitz's 'Bay/Sky' and Paul Graham's 'Ceasefire'. There are still so many more I could list here. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I tend to work with 5x4 cameras a lot and usually use Kodak negative films for their colour saturating properties and convenience, however I was very disappointed when they recently combined the Portra NC and VC as the results are no longer as vivid, so I now use Ektar 100 which is great for picking up greens and blues. My trusty Nikon D90 has also served me well over the years and has inspired me to take more pictures as I always have it with me. I wouldn't consider myself to be brand-loyal though as I work with the materials that will give me the results

I sat back and absorbed the peace and beauty of the nature that surrounded me and reminded myself of the simple pleasure of indulging that feeling of escape from modern worries that only something so naturally beautiful can provide.

I want to achieve. If I'm shooting and printing it black and white I will usually use Ilford. I also like their Galerie range of papers for inkjet printing as the textures work well for fine art prints. I wouldn't consider it much of a technique, but I try to get as much as possible right 'in-camera' so there is very little editing to do. I would say this is just good practise more than anything though. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? From my own experience I would say the most important thing is to be confident, particularly with approaching people. You never know who will be a useful contact so build relationships. These will not only benefit you socially but will help you to create your own luck in finding the right opportunities to develop your abilities and career. With this said it is also important to publicize yourself and your work to reach to appropriate audiences. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Very fucking pedantic! No, but I do tend to fuss over the smallest details, especially when it comes to printing and hanging work for an exhibition. I spend hours adjusting the colours so that they will print exactly how I want them and when it's up everything has to be millimetre perfect, straight and entirely dust free. Voyeuristic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I love to sit back and observe nature and people and the link that is demonstrated through the strong animals instincts we all subconsciously act upon daily. Developing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I think every artist is continually experimenting and refining their style to explore new concepts and issues. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? Like most artists, I've noticed I seem to work in phases of creating work in different genres so I'm not entirely sure in which direction my work will naturally lead me. For the meantime I will continue to work with landscapes and skies to further explore the sublime in nature and strive to create a sense of awe and calm. I have always intended to continue '64 Days of Sky' on a long term scale, so expect plenty more skies, particularly as I am currently designing a book that will be volume one of this body of work. I am also rediscovering my passion for documentary through compiling a book of portraits and snapshots. This has been planned for some time and will act as a marker for my transition between student and professional and also child and adult. It will also focus on interactions within different relationships and between the subject and the camera. 29

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PASCALINE Hofmann

stephenson college edinburgh free range/21st June 2012

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? Originally from the South of France, I came to Edinburgh four years ago to study Professional Photography at Stevenson College. I am freshly graduated and now I work as a freelance photographer. The work I produce is mainly fashion but I also do portraits. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I come from an artistic family: my grand-father was a painter and my father a photographer, in his early years. I guess this is how I started to love art and images. I learned how to look at shapes and colours, how to 'feel' the moment and see the beauty in simple things. This helped me to create my own little world. You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time studying and did it help you to become the artist you are today? Studying photography was essential for me to learn about techniques. Tutors always pushed us hard, and it paid off at the end. I feel that I built up both style and confidence. The best bit was to exhibit this year at the Free Range in London. But there is still a long way to go and so much more to learn about photography. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? Like most photographers, when I shoot a fashion series I think about a concept and a story. I always see the outfits as the personality of my model and I play around this. But my favourite part of taking picture is to get emotions from my models. It takes patience but it is worth the time spent. I cannot consider my photographs without capturing emotions and strength. Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you?

I want to say the portrait of 'The Red Hat'. I created this photograph using the technique of light painting. It was new for me and I learnt a lot while using it. It took me more patience and concentration than for my other photoshoots, and every attempt was different. I really enjoyed working this way. I can see softness and mystery in this photograph. You are an awarding photographer having won the portrait category of the BIPP Student Award 2012. How did it feel to be recognised for your work? As you can guess, it feels great! This is the first ever award that I win and it was a really pleasant way to complete degree. It gives a reason to work hard. At the same time it is one photograph over the rest of my work, so I still have a lot to prove. What is it about fashion that inspires your work and have you thought about delving into other areas of photography? There are two things: first, people are the reason why I take pictures. Then, fashion boosts my imagination. When I look at fashion designs, I see extravagance, originality and creativity. It tickles something in me and my imagination. From this, I can create a concept and story around it. I love this feeling. But the outfit is nothing without the model who wears it. I choose my models carefully and I always give them the first role. To be fair I consider fashion and portraiture as the same. If I do not shoot fashion, then I shoot portraits. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Paolo Roversi has been a main revelation and inspiration for my work. I love the feel and softness in his work and the way he recreates beauty. I met him in Arles (France) at the beginning of July this year and the way he talks about the light is magic! I am also really keen of the work of photographer Boo George and his black and white style. Another inspiring artist is musician Django Reinhardt. I tend to listen to Gypsy Jazz when I feel creative or when I work on my images. It drives my mood.

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BIPP PORTRAIT a space OF THE YEAR

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What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? I will never get bored of the series shot by Paolo Roversi 'A Girl of Singular Beauty'. It is all about feminity, sensuality and natural. Natalia Vodianova is 'sublime' in it! Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I don't swear by anything special but a lot of communication and patience with my model. This is the technique I use to get emotions on my photographs. Also so far, I shot all my work with a Canon 400D. Not the most professional camera, but it can do great stuff ! Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Trust your intuitions. It is not always the camera that we use that makes the best work, but the way we use it. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? This is not the easiest question but I would say curious-unsatisfied-sensitive. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? Ideally, my aim for the future would be to work for the 'Haute-Couture' designers. I am very aware of the competition and the small opportunities that this industry offersâ&#x20AC;Ś but if you don't try, you don't get. Right now, I am looking to assist photographers and collaborate with creative people. I will be soon leaving Scotland to try my luck in Paris or London. www.pascalinehofmann.com

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MIRANDA SQUIRE shillington college graduate

www.cargocollective.com/mirandasquire

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction?

How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today?

I am a Graphic Designer, recently graduated from Shillington College, London, where I am currently based. Prior to this I gained a degree in Architecture at Oxford Brookes University.

The people that I met at university inspired and encouraged my design and it was there that I leant the importance of drive and hard work. I learnt a lot about the creative process and communal design. My love of architecture and graphics certainly overlap and inspire one other.

My art is the way I try to explain, explore and describe who I am and the influences on my life and graphics is a way in which I can easily communicate these opinions and emotions. I like to hold a mirror to my world and capture that reflection. Who or what inspired you to start creating art and what led towards you specialising in graphic design? My family is creative and from childhood I have always been encouraged to experiment and design. I have always found it easiest to express myself through the creative process. More recently I have started to look at psychology as a tool for design, becoming more interested in seeing art and graphics as gateway to the mind. Books like 'The Divided Self' and 'The Mind's Eye' inspire me to create. Can you tell us a little about your art education prior to University? I gained an architecture degree at Oxford Brookes University where I learnt to communicate with drawings, models and graphic images. This course gave a structure to my work and informs a great deal

How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? For me the creative process always starts with one instinctual idea, from there I will expand and explore this idea in as many ways as I can to try to find a discipline, a pattern, or a formula, which brings clarity in two dimensions. Your portfolio contains a lot of excellent work; one of the pieces that grabbed our attention was The Woman's World Daily Fashion poster. What was the concept behind that particular piece? For the Woman's World Daily Fashion poster I focused on the idea of dimensions. I combined the two juxtaposing worlds of high, couture fashion and urban street art. The two worlds are seemingly pulled apart, however with the application of 3D glassed they combine to make a complete and tranquil image. The subtle religious undertones also hint at a fourth dimension.

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You have created some fantastic magazine spreads yourself, in particular your work for 'Monster Children' and 'Art Space'. Tell us about the creative process for these pieces, for instance why you chose the typeface you did, how you arranged the text etc. When creating a magazine spread I try to ensure that it has beauty, brawn and brains. The images are the beauty, they must be treated sympathetically and promise instant captivation. The body copy is the brawn; it is the strength behind the design, its skeleton frame that holds a spread together. There is always an appropriate typeface that reflects the topic of conversation and the disposition of the reader. Finally, the details are the brains. Details such as tag lines, page numbers, issue numbers and graphic elements are significant fine points that can be overlooked but if treated well can ensure a deeper appreciation for the design. Another project of yours that we really enjoyed was your branding project for 'DiversiTea, the combination of the old meeting the new works brilliantly. How did you find working on a rebranding project and are you pleased with the outcome? I enjoy personifying my work and branding is a great platform for doing so. The essence of a brand is that it speaks to the consumer and 'DiversiTea' does so in a colloquial manner. I think it is hard for an artist or designer to ever be completely satisfied by a piece of their own work, however, I am pleased with the outcome if people respond and engage with it. Your work shows a keen eye for typography. How do you go about selecting the type you use for your work, do you have any tips or secrets and do you prefer to purchase or create your own typefaces? Typography is the voice of a project and informs the way in which people hear your design. I select a typeface by listening to the brief, deciding on its

accent and intonation and opt for the best way to describe that visually. I may occasionally find an existing typeface that fits with the project perfectly in which case I would use it, however, the majority I create or edit myself. It is my own voice and opinions that I am trying to relay therefore the only thing that can truly reflect that proposal is my own lettering. Who are your favorite artists, past and present? Barry McGee, Phoebe Washburn, Peter Saville, Luna Maurer, Clemens Behr Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? No. I believe that each project I undertake is unique and the material and technique that is right for each one will reveal itself to me in the process. Without using new materials and experimenting I believe you will never grow as an artist. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? I try to absorb everything, say yes to anything, always remain positive and work hard constantly. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Eternal late nights! What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I would like to have the opportunity to work abroad, travel to New York or Berlin and immerse myself in another culture. In the future I would love to have my own collaborative studio. Having just graduated I am keen to do anything and everything. Whatever it turns out to be I hope that my work will take on new forms, improve and continue to surprise me.

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The Regeneration Branding project was a student project undertaken at Shillington College. I came up with a logo for the property management company based on the building blocks they work with. I then put together stationary and an information brochure. The logo and stationary is meant to feel honest and sustainable.

Diversitea Packaging was a student project undertaken at Shillington College. I wanted each type of tea (Earl Grey, Builders and Green) to have its own personality with colloquial and appropriately illustrated packaging. The illustrations are ones that I have bought that no longer have copy right laws attached to them.

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AIMEE WINSTON HAVERING COLLEGE/FREE RANGE JUNE 8th 2012

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I am a London based Graphic Designer, not long graduated. In fact, that is probably one of the first times I have not referred to myself as a student. I enjoy applying my skills across a variety of disciplines within the field of Graphic Design. Some of my favorite areas would have to be design for print, image making, book binding and brand identity.

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Who or what inspired you to start creating art? My interest in all things creative started when I was in school and I decorated a hard boiled egg for the annual Easter egg competition. I spent the whole weekend getting my mum to boil eggs, spent the whole time crying and frustrated because mine wouldn't be as nice as the other kids. I eventually dropped loads of paint on the egg and let all the colours run together. My mum and sister said it was odd and I should hand in the one I painted like a duck (a bad duck).I, on the other hand loved it, and that was the egg I submitted. I also won first prize and a HUGE Easter egg. From then on I liked trying to make things look different. Can you tell us a little about you education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University? Well, I started doing my A-LeveIs, this lasted for about 3 weeks as what I really wanted to do was a BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design. So I did. I enrolled at Havering College of F&HE and then went on to complete my degree at the same institution. It's not exactly a university, more of a college but they supply a range of degrees related to the creative arts. How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? I loved my degree, and would do it all again if I could. Yes it was hard work, but looking through my portfolio of work I grew so much from when I started to when I finished. If I had not gone on to study design at degree level I don't think I would be on the same career path now. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? I always start by trying to find and develop a concept or idea. For me I don't embark on a project just to

make things look nice, I always intend to communicate and provide meaning. I am highly organised but I try not to have too much control over the design process to a point where it restricts my creativity. I find the projects that I try to mould to a pre-conceived idea are the ones that visually, are not as exciting. I like to explore and find the hidden, weird or unusual components and work with those. That's an interesting point you raise about not embarking on projects to just make things look nice. How much of current mainstream design do you think is style over substance? I think the professional design industry probably has the right balance, because realistically we do need both to make good design. However with social media and what I think is a misconception of what Graphic Design actually is, there a lot of people merely operating software, yet not actually aware of understanding what design is.

Your series 'Make Do+' really caught our eye, how did you go about creating it and what was the creative process like? For those who do not know about the project, it focused on a statistic published by the design council. They found that whilst the majority of design students are female, the majority of the industry is male. I had a variety of approaches to solving the problem but I didn't want to just to visualise a set of statistics and facts. I wanted to create a solution that

actively set about changing the statistics. After a lot of planning I created the set of ten creative workshops. Each one intends to encourage networking and equip female designers with the appropriate skills they need to be confident and capable of working within the industry. I explored lots of different image making processes to try and establish the right visual language for the workshops.. I wanted to evoke tones of fun and friendliness. In the end the final set of collages were not something that I ever would have thought I would have produced, but they worked for the project and this was the most important thing. I wanted to push the project because I genuinely believed in it, not just academically, I do think it is something that could benefit the industry. It was stressful because I wanted to get it right, I knew it had potential and wanted to maximise its success both visually and conceptually.

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AIMEEWINSTON You also taught some workshops for the Make Do+ project, how did that go? I chose to run a workshop as a way of testing my idea and gathering feedback from participants. What I really wanted to find out was how well people interacted with each other, and how well they responded to the tasks set during the workshop. The response to the workshop was positive, people spoke to new people and they had fun. Although the workshop was initially a form of testing, whilst looking back at the video footage I decided to make a promotional video that gave a preview of what the workshops are like. I think the video really helped to provide people with a deeper understanding of the project. You mentioned earlier that whilst the majority of design students are female, the majority of the industry is male. Why do you think that is? It's important to say that I don't think the industry is sexist. I do think it is very demanding and perhaps more of a macho culture. Women with families

RESEARCH BOOK

perhaps have less time to network outside of the studio. Design is not a 9-5 job. This is why in my set of workshops, the 'Join Us For Tea' one is considered one of the most important. There is no set design activity, but it is a time that allows women to network at times more convenient for them. The intention is to allow them to form their own design community that is flexible to their needs. You addressed the topic of inequality in design further for your project 'Research Book'. For those who haven't had a chance to look through the 36 page book, could you give us an overview of the content you presented? I used the book as a way of visually communicating all the research I carried out previous to the designing stage of the Make Do+ project. During my research I asked design students to name five male and five female designers. I published these statistics in the book along with some of the reasons why they thought they couldn't name as many male designers as they could female. The book also presented my research into female art activist groups and the benefits of workshops. During the presentation of the book, I got people to work in small groups and bind their own copies before I guided them through the content.

BLACK HAIR

QUOTE Your project 'Black Hair' is an interesting piece, where did the idea for that project come from? I had been doing some reading into the perceptions of black beauty within contemporary society and the media. I repeatedly came across texts that emphasized the significance of hairstyles within the black community. It was a topic I was interested in reading about, but it took me a while to gather resources to find out what I wanted to learn about next. This is when I decided to apply my design skills in making all this information easily accessible from a single source. The way that you presented the project is a lot different to the usual way of presenting an informative piece of design, what inspired you to step away from traditional formats and present the work in the way you did? Information was placed on a mirrored surface to reflect the aspect of beauty and self grooming. Each side of the box represents one of the four different iconic styles. A series of cards are inside the box providing a more detailed explanation of different hairstyles and their related history. The intention was to make information accessible, and I was constantly focusing on this when crafting the piece. Presenting the information on cards inside the box allows people to explore and interact. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? I like the work and contribution that April Greiman has made to the design industry. She is also one of the very few females I was taught about during lectures or class.

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Absorb everything and get to know your industry. Read magazines, trail the Internet looking at agencies and creative sites. You will learn so much without even knowing it and your knowledge will show in your work. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Hungry. Growing. Searching. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? 'We Are Can' contacted me about participating at their showcase in September this year. I am planning to actually run some of my workshops there, which is an exciting opportunity as it is something I intended to pursue at some point in the future. My immediate aim is to gain experience, build my portfolio and keep practicing. 47

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LAUREN ANWAR swansea metropolitan university free range/21st June 2012

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For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name is Lauren Anwar and I am a twenty one year old photographer from Cardiff. I have recently graduated with a 2:1 BA Hons Degree from Swansea Metropolitan University. My work primarily focuses on the female body within the landscape. Initially working with self-portraiture, I have progressed to photographing other women, depicting the naked female form both in domestic and recently, outdoor, natural locations. The mise-en-scĂ¨ne creates a sense of the theatrical, locating the subject in a space between reality and fiction.

Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I have always been interested in the arts, from a young age I have been fascinated with painters such as Picasso; it intrigued me how an artist could create such work that made no sense yet at the same time it was clear what the work portrayed. As I grew older my interest in photography grew quickly and I liked how an image or an idea in my mind could come alive through the means of a photograph. You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time studying and did it help you to become the artist you are today?

I would say university allowed me to be as creative as I wanted to be without having any boundaries; the support I constantly received from my tutors helped me mould my work to what it is today. University also opened my eyes to other artists in the photography field and I was able to attend talks and lectures from other inspiring photographers such as Tom Hunter. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? My creative process is a long one. I spend a lot of time doing research in to the type of photograph I want to

create and then build up ideas. Some are successful but others don't work for one reason or another but that is just a development I constantly go through when creating images. What is your favourite piece of work to date and why it is so special to you? It has to be a series I did two years ago of a close family friend; I travelled to Prague to photograph him and he has had such a hard and interesting life and I really wanted to capture his ordeal and I feel I succeeded in that. I felt honoured to have photographed him on such a personal level.

AS I AM

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Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Throughout my years of studying photography there have been many artists who have inspired me. Annie Leibovitz is the reason I wanted to start photography; I never aspired to do work like Leibovitz but just her style and her creativity was so inspiring. Diane Arbus and Francesca Woodman have been great inspiration. My favourite artist at this moment in time has to be Alison Brady; she takes creativity to a completely new level, she is the type of artist that I aspire to be. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? I don't think I could even begin to think what my favourite piece of work created by another artist is; however, I recently went to the Saatchi gallery and I was completely blown away by Katy Grannnan's work titled 'Boulevard'. I have always been fascinated with Grannnan's work; her ability to gather such interested characters and them all being strangers is incredible. Having done a series of work involving strangers myself I can appreciate how difficult it is. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? As a photographer I believe it is important to always be open minded and constantly eager to try new techniques and different styles. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? As an aspiring artist myself I constantly tell myself to not be afraid to push the boundaries. If there is something you want to do or an idea you want to create then just do it; the only person stopping you is yourself. Also, gather as much experience as possible; for example, help assist a photographer or volunteer at a local gallery, anything that can open your eyes to what working as a photographer entails. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I feel that even though I have successfully graduated university I still have a lot to learn. Over the course of the next year I wish to move to London and to start an internship. I like to keep an open mind about my future; I believe with hard work and determination my future will fall in to place. www.laurenanwar.co.uk

UNKNOWN

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Bournemouth University

SOPHIE INGLEDEW free range 5th July 2012

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I'm an illustrator from the South of England who has just finished their studies at the Arts University College at Bournemouth. My art has been on quite a journey the past three years, but has resulted in the use of coloured pencils as my main medium of choice. Common themes in my work include narrative, adventure and exploration. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I know it's quite a stereotypical answer, but I've always been doodling since I was a kid. I think the drive to create art seriously though came from the discovery of video game concept artwork and world of digital painting. Although my work has moved away from this direction now, many of my early inspirations came from this area of illustration. How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? It has definitely been a huge help. The cohort I have just graduated with has a huge variety of interests, styles and approaches. There was no 'house style', which makes you push yourself as an individual because you can't sit around comparing yourself to someone similar. You have to stand on your own two feet. It's opened my eyes to how wide the spectrum of illustration really is. It also allowed me to explore areas that I would previously not have applied to my work, such as the creation of children's books.

How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? I have quite a structured creative process in place at the moment. At the start of project or brief I will sketch out ideas in frenzy, and then refine them with a series of thumbnails. I also enjoy going out and collecting up visual research which helps inform my ideas even further. I try to keep things as broad as possible when starting something, knocking out possible outcomes along the way. Your illustration work really caught our eye at the recent Free Range exhibition. What inspired you to create the Whale, Jellyfish and Diver illustrations inside a circle? These are from 'Mortal Lungs', my most recent series of images and accompanying book. It's a series of ocean landscapes, illustrating quotes that explore man's relationship with the sea. The images are inspired by diving imagery and the romance and adventure surrounding it, as well as my own fascination with marine life in general. I was experimenting with a lot of different spaces and compositions in this series, trying to invoke the feeling that the viewer is looking through a porthole or diver's helmet (in the case of the circle images). Are you looking to get the book published? I am most likely going to make a run of self-published copies at some point, which will be sold from my website. Expect it around August-September.

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The colours used for these illustrations are extremely vivid, what technique and materials did you use to create this effect? Coloured pencils are quite notorious for being hard to create strong contrast with. I counter this by doing a very strong and detailed layer of shading with mechanical pencil underneath, which then brings out a stronger contrast when coloured pencils are applied on top. Everything takes twice as long this way, but it does create quite a unique look. Your work appears to be geared very much towards a younger audience in terms of the way it is created. Do you feel that this is the case and if so was this a natural progression for your artwork or was it intentional? It was very unintentional. For the last few years I've been using a lot of techniques that combine digital and traditional techniques, with a coloured pencil layer being one of them. One day I looked at these layers and thought they would make interesting work on their own, and that's how I've ended up working how I currently do. You have also ventured into the world of animation, what is the difference between your illustration and animation work or are they just an extension of each other?

limited, his ethereal landscapes are really inspiring to me in terms of creating a strong sense atmosphere in my work. A wonderful graphic novel artist called Ben Templesmith has been a big inspiration in recent years, again in terms of the atmosphere he creates, but also his approach to combining traditional and digital media. An artist who is a recent favourite is Marco Mazzoni, who has made we want to push my use of coloured pencils even further. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I don't really stick to any one brand or technique, I have to admit. I like using a variety of brands and materials at the moment, maybe that will settle as I grow out of being a student. Currently I tend to grab whatever good quality paper I can get my hands on along with a mechanical pencil and I'm set. There's something very nice about that simplicity. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Embrace your interests away from art and incorporate them into your work when you can, as they will keep you fuelled and enthusiastic. Make as many connections with other artists as possible and keep them going, as they will give your work some contemporary context and will point out things you never noticed about your own work, which I think is very valuable and stops it from getting stale.

I think they are an extension of each other. Though something I do really like about screen-based media is that you have a more precise ability to control the timing and pace of a narrative. I also really enjoy the addition of sound, for example creating ambient effects such as wind and footsteps. It really adds another dimension to the work.

Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist?

You mention on your website that your work is inspired by folklore, what are your favourite tales?

What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take?

I recently had a lot of fun researching the origins of Halloween and how it is celebrated all over the world. I particularly liked Scottish roots in the festival of Samhain, and the Chinese Ghost Festival. The idea of welcoming back the deceased to earth for one night is strangely sweet.

My professional career has hopefully only just begun. I'm most interested in the areas of publishing and editorial, but I'm really open to any direction or format that will fit the work. There are also some selfinitiated projects I'd like to work on as well in the mean time. It's a very exciting time.

Patient. Atmospheric. Curious.

Who are your favourite artists, past and present? I have to admit my favourite artists are constantly shifting. A constant though would have to be William Turner. Although my own use of watercolours is

www.sophieingledew.com

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ALEX LUCK FARNHAM UNIVERSITY/ FREE RANGE JUNE 21st 2012

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name is Alex Luck, and I am a digital and film, photographic artist, recently graduated with a photography degree after studying at the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, England. When studying photography at university, I tried my hand at a little bit of everything. Some say that my work is too broad; however I see it as experimentation and not dismissing anything until I have tried it for myself. I like to keep things objective. All of my projects are different; however I look at an idea subjectively, provoking thought and reactions. I like the audience to be interested in the way the work is produced, as well as the end final result.44 Who or what inspired you to start photography? Sadly I don't have a heart-warming story of having my first camera gifted to me aged 3, from a pro photographer relative. I studied Product Design at school and had to keep a photographic record of my projects, which sparked an interest in photography. This I followed up with a short-course at Central St.Martins College, London. I then had the run of the photographic dark rooms at school to experiment with techniques I had learnt giving me the confidence to take things further.

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Can you tell us a little about you education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University? After my short-course in London, I went to University and studied for a Ba(Hons) Photography degree. How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? Apart from the obvious theory and technical aspects, it gave me the confidence to point and shoot at anything! How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? Organically? Yes, I have done food photography, but not sure if that counts! In all seriousness, a bit of research, some rough sketches and a rolling idea. Your series 'The Gallery Space as a Stage' really grabbed our attention when we saw it at your recent exhibition, how did you go about creating it and what was the creative process like? This was shot with a DSLR and fast prime lens. I had to gain access to galleries and photograph the insides. I wanted to capture the spaces that are often overlooked. Permission was not always granted, so had to modify my ideas and endured strange looks during the process. Not everyone was as keen to photograph the ceiling as I was! Your 'Vision Space Hidden City' series contains some strong imagery, what was the thinking behind the choice of black and white as opposed to colour? This was a 'traditional' project. Shot on 35mm film, with a fully manual camera, developed and printed by hand. I've always believed that if you're going to use film, then it should be black and white film. As all of the images are shot in an urban city environment, the black and white brings a mood to the images. It brings forms and shapes into focus. I also think black and white helps to show structure in an image and definition. It concentrates the attention in a single image to what you want the audience to see, rather than be distracted by colour.

Tell us about your project 'A promise of protection', what was the concept behind the project and what were you trying to highlight? 'A Promise of Protection' is a series highlighting the use of CCTV cameras and the surveillance society. It draws attention to the subtle use of cameras that track our movements almost everywhere we go. This project was published as a book, which included factual text to highlight the scale of CCTV in the current world. Which project or piece of work to date is your favourite and why? This is a close call between 'Out Of Tune With Reality' a project based on how people interact within the space around them when listening to headphones. This was a big project, hundreds of images captured and published as a 160 page book. This was enjoyable purely because of the scale of the project. However my favourite is 'Fictions.' This is a studio project looking at fruit. It focuses on getting the audience to look twice at images, to study them more closely and fully appreciate what they are being shown. The images are interesting enough to provoke a comment or reaction after giving the images a second glance. It is this reaction and point of view that I am interested in. On first glance they seem like simple studio shot still life images, but upon looking closely people see that they have something else to offer. These were great fun to create and always get a reaction. Who are your favourite artists, past or present? I've always been a fan of instinctive photography, capturing a moment that cannot be repeated. I like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Bruce Gilden's street photography. I'm also interested in Ceal Floyer and Louise Lawler. I also like slightly weird and strange art, so often look at David Shrigley's work Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? If it works, then I'll use it. If I've never used it before, then we'll see what happens. If I like it then I'll use it again.

VISION SPACE HIDDEN CITY

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? For anyone just starting out, or trying to work out where they want to go with their art, aim high. Enter as many competitions as you can. Blog, tweet, tumble on tumblr; get yourself noticed and get as many people as you can to see your work. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as an artist? Logical. Passionate. Creative.

Even I don't know what to expect. But I would like whatever I photograph to be everywhere. I want to be known for a single image and I want that image to be fantastic. I still want to try new things. It is early in my career, so artistically am open to new ideas and techniques.

www.alexluck.com

What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take?

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THE GALLERY SPACE AS A STAGE

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28th June 2012

SAM CHTIMI Leeds college of art

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name is Samantha Chtimi and I am a paper cut artist. I create delicate and highly intricate handcut paper pieces, taking inspiration from maps and cartographical practices. As an artist, I always aim to create work that straddles the line between fine art and craft practice, as I believe that craft materiality and skill is a key element in the production of art, and can strengthen the conceptuality of fine art. The process of hand-cutting each of my pieces is vital to my work, as I feel that the physical connection when creating my pieces gives me a much stronger relationship to the work, and with the concept or story I am trying to tell. Each of my paper cut pieces has a strong personal element to it, and I feel that the use of a laser cutter would leave me feeling much more detached from it. Maps are important to me and feature predominately in my work because to me, they not only depict the layout of a specific place, but also resemble personal journeys through a person's life, they resemble aspirations and dreams, and most importantly to my work they hold the potential for nostalgia and treasured memories once forgotten. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? Art was always my favourite class throughout school, and I can't really recall a time when I wanted to do anything else, so it's difficult to pinpoint what initially motivated me to begin creating

art. I suppose that for as long as I can remember I have appreciated the beauty in things, whether that be within natural or man-made environments, or within objects or imagery, so I believe that over the years this has influenced my own art practice. I always try to express a strong aesthetical aspect in my work, taking inspiration from the world around me. You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time studying and did it help you to become the artist you are today? It's funny that you should use the word 'craft', as I very much place my work in the realm of contemporary craft, despite the fact that I did a Fine Art degree at University. It has commonly been believed for many years that craft and fine art are two completely separate sectors in the art world, however I strongly believe that this is absolutely not the case. So much of contemporary craft today crosses into what can be defined as fine art, blurring the line between the two. My experiences through the course allowed me to explore what I had considered to be craft practices, in the production of my own fine art pieces, so I began to question what exactly was meant by fine art, and what the definition of craft was, because in my mind the two seemed to work hand in hand with one another. My dissertation was focused on this very subject, and through the process of research I was able to obtain answers, which in turn helped me to understand how I positioned my own practice that I had developed during that final year. Although I often thought my creative interests would have been more suited to an applied arts course, I definitely have never

MANHATTAN

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How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? I hardly ever find myself starting a new piece of work completely from scratch, for me it's usually the case that I will just develop onward from the last thing I did, taking a different approach to what I had tried before, or allowing ideas to naturally branch off from previous projects. I often find that my best work comes from unexpected discoveries made through experimentation, or what I often refer to as 'happyaccidents'. I just love that feeling when you come across something that you hadn't previously considered, and it just seems to fit perfectly into what you were trying to achieve, and often in my case, not in the way that I had expected. Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? This is a very difficult question for me to answer in simple terms, as often the last piece I will have made will be the one that I am most proud of. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is my favourite. For example, the piece that I made for my degree show, 'Home', which was subsequently exhibited at Free Range in London this year, was most definitely the one that I had put the most time and effort into. I always try to challenge myself when creating new paper cut pieces, and this was the most intense and detailed that I had ever created, this gave me an enormous sense of achievement when it was completed. On the other hand, because it was so labour-intensive, and at times stressful when everything seemed to be going wrong, I found it difficult to 'love' the piece as the repetitive strain of cutting had caused a lot of pain in my hand and fingers, to the point where I physically couldn't cut anymore. Saying this, these negative emotions are often out-weighted by the personal stories that I tell within my work. In the past these have been either specific times in my life, or stories relating to my family and friends. For the piece, 'Home', I wanted to draw a 'story map' of my relationship with my Dad, each cut line being a different journey he has travelled away from home for work, with each line returning back to one centre of origin, representing home. For me, this piece reminds me of how much my Dad has done for me throughout my life, and because of this I think I will always feel a fondness towards the piece.

nobody was a stranger. We had a constant flow of people browse our work throughout the night while enjoying the sounds of DJ Vibage, free stickers, brew, and arm wrestling. Throughout the entire event we also streamed everything live via a Google+ Hangout so that our artists overseas were not left out. That sounds like a really interesting concept for an exhibition, do you think that these sorts of exhibitions will become more popular over the coming years and how far can the boundaries be pushed? It indeed was an interesting experience, and yes I believe that over time it will become more common to see digital art displayed in galleries. Digital art galleries have immense potential to revolutionize galleries as we know them. Most great digital artists I know are self taught, and have learned almost everything they know from networking online, tutorials, and spending countless hours exploring programs. I've had a vision of digital art galleries hosting massive networking events, live tutorials, and live art creation therefore pushing the boundaries of galleries to not only displaying art but also being a resource for passionate artists and designers to develop their skills. I view digital art as new era of art that we are entering into, and it's just a matter of time

Who are your favourite artists, past and present? The artist to who first inspired my interest into paper cutting is Danish artist, Peter Callesen. I found it fascinating how he could create such beautifully detailed work out of a simple piece of white paper. The main thing that intrigued me about his work was how he was able to take a mundane, everyday item such as a piece of A4 paper, an object that usually people wouldn't give a second thought to, and from it create a completely original piece of art, one that not only could be appreciated for its beauty and incredible skill of the artist, but that also was able to tell a story. This idea of using everyday ephemera that would usually be overlooked, as a material for creating art, and transforming it into something completely new, that would finally make people want to stop and notice it, was the starting point from which all of my work has since developed. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Definitely try to do as much experimentation with different tools, materials, and techniques as possible, as you will often find that something new and interesting will come from it that you may never have even considered would work before.

I always try to express a strong aesthetical aspect in my work, taking inspiration from the world around me.

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HOME

(details)

Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work?

Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Materialistic, Controlled,Perfectionist

I absolutely love to work exclusively with paper, whether the piece is a 2 dimensional paper cut, or a sculptural object using origami techniques or built-up cardboard. A huge part of my process is trying out different types of paper or fibrous materials, and learning about the intrinsic qualities of each material, in order to decide which is best for the purpose, or how I can develop work around their unique qualities. Paper cut artists like myself, who only ever create hand 窶田ut pieces, usually use either a scalpel or scissors as the main tool for their practice, depending on which they prefer, and I am definitely a scalpel kind of artist. I like to think that when I am creating a paper cut piece I am using the scalpel to draw, as opposed to the traditional choice of a pencil. I find that I can get just as much variation in mark making with a blade as I would with a pencil, and I have found no other blades that match the Swann-Morton range as yet, although I am always on the lookout for a new handle or blade style to try.

What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? At the moment I am working on a new series of large scale, highly intricate and detailed paper cuts that explore the cartography and visual interpretation of European capital cities. Over the next year, my aim is to exhibit my work wherever possible in order to raise my profile as an emerging young artist. I also want to look into becoming much more involved in the growing contemporary craft scene, as it has gained a huge amount of interest in the wider art world over the last few years, and being able to change the negative perceptions of craft as being a 'lesser' art form, is something I feel very strongly about. www.samchtimi.com

MANHATTAN

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28th JUNE 2012

GRACE ERSKINE CRUM LEEDS COLLEGE OF ART

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction?

Hi, I'm Grace Erskine Crum. I've just graduated with a 2.1 from Leeds College of Art where I was studying a threeyear BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art. My focus is on figurative sculpture. My work is all about my audience response. I want to get them thinking creatively, walk around the piece and take in the space, form and material. All these things are very important to me. I want my work to intrigue the viewer, drawing them in but at the same time, making them wary and intimidated almost scared. My aim with my art and myself is for me to confront my fears. As I was growing up and still even now, my biggest fear is ghosts and other super natural beings and so subconsciously I think I create what I do as a way of confronting and understanding my fears.

My final work is about how my pieces communicate and work together, particularly with the juxtaposition of two images. The piece holds a sense of mystery that aims to intrigue the viewer. I want my art to be full of contradictions, the main one being this sense of intrigue opposing fear. As an artist I think it is very important to explore the areas that you want and to express yourself through experiments, finding ideas that work in comparison to those which do not and always finding new ways of making works and exploring new materials. I think one of the most important things is for the viewer to be able to find their own meaning in my work; whether they be what the artist intended or not, the piece gets the viewer thinking and gains a response, and this is my aim.

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Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I've been creating things and getting my hands mucky for as long as I can remember. I properly got into sculpture in sixth form though, when I started creating three-dimensional observational drawings. I used to celli tape a paintbrush to the end of a stick, put a large piece of paper on the floor and paint from above and somehow it worked. I think I also got into it because one of my A Level teachers was passionate about sculpture so encouraged me to explore 3D rather than 2D and luckily it went in my favour. When I started, Antony Gormley really stood out to me. I absolutely loved his work and found each piece so interesting, really telling a story or conveying an emotion. I learnt from Gormley's work that the position/form the figure takes and the space it inhabits are so important in telling the viewer a story and getting them to creatively and emotionally think about the piece. From here, I've been creating 3D figurative forms, really exploring material, form, space and shape. You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time studying and did it help you to become the artist you are today? I really enjoyed going to Art College and definitely think it has helped me to become the artist I am today. My first year I explored different mediums such as photography and video but found that was not for me so went back to sculpture. In my final year, I think I came on leaps and bounds as learnt so much, particularly about how to become an artist and what it is all about. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? When I start a project I tend to do quite a lot of artist research and go to galleries to get some inspiration. Once I have an idea and when I feel comfortable enough to get my hands dirty I will dive straight in and see what happens. I think sculpture is all about trial and error. Sometimes, the things you think are going to work do not and the things you don't do. That's almost the thing I love most, those little surprises along the way. From every piece I make, I think of different ways I could do it, which I think makes an artist as they are constantly wanting to improve themselves and explore different possible outcomes. I think this is also what keeps an artist going.

Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? This is a hard one as I have two favourite pieces. The first was the piece I created in my A Level exam. It was a life-size figure emerging out of the wall, completely white and made out of a mix of materials. To make the figure I moulded chicken wire around a model then covered in mod rock, cotton dipped in plaster and various other materials. Surrounding the figure I had quite organic materials such a leaves and twigs, all painted white. A lot of the audience related it to Jesus on the crucifix. They also found it to be imposing and creepy particularly from the way you could not see details of the face and the way the figure seemed trapped, wanting to be released from the wall. Sorry I am probably not describing it very well. I've never been very good at descriptions but this is one of my favourites as I was really proud and I think it is very important to be proud of your work and like it yourself. My other favourite piece is the work I created for my degree show. It was beyond anything I had ever created and really pushed me as an artist. The aim of this piece was to really engage the viewer and for them to be interested yet slightly concerned and fearful. It consisted of three 8ft tall free standing 'hooded figures', as I like to call them, made out of one strip of cotton material which I then dipped into concrete. I then draped this over the figure and covered in iron filings to give it a rusty look. With these figures, it is about the negative space, what is not there and the effect this has on the viewer. It also consists of two steel rod sculptures. I created these to get a juxtaposition of two images, to really entice my viewer and get them to think. Finally there is a smaller hanging hood, suspended from one of the steel sculptures, which is all white. I put this in to give the piece some variety and again to draw the viewer in through the aesthetics of the piece. I think this piece is one of my favourites as having spoken to various people I have accomplished my aim in what I what my audience to think and feel. Although as, I said before, I have many ideas as to where I want to take this project further and different ways I want to display it. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Well, as I said before, Antony Gormley was a huge inspiration to me through the way his sculptures tell a story or give off an emotion through their setting, material and form. However, some of my favourite artists include Manfred Kielnhofer and Shelagh Cluett.

DAUNT I think Kielnhofer's 'Timeguards' are just beautiful. Although they are intimidating and may make you feel uneasy, the way the figures are arranged accentuates that fear, as you feel encompassed by the piece. The draping is also amazing, particularly the way the fabric falls. I am also particularly interested in how he managed to get that old, worn out effect he has achieved on the fabric as I think it makes the piece more intimidating and almost dirty. Cluett's work I think is beautiful. The way she has translated drawings into these beautiful sculptures through the way they are hung. The shadows the pieces create, I think are the most beautiful aspect to her work as the shadows look like drawings themselves. When I went to see her exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds I was completely entranced by her work. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? I think my favourite piece of work is 'Another Place' by Antony Gormley on Crosby beach, near Liverpool.

This is my favourite as I have studied it a lot, been to see it a few times and just think the piece has such a presence. The way each figure is facing out to sea, all at different levels convey so many different ideas and possibilities. I also think the fact that each figure takes on the same form and shape has such an effect of mass compared to you, the one viewer, making the viewer feel slightly insignificant compared to the piece. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? The technique I have been using obviously is draping cloth over the figure which I think has such a daunting and intimidating effect however, as my career goes on I do want to explore other ways of creating works as otherwise I fear I will get to a point where I cannot go any further with it, almost like writer's block but artist's block and I really enjoy looking at other materials and ways to make works.

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Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? My main piece of advice would be to follow through with every opportunity that comes your way, to really try and get your name out there and just hope that you get some luck and someone likes your work. Another piece of advice would be to really get stuck in at Art College, try your best, experiment and be proud of what you've created. My final piece of advice would be that some people will like your work and some people won't, that's the way it goes so don't be disheartened when someone isn't the biggest fan of your work, just as long as you're proud of it. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Explorative, constant and bold. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? Ideally, I want to take my work all over the world. My dream is to create public art that people can enjoy. My plan is to go travelling for a year as I have never had the opportunity. I am always trying to find inspiration for possible works and I can't think of a better way to do this than seeing the world. When I'm back I am hoping to do an MA in sculpture to really hone in on my way of working and establish myself as a recognisable and influential artist.

ALONE

FACELESS

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coventry University

hERDIS Solveig JAKOBSEN 28th June 2012

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I'm a 24 year old recently graduated illustrator who studied at Coventry University. I grew up in the Faroe Islands which is a tiny group of selfgoverned islands which belong to Denmark. It's very different from Denmark though and a bit isolated. I've always had a wide field of interests, possibly due to not having much to do where I grew up, which influence me more than anything. I love drawing animals and humans and I work in a variety of textures, materials and sometimes styles. I find that my line art is sometimes the only consistent part of my work. I try to focus mostly on my illustration but because of having so many interests I find it difficult to focus on doing one thing really well and end up trying a bit of everything. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I don't actually remember ever starting to create art since it's something I've done since I was a child. I think the question is what inspired me to continue doing it and as sad as it sounds I think

boredom played a big part in why I never stopped. Growing up in the Faroe Islands can be boring and lonely. I never felt like I had a lot in common with the kids my age and as a geeky kid with limited supply of comics and movies, again because of growing up in such a small place, I think drawing became a way for me to escape. Of course now it has nothing to do with being bored. I find myself being inspired by pretty much everything so it's hard to pin point anything in particular but comics have definitely played a big role in my development as an artist. You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time studying and did it help you to become the artist you are today? To me personally I remember not feeling like I was learning much in uni at all. There was a lot of pressure to do your work well and the deadlines were tough but for a long time I felt like I was just doing the same as I had always been doing only I was doing more of it and I was being graded. It wasn't until I finished and I looked back that I understood how much I had actually learnt. I think I went to uni with this idea that I was going to

FARM

completely change my way of drawing but it's not until now that I understand how bad that would have been to my own personal style. So I think the most important lesson I learnt was to have more confidence in my own style and to perfect it. I don't know if it's just me or a general idea young artists have that they need to be more like a specific artist they like or are inspired by when really they should be focusing on their own style. So this and all the professional advice I was given has definitely shaped me into a better artist. It was also a great way to meet a lot of like-minded people. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? When I sketch I kind of just do what I feel like and just draw what interests me at the time. It's mostly just for practise since none of the work in my sketch book is ever that serious and rarely sees the light of day. With my more serious work I usually do a lot of research. I'll collect references, look at other artists and just read a lot on the topic I'm working with to build an idea in my head. After that I'll just do my line art and I usually figure out the rest while I'm drawing. In the end the drawing seems to just make itself in a way and I rarely end up with the idea I had in my head to start off with. Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? I quite like my Grimm's Fairy Tales book cover for the Puffin book cover prize which I made a few

illustrations to go with. I just got to work with pretty much all of my favourite things to draw. But I think my favourite might be one of my designs for the F.R.I.E.N.D. animal sanctuary. I spent a weekend at the sanctuary and was really inspired by the atmosphere and just in awe of the people who spend so much of their time helping animals and I really wanted to contribute in any way I could. I made three designs for them to use however they wanted. The one with the farm animals was probably most relevant since it's mostly a farmed animal sanctuary but they also have some more unusual ones like Leeroy the deer which inspired my favourite of the designs. I think it's the most eye-catching one out of them all. It's special to me because it was inspired by real people and animals and just a great experience. I'm usually inspired by quite shallow things like a tvshow I've been watching so it was nice to work on something that meant a bit more. Getting them printed has been a bit harder since that involves a bit of a budget but I feel like just by raising awareness of the sanctuary I'm doing something good. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? I have so many I feel like I have a new favourite every day. It always depends on what mood I'm in really. My first ever favourite artist was Albrecht Durer. I got really into him at a young age. I loved his drawings of animals, they were always so life like but a bit weird at the same time. And his wood cuts were just amazing. I don't know if he inspired my work much but he might have played an important role in my influences as a kid. I did use to geek out on his drawings a lot, sometimes trying to emulate his work. Now I think I'm mostly inspired by comics and not so much the

FRIEND

classic stuff. My other favourite artist is Daniel Clowes. His line art, block colours and use of fonts really inspires me but I try to not take it too directly. James Jean is another one. His work is just so beautiful and I love how he's brought such an original style to the comic book world. His covers are always instantly recognisable. His work almost just makes me want to give up since I'll never be as good as him. From talking to other artists I know I'm not alone in feeling this way about certain artists. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? It's hard to choose one but I guess Albrecht Durer's Rhinoceros. The fact that he had never seen one but still managed to make such an accurate depiction of one is fascinating. And he drew so many magical creatures too so part of me makes me think that he might as well have thought this was just another made up animal. It just makes me feel like believing in unicorns or dragons is maybe not as crazy as you'd think. Which is a bit sad really and I think I might have just put way too much thought into a picture of a rhino. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? The materials I can't live without are a mechanical pencil, pen and a light-box. I use a mix of materials for my finished results from hand drawn to digital but I always use those three in all of my work.

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? It's quite difficult to give any advice when I feel like I still have so much to learn. I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm where I would like to be artistically which is what inspires me to carry on learning and practising. So just hard work, confidence in your work, even if you feel it's not your best, and being able to take criticism and to use it as a way to improve is my best offer. As mentioned before I think a lot of the big lessons you've learnt you'll only really notice in hind sight since learning is a gradual thing. I feel the same way about being confident in your work. It's not until I look back at a lot of my work that I feel happy with it. Probably because I don't see it with a clear mind right after I've finished it I just see the mistakes. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I feel very open to whatever comes my way at the moment. Finishing uni is a bit daunting really. I suddenly have so many opportunities and at the same time they all seem so unachievable. At the moment I'm just trying to work out how I can become a full time illustrator but I'm not even sure in what field specifically. I think in the future I'd like to get more into publishing or just learn more about the business side of illustration in general. I also have this dream that one day I'll own my own screen printing studio and just work there with some friends who also do art and I'll do mostly personal projects and self-published books and comics. It's still a bit vague in my head but I'll grab on to every opportunity I get until I feel like I'm at a place where I feel happy with what I'm doing. 79

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GAVIN WITHEY FARNHAM UNIVERSITY 21st - 25th JUNE 2012

LIVING DECAY

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I am 22 years of age and a (HONS) graduate from 'The University for the Creative Arts, Farnham'. I graduated this year with a 2:1 degree.

I like to work in colour and black and white but prefer colour. To me colour portrays reality, it holds a perfect memory. Black and white brings a dramatic and atmospheric feel to the photograph, in both landscape and portrait. It allows me to show different moods and create depth and tonal range.

Who or what inspired you to start photography?

Can you tell us a little about you education in art? Are you self-taught or did you go to University?

I am a photographer who works with digital and film media. I specialize in documentary and attempt to portray nostalgia in my work I work best with medium format film known as 120, because it produces good quality prints that can developed to all proportions.

When I was eleven my mother was given a digital camera, she found it to complicated to use so gave it to me. I became fascinated with what I could capture and reproduce. I was hooked and determined to study and learn all I could about photography.

I like to give my photographs a voice in both landscape and portrait. To me photography is a scientific phenomenon, which can freeze a moment in time that the eye misses in the speed of every day life. The camera lens captures that memorable unique moment, recorded for all time.

How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? University taught me to expand my vision; anything was possible, with the right knowledge. I learnt to

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appreciate the different aspects of film and photography, how you could give your photographs a voice. I learnt so much from the experts and got to attend lectures by great photographers. I take one photograph, I realise it has something special or unique and from there I will expand. Your series 'Living Decay' really grabbed our attention when we saw it at your recent exhibition, how did you go about creating it and what was the creative process like? I found my project 'Living Decay' in this way I started with one derelict nightclub because it looked interesting and then realised that there was a whole story to tell in abandoned buildings and structures. History, nostalgia and a lost past. After you took the initial photograph for the series, how did you go about expanding upon the series? Did anything change during the process from the initial image?

After the initial photograph, I read several article and reference books and did quite a lot of research into old and abandoned structures on the Internet. Two of the articles were A Field Guide to Getting Lost, by Rebecca Solnit and Beyond the Security Fence by Adil Ray. These articles inspired me to take my journey round the country finding lost and abandoned places. I took many photographs from many locations but with regret many were discarded because they didn't fit into the theme â&#x20AC;&#x153;Living Decay'. 'Living Decay portrayed how people worked and found their relaxation in the past. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Past - Walker Evens Present - Simon Roberts Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I use 120 film with a 'Mamiya RZ 67 pro ii' camera.

How do these compare to any other film types and cameras you have used and what is it about them that make you stick with them? I find the 'Mamiya RZ 67 pro ii Is very easy to use and can be used without a tripod, this allows me more mobility and freedom. It produces clear and crisp images. 120 film produces good quality photographs which allows printing up to large scales, also it is a roll film that allows me to work at a faster speed. Compared to 35mm which, when printed to large scale the quality is substandard. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? I feel that university is the best way to proceed, you get to learn techniques and about all equipment that is available. You get to learn from the experts. You are given the opportunity to try your hand at every aspect of your chosen art. You also get contacts that help you to advance in your career. You learn how to exhibit your work and at the end of it all you get to

show your work to the public at your final exhibition. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Three words to describe I would use to describe by self as an artist are â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pushing the boundariesâ&#x20AC;?. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I want to get more experience wherever it is available in all avenues of my chosen career. Eventually I would like to concentrate on documentary photography; there are so many stories to be told by the camera.

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VICTORIAMALIN coventry university

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? Hello I'm Victoria and I specialise in Children's illustration, I have just left Coventry University where I did an illustration and animation course. I have tried many different art forms but over the years have got the most joy and creativity from making children's books. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I have always been very creative it's just natural for me, so I'm not sure when I started really, might be from when I could first pick up a pencil. You honed your craft at University, how did you find your time studying and did it help you to become the artist you are today? I wouldn't put it that way because I could draw before I went to university but it made me understand the business side and time limits. I did get some interesting lectures though that let me understand the importance of character design and story. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically?

illustrators such as Eric Carle and Emma Dodd. These are only a few of the people who inspire me but I could write an incredibly long list, I like simple and creative ideas that will get remembered by children. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? Well I'm a fan of many works of art from the pre Raphaelites to Gaudi's work in Barcelona but if you mean children's art it would have to be Beatrix potter's Peter Rabbit, because the image of peter going under that fence is why I enjoy creating children's books today. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? A good old pencil goes far for me, but no seriously I like to save money on most things, and I like to think it's not the materials that make a good artist. I have used most techniques but I will admit Copic markers are useful and water colours are great to colour children's books, oh and a good pen that doesn't run maybe something like Faber-Castell artist pens. And if you do get a chance to try out Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop then give it a go you will either hate or love it for me it saved a lot of time.

Well after writing a story that I'm happy with I will just sketch all the time, I will try to get the character right, then I will do a few final designs so I have a reference to look at while drawing my book by hand.

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists?

Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you?

Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist?

I don't really have favourite's but if I had to choose one it will probably be my Peggy Dean work that was written by my sister, this is because of the sentimental value of the work, and it was also the first time I used Adobe Illustrator to digitally adapt my hand illustrations. It was a good learning experience for me and made me see that it's good to try new thing with your work.

Be who you want to be not what you are told to be!

Creative, curious and maybe a bit peculiar What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I want to create art for children maybe adults as well if I was given a really interesting job, but I would love a book of mine to get published that would be incredible.

Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Well there are lots to choose from because I like so many creative people and they all have different styles and ways to create incredible stories, but Quentin Blake's work have loved from a very early age to other

RACHAEL DINNAGE ARTS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

FREE RANGE JULY 5th 2012

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction?

How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today?

Yes of course. My name is Rachael Dinnage and I am a freelance illustrator with a love of detailed pattern and all things evocative and ornate. In my work I attempt to combine themes of psychology and nature, using watercolours, fine liner and a lot of mess.

Definitely, the course was pretty experimental, which was a bit tricky at times but I think the challenges that it brought have helped me develop and progress. In terms of working professionally though, working for external clients and partaking in exhibitions has really helped me gain some invaluable experience.

Who or what inspired you to start creating art?

How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically?

I don't think my real interested in art developed until I began studying at A-Level. Although my work has changed and developed a lot since then, I think that was the starting point where I became inspired to take things further. Can you tell us a little about you education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University? I have recently graduated from The Arts University College at Bournemouth and have now been let out into the big wide world.

I always start by taking a slightly excessive amount of photographs, both with digital and film cameras. My work used to be heavily collage based so I used these directly but now i use them as reference and add elements of imagination too. In terms of my most recent work, which has been focused on trying to visualise states of mind using nature and landscape, I drew a lot of inspiration from reading personal accounts of states such as anxiety, mania and euphoria.

THE WILD COUNTRY

As you said, your most recent work 'The Wild Country' depicts different states of mind through illustrative landscape images. The drawings produced are fantastic and successfully combine a range of different materials within one cohesive piece of work. How did you approach creating the illustrations? Did you create a range of images and then chose which one you felt fit each particular state of mind? Or did you focus on one drawing and one state of mind at a time? Thanks! I'm glad they communicate the intended idea! I started by looking at anxiety and euphoria, firstly by reading up on psychological definitions and then by producing marks, sketches and colour experiments to depict the relevant states. I then started taking lots of reference photos of varied landscapes and some weird and wonderful plants. Using a combination of these images, and my initial mark making and colour studies I created landscapes for each state. Once this process had been developed it became easier to produce more images exploring states such as delirium and mania. I've now ended up with piles of original drawings which have been quite handy for exhibitions! The book features a small selection of the images that were the most effective. Your illustrations contain a lot of references to nature. What is it about this theme that inspires you so much? I think it began when I realised I struggled with portraiture, tree's seemed slightly less threatening and complicated! I enjoy exploring the variation, pattern and colour that can be found within nature. Needing to gather photos is also a good excuse to go and explore new places and landscapes. You have also experimented with typography in your work, how did your interest in this field come about and do you plan to expand upon it further? Although I've used typography loosely in previous projects, this was the first time I've expanded it as part of a final outcome. As the landscapes developed it became clear that something else was needed to tie everything in together and give more of a narrative to the book. I enjoyed the intricate nature of the type as much as I enjoyed doing the drawings so I'd definitely like to keep it up, perhaps using it for more book covers or as branding.

Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Peter Doig has always been one of my favourite artists; his creation of magical and dreamlike landscapes is a constant source of inspiration. I also love the work of contemporary illustrators such as Sarah Lanarch and her artwork for Ladyhawke. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? Normally a combination of watercolour, fine liner, pencil and collage. I always feel the need to keep finding new materials to use though as it keeps working interesting. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? I think that staying motivated is pretty crucial, and to learn to listen to criticism but remember you don't always need to accept it. I do think there are a few rules you can follow with art, in regards to being professional and finishing work to a high standard, but there is still a level of subjectivity involved. If someone doesn't like what you've produced, it's not the end of the world. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Ahh that's a bit tricky, I guess I'd describe my work as delicate and subtle but also vibrant. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I'd like to develop the texture and detailed elements of my work perhaps to explore the possibilities of surface design. I'd also really like to create artwork for music artists as I enjoy focusing on the creation of atmosphere and evoking this through my work.

www.rachaeldinnage.co.uk

FARNHAM UNIVERSITY 21st - 25th JUNE 2012

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name is Ollie Jarman and I am originally from a tiny village called Payhembury in Devon. I used to photograph pretty casually at that time and spent a lot of my time skateboarding, BMXing and Snowboarding, which after my college photography course led me to a job working at an online skate shop. I moved to Dartmoor and did the best job ever for around 3 years. I'm now living in Streatham working freelance and concentrating on personal projects. Who or what inspired you to start photography? I fell into it really; I was studying Psychology, Business and Media at Exeter College and decided to switch to photography after 2 years to pursue an interest in image making. I joined the year below my friend and fellow photographer Leon Foggitt and found a lot of inspiration from the course. Can you tell us a little about your education in art? Are you self-taught or did you go to University? Initially I was self taught and spend hours and hours wasting film at the frustration of my parents but after getting more and more into image making I decided to take a college course which eventually led to a degree at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey. So technically I am trained as an ar photographer.

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TELL YOU WHAT

How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? The decision for me to go to university was made quite late, I graduated at 25, which I was worried about initially but apart from the odd age joke seemed to be pretty beneficial. The experiences and people that I encountered allowed me to progress professionally and personally and I'm pretty happy with that, there are a lot of things I still have on my bucket list but I can tick off getting a degree. The nature of the course allowed me to experiment within conceptual theories and has ultimately permitted me to create much more personal work than I was churning out at college. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? A lot of my work is spawned from random ideas thought of while riding my bike or driving. I like to think about how I can create stimulating and engaging series' of work with a personal context and then make the work accessible to the viewer. Your series 'Playgrounds And Other Spaces' really grabbed our attention when we saw it at your recent exhibition, how did you go about creating it and what was the creative process like? Playgrounds and other spaces is an ongoing project for me, with my skateboarding background I would always come home from being out with friends skateboarding with a plethora of seemingly random images of skate spots and areas that might be worth checking out. We were always on the prowl for the latest spot where you could avoid security so my neg folders and hard drives are all full of random spots like those in the series. For the Bulb 2012 exhibition I wanted to construct an enigmatic series that explored these places, which can hopefully be appreciated by viewers other than myself !

series are particularly interesting. Looking at some of your other projects, what was the inspiration behind the 'Tell you what' series? “Tell you what” explores the relevance and value of images by investigating the relationship between the author of an image and its audience. I wanted to create a series using my T5 whilst I was in Australia and spent some time experimenting with text over images to create a set of images that are difficult to read objectively for the audience, because of the demanding commands overlaid. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? I have always loved the black and white work of Fred Mortagne, and always get hyped looking through Mike Blabac's book. The documentary style of 90's skateboarding influenced a lot of my early work. More recently, my landscape works have been influenced by Dan Holdsworth, Rut Blees Luxembourg, Edgar Martins and William Eckersley to name a few. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I have always had Canon cameras and equipment, my current 5d has seen so much its really been through the wars and around the world more than once, not through any specific choice, it's just how I learnt and I like them. I also favour Yashica cameras, I have an electro 35 rangefinder with a copal shutter for those quiet, subtle shots and I always have their T5 model in my car, just in case. I'm working on a project at the moment, which is shot purely on 35mm from that camera. For my larger scale works I use a Mamiya RB 6x7 but I'm not using that very much at the moment. As far as film goes, I'm on my last batch of the old Kodak Portra so will have to replace that and I have shoe boxes of random 35mm.

The photographs in this series have a similar quality to those taken by photographer Daniel Everett for his series 'Departure' are you aware of his work and what are your opinions about his series?

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists?

I was unaware of Dan's work before the Exhibition, but having seen the quality and detail in his series I have been inspired to shoot some more for the “Playgrounds” series. His “Departure” and “Portal”

With regards to personal work, just make sure you enjoy it and you will find it's easier to do. Its hard making a project that you will ultimately like if you aren't enjoying the process of making it.

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What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take you? I am working on a few personal projects at the moment, none of which are nearing completion quite yet. I am also working freelance and spending a lot of time assisting for some very talented photographers. I am lucky enough to have been involved on more commercial work recently for publications like Wallpaper and GQ style, so I'd like to see where that takes me.

www.olliejarman.co.uk

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NIKOO BAFTI ARTS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE BOURNEMOUTH FREE RANGE 5th JULY 2012

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I am a 22-year-old freelance illustrator based in the UK and I have a bit of a thing for myths and storytelling. I create art as a way to keep the magic and mysticism of a curious childhood alive through an adult's perspective - people don't seem to have time for fantasy anymore. As much as I love make believe, I am also quite the physics and astronomy geek. I think the two can blend well. In addition to my illustration, I like to photograph things with my trusty old Chinon camera.

atmosphere it creates is truly inspiring. How do you go about creating this level of atmosphere in your work? Is it intentional or is it more of an organic bi product that comes about through the application of your chosen material? I'd say it's a bit of both, I think the atmosphere in my work is achieved mostly by the way that the images are often made up of a lot of fine little lines applied in a loose fashion - it gives it a kind of brittle quality, which is intentional. I like to experiment with different mediums when illustrating but I often get drawn back into working on small detail in pencil or ink.

Who or what inspired you to start creating art? Who are your favourite artists, past and present? I don't think there was a particular starting point; I suppose I should just thank my poor parents for letting me scribble and doodle all over our walls in felt tip when I was a child. Can you tell us a little about your education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University? I recently graduated with a BA in Illustration from the Arts University College at Bournemouth, and I also have an FdA in Visual Communication. How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? University was wonderful! A rather strange time, but great nonetheless. It definitely helped shape my identity as an artist and find my strengths, but I also feel as though it was the people I met and the experiences I had along the way that paved the path for my work, to get where it is now. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? It differs depending on what I'm working on, but I sway more towards the organic approach. I believe my best work often comes about intuitively when I just zone out, start at one point on a paper and work outwards from there. A bit of planning is always wise though! Your illustration work really caught our eye. The quality of the marks you make and the

It's so hard to pinpoint just a couple, but right now it would have to be Harry Clarke and Gustav Klimt for past, Christopher Davison and Vania Zouravliov for present. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? There shall never be a tool mightier than the 0.3mm mechanical pencil. I sleep with it under my pillow. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Coffee may keep you awake but it also makes you more stressed, and we all know how productive freaking out is, folks! Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Obsessive mark maker What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? I will continue to freelance and make drawings and paintings, but I'd like to focus on primarily on making more picture books on different myths and fairy tales. The thing I love most about what I do is that there are so many different platforms for my work to explore I'm excited to see where else the wind could take me.

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Interview by lemonade magazine Design by Miranda Squire

For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I am a fine art photographer and visual artist who primarily focuses on constructed landscape imagery. My work is heavily inspired by landscape traditions, land art and painting, and I am very much influenced by questions regarding the future of photography and the 'truth' of landscape imagery.

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Who or what inspired you to start photography? I was initially inspired by a week's workshop on my Foundation Degree, where we were taught the basics of analogue photography and black and white printing. Until then I'd been unsure as to which route I wanted to take, but this just felt right and it all clicked into place! Can you tell us a little about your education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University? I studied Ba(Hons) Photography at the University College Falmouth (recently graduating with a First which I am very excited about!). Before I started the course I knew very little about photography and, though I know many photographers are self-taught, for me the technical support and tutorial time at Falmouth really was a major influence on my practice and my development as an artist. How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? My time at university has definitely been mixed! I spent a lot of time feeling incredibly home sick for the Lake District; fortunately this pushed me to work harder and to get the most out of the course, and in fact my homesickness became the main inspiration for

Homeland, where I began my exploration of constructed landscape work. I also found the constant access to books, journals and tutorial time at Falmouth really shaped my practice in terms of challenging me academically and also giving me stronger understandings of both theory and history of art. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? I find a lot of my research comes through making; ideas come more freely to me when I'm creatively active, rather than pre-visualising how I'd like a project to be. I also find much of my inspiration comes through theories of photography and art history, so much time is spent researching themes and ideas in the library. Once I have a strong basis for my research I find the work flows much more organically, and that's when things start to come together. Your series 'Homeland' is an extremely beautiful selection of photographs. What was the inspiration behind the series? Homeland was a personal reaction to my experience of the Cornish landscape.

I'd been experiencing a sense of disengagement and disconnection from my surroundings and was longing to get back to the Lakes. As a result of this I created landscape imagery that aimed to disrupt the viewer's expectations and mirror my feelings of disorientation. Each image is made of numerous source imagery, each hinting at disconnection through a strong use of reduction (for example through over-exposure, lack of focus or shallow depth of field). By piecing these 'reduced' images together to create fictional landscapes, Homeland channels my feelings of disorientation and encourages the viewer to feel the same. The viewer's expectations are disrupted - they cannot engage with the landscape as they traditionally expect, and so their perceptions of location, scale and perspective become radically disorientated. Homeland has been a huge inspiration for my graduate project, Aphairesis, and has really shaped my approach to photography as a whole. My experimentation in Homeland pushed my interest very much towards constructed landscape aesthetics, and I found I could begin to make the imagery I wanted, rather than 'finding' it in the landscape. Your series 'Aphairesis' really grabbed our attention when we saw it at your recent exhibition at Free Range. It shares a lot of similar qualities with your 'Homeland' series in terms of content but how do you feel your work has progressed between the two projects? This is a really interesting point; though aesthetically there are real similarities, the two projects remain really quite different conceptually. Where Homeland is very much a personal response to a landscape, Aphairesis is more theoretically rooted, based on wider reading on both the Sublime and the traditions of the landscape genre as a whole. Aphairesis investigates the Contemporary Sublime, visually examining its shifting definitions and focusing on how modern understandings of Sublimity differ to (yet draw upon) the more traditional definitions laid down by Burke and Kant. Indeed, it seems we have shifted away from a preoccupation with Nature and the natural 'unknown' toward more contemporary sources of anxiety. For us it seems the infinities of virtual and digital and space and the possibilities of capitalism and globalisation inspire the unknown, the sense of the unfamiliar. 101

Indeed, it is these that become vast, rather than the natural world that has become so chartered and well understood. As Simon Morley has said, “It is not so much the desert, the stormy sea, or the mountain range that serve as subject matter for a contemporary sublimity as the mind-boggling power of science and the infinite spaces created by digitalization”. In Aphairesis I aim to channel these ideas, referencing the traditional sublime to create strong visual metaphors for a contemporary understanding of infinity and the boundless. Though Homeland was crucial to the development of Aphairesis in terms of sparking my interest in constructed landscape aesthetics, I definitely feel I've improved my technique somewhat since then! Technically I am much more competent, as a result my images have become much more immersive, more believable. This immersion is really quite key to Aphairesis, since one major aspect of Sublimity is the combination of seduction and repulsion. The viewer must simultaneously feel immersed and repulsed - to feel compelled to enter the space, yet uneasy at the prospect of the privations that lie within. As has been said of Sugimoto's seascapes, once inside the space, the view becomes very different.

Your portfolio also contains a series entitled 'women in sport' what was the inspiration behind this project? Strangely enough, Women in Sport was a series I produced along side Homeland. Portraiture had always been something I was drawn to in my research but had never tried in any great depth. At the time I was tutored by Michelle Sank, a portrait photographer whose work I've always loved, and there seemed no better time to give it a go. The series was very much influenced by John Berger's Ways of Seeing, and the reading on feminist theory I had been doing for my dissertation, particularly the notion that “men act” and “women appear”. I wanted to portray the strength, confidence and beauty these women had while also highlighting the subtle differences in how they presented themselves to the camera. Who are your favourite artists, past and present? Not surprisingly, the artists who most influenced my practice each work with the landscape in some way. In my recent work, Aphairesis, I've drawn major influence from pioneer photography (including work by artists such as Timothy O'Sullivan and Carleton

Watkins), as well as more contemporary projects such as Elina Brotherus's New Painting and Joan Fontcuberta's Landscapes Without Memory. I am also greatly interested in site-specific landscape work such as Mendieta's Silueta Series and Turrell's Roden Crater, and in the Romantic painting of Friedrich and Wolf, each of which has provided inspiration for my recent work.

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Work hard! I'm a big believer that if you put the time in, you'll get the results. One thing I've always been told is â&#x20AC;&#x153;the harder I work, the luckier I get.â&#x20AC;? Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Conscientious, inquisitive and passionate.

Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work?

What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take?

Since the creation of Homeland I very much stick to constructed landscape imagery. I occasionally return to 'straight' photography and 120 to practice focusing carefully on framing and compositional techniques, but I'm primarily concerned with my digital constructions and on getting these to a really high standard. In my graduate project, Aphairesis, I've been using this constructed landscape aesthetic to explore ideas of the Contemporary Sublime, investigating how modern perceptions of Sublimity are often more bound up with the infinities of virtual and digital space than the immensity of Nature.

I very much hope to extend my constructed landscape imagery. I'd particularly like to develop my graduate project, Aphairesis, by continuing to explore Sublimity in greater depth. I'm hoping to experiment with a much darker aesthetic, perhaps creating an almost negative version of my existing works to address the importance of darkness and obscurity in Burke's terror sublime. I also want to work more closely with a more abstract aesthetic. Recently I've been heavily influenced by the work of Mark Rothko and James Turrell, and I hope to investigate similar ideas of reduction and simplicity in my own future work. 103

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For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name is Charlotte, I draw stuff and I'm currently based in Leeds. Who or what inspired you to start creating art?

Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? So far my favourite piece by far is the portrait of Tommy Lee Jones. It's the first piece I've done on my graphics tablet and it has definitely opened up a new style of working to me.

I drew a lily when I was 7 at school and my Mother was so proud that she got it printed onto a jumper, a tote bag and a mouse mat. .

Who are your favourite artists, past and present?

Can you tell us a little about you education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University?

Since I recently began producing figurative work on a graphics tablet, Sam Spratt has greatly influenced me, but my main inspiration has always been William Hogarth's etchings.

I've just graduated from Leeds College of Art where I 'studied' fine art. How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? I think pursuing art at a degree level is ultimately only beneficial for building a portfolio. The grading of most work is so subjective that I don't think you can really ever honestly gage whether a piece has been successful or not.

What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? I think any of the pop icon portraits by Fabian Ciraolo are really wonderful. To me they manage to perfectly balance the technical relationship between graphically developed art and fine art. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? BIRO (bic if available)

How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? If I'm doing a figurative piece I'll work directly from the picture whilst incorporating my own colour palette. If I'm drawing work that features animals then I'll either have a few reference pictures or I'll just see what comes out of my headâ&#x20AC;Ś

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Don't draw pictures of old people's hands. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Motivated by money

Tell us about your piece 'Toad Throne 2000' that you exhibited at the M Exhibition, what was the concept behind the work? There wasn't really a concept as such, I started drawing a vulture head on a canvas (as you do) and then the rest followed.

What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? Expect lots and lots of drawings and about 8 failed tumblrs.

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SWANSEA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY 21st JUNE 2012

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DELUGE

For those who aren't aware of

you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? I've recently graduated with a degree in photojournalism but I've always been fascinated by landscape art. Since a young age, I have found myself drawn to various landscape paintings. The sublime nature of Caspar David Friedrich's landscapes and the surreal, bleak locations featured in Salvador Dali's work have always gripped me and filled me with a sense of intrigue and dread. I use the camera as a creative device, almost as if it were an alternative to painting. Since starting my photographic practise, I have focused on the way in which people believe what they see in photographs. Photography however, can be just as creative, false and imaginative as painting. I use this to my advantage. Who or what inspired you to start photography?

I started studying photography at A level college simply because it interested me from an amateur standpoint. However, during my A level studies I began to read certain texts and I was shocked to realise how much a photograph can mean to someone. Specifically, upon reading 'Camera Lucida' by Roland Barthes, I was awestruck by the apparent depth of photography and this realisation ultimately changed my career and life. Can you tell us a little about your education in art? Are you self taught or did you go to University? I studied Photojournalism for three years at Swansea Metropolitan University and graduated this summer. Throughout these three years I also continued to study Romanticism and landscape art. Prior to the degree at SMU I attained A levels in photography, art and design and media studies at Neath Port Talbot College.

How did you find your time at University? Did it help you become the artist you are today? I thoroughly enjoyed my time at university. My education at SMU helped sculpt me as an artist, changing me from a rather confused yet intrigued novice into a well informed artist and photographic practitioner. I feel that I am now able to express myself fully through my photographic work. How would you describe your creative process? Is there a specific starting point or do you prefer to approach your work more organically? As mentioned previously, I love to use the distorting qualities of the camera to make art as opposed to simply documenting reality. My work attempts to create an alternate or distorted view of reality, turning it into something fictional and documenting places and scenarios that only exist as such through the lens. My starting point is always the same. I simply go out and take pictures of whatever I feel drawn to. I approach these places differently to most photographers but often for the same reasons. I photograph what interests me and try to change it into something even more interesting. Your series 'Deluge' really grabbed our attention when we saw it at your recent exhibition, what was the concept behind the work and what was the creative process like? I don't want to write in detail about the creative process because the project is about how people read the images more than how I create them. I attempt to use the way in which we are trained to look at landscape to turn people's perceptions of reality upside down. Many landscape photographers such as Elina Brotherus have focused on the link between paintings from the Romantic Movement and photography. However, Brotherus's work seems to be linked with the Romantic landscape paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, whereas mine is influenced by the apocalyptic sublime within the work of John Martin. What I will say about how these images were created, is that they were not digitally manipulated, and that they are photographs captured using nothing but the camera.

background of some of his paintings. As an adult I have found myself drawn to the Romantics. And as a photographer, I am a huge fan of Simon Norfolk, Edward Burtynsky and Gregory Crewdson. I recently spent some time in London and had chance to visit the 'Oil' exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery. Burtynsky's huge, framed images of the oil industry at various stages were striking and beautiful. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by and use for all of your work? I like to shoot in as large a format as possible. However, this can be difficult and costly because I prefer to work digitally. For the 'Deluge' project I used a Hasselblad H3D digital camera. Working with a memory card instead of film allows me to shoot hundreds or even thousands of images per session. Editing many images into one successful choice is probably my favourite photographic exercise. Working with large format film would be fantastic but I would have to greatly limit myself and change my methodology. I'm sure I will return to film at some point though, even if it's just for fun. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Establish your own voice. And if you are ever stuck and struggling to find inspiration and the drive to create work, simply go out and take pictures. Sometimes a decent project can be present within your work even if it wasn't mean as a project in the first place. And take a camera everywhere. Can you give us 3 words that describe you as artist? Illusionist, photographer and Romantic. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take?

Who are your favourite artists, past and present?

I will be continuing to develop landscape work, looking closely at the relationship between sublimity and photography. I also have a rather large project planned in Greece for which I am currently trying to raise funds. My work is also going to be exhibited in the Millennium Centre in Wales as part of the 'Pan Wales' Graduate show this September.

That's a difficult one to answer. I suppose my childhood inspiration was Salvador Dali because of the odd and seemingly endless worlds featured in the

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