Little Black Book of Art

Photo credit: Ella Webber

This week, Little Black Book of Art goes to Battersea in London, interviewing young British sculptor Tanya Brett…

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Animals In Art

Throughout the ages, animals have always been depicted in art within all cultures. Along with the human form, they were subjects of the earliest art ever created by our ancestors, who painted horses, bison and deer on cave walls. Classical artists used animals symbolically and allegorically as seen in the art of Ancient Egypt (when artists depicted many of their gods with the heads of animals) and in the Middle Ages (when artists used mythical beasts to decorate medieval manuscripts).
In Europe, during the Renaissance period, the depiction of animals themselves was neglected in favour of supposedly more elevated subjects, yet re-emerged in 17^th century art when hunting scenes illustrating dramatic life and death struggles between man and beast became a popular subject amongst patrons.
The 18^th century then saw artists such as Stubbs, Géricault and Delacroix choosing to celebrate the natural beauty and majestic power of animals in their natural habitats and following that, Victorian artists began painting sentimental pictures of their domestic pets and livestock.
The representation of animals also played an important (and often overlooked) role in the development of Modernism, which often sought subjects far away from the anecdotal or heroic allegories of academicism.

Today, artists are exploring the entire range of animal genres. We commission pet portraits, indulge in wildlife photography and it’s now sometimes easy to overlook animals in art, but not so with Tanya Brett’s one-off, hand sculpted pieces…

Tanya’s interest in working three-dimensionally probably began when her mother sent her every Saturday from the age of five, to ‘The Chelsea Pottery’ whilst she did her shopping on the King’s Road.

The Chelsea Pottery was a legendary place located on Radnor Walk in SW3. Children could play around for hours there creating whatever they wanted in clay one week, glazing their designs the second week, then taking their pride and joy home to their parents on the third week. Tanya loved the place so much that she even taught there aged 17 before the much-loved pottery studio shut down in 1994, after the owners were not able to renew the lease on the property.

Since childhood, Tanya has been drawn to animals and representing them in art. Years spent at the Chelsea Pottery enabled her to experiment and to learn the principles of working with clay.

After leaving school, Tanya completed a foundation course at Chelsea College of Art before studying three-dimensional craft at the well-reputed Brighton University. A sell-out end of year show prompted her to become a full-time artist.

Tanya’s work is instantly recognisable, yet at the same time, no two pieces are alike. Her passion for animals and nature has always been her preferred subject matter.  She’s interested in what animals mean to man – how we characterise them, and how they elicit emotions from devotion and affection, to cruelty.

“Animal representation is often sentimental. I want to show the raw power of animals, along with their innocence.  In my sculpture I am interested in using techniques associated with drawing and painting – brushstrokes, lines and scratches to convey a sense of immediacy, vitality and life.”

The reason I think Tanya’s work is special, is that what she creates aren’t just naturalistic portrayals of a series of animals. When you look at Tanya’s pieces, you can’t help feeling a strong emotional response – there’s a tenderness in the animals she depicts. You can see she clearly has great sentiment for her subjects which in turn enables her to bring to life each animal she represents, creating truly exquisite work that illustrates the character, likeness, personality and expression in each commission.

Photo credit: Ella Webber

Tanya’s 10 ‘quick questions’…

1. Home is…
Brixton

2..Earliest memory
Crabbing in Wales with my father

3. What is your life philosophy?
The most wasted day of all is that on which you have not laughed

4. What is your favourite discovery?
Crabs under rocks

5. What makes you happy?
Nature

6. Worst nightmare?
Parking tickets

7. Favourite escape?
South Downs

8. Do you own any art? And do you collect?
Yes, yes

9. The book you have read the most?
The Giant Jam Sandwich

10. What talent would you most like to have?
To be patient … then to be able to play the piano to perfection

Describe a day in the life of you, Tanya the sculptor…
I usually wake up at 8.30am anxious about everything I have to get done and specifically about the fact that my car needs to be moved from the residence bay as I haven’t yet managed to sort out my permit. I then take my dog for a walk on the common before heading to work in my studio under a railway arch in Battersea. I spend my day working from the my studio but it is usually broken up with meetings either on site or sometimes the more preferable option – over a nice lunch then back to the studio. The end of the day I normally relax with some fine wines, friends and then home to a hot bath.

What is your opinion of arts education? Is an artist born or made – or both?
Well, before Art school or even the notion of education at all I was drawing horses and other animals. I would use anything I could get hold of to draw on from my mum’s cigarette packets to my bedroom walls, so I would definitely consider art to be something in the blood, nature over nurture initially. My art education was valuable for the time it allowed me to find my own style and being surrounded by like-minded people is inspiring in itself. So ultimately I think it is both.

I understand both your parents were artists – did they have any influence on your choice of career path?
I was definitely influenced by my parents being artists although neither of them wanted me to be an artist because of the financial instability of it and it’s general ups and downs.

Was art your first love or do you have another passion?
Animals and the outdoors are my first love and my work was a natural progression from that.

How does making art make you feel? Anxious.

What kind of work did you begin making as an artist?
A clay bust of Morten Harket from Aha.

Please tell us about your technique, what materials do you like to work with? What appeals with the regard to the medium you use?
I enjoy using plaster and clay for their forgiving nature and ability to be spontaneous and I like a bit of charcoal for a life drawing sketch.

Have you found any challenges in your work?
Physically it can be, but I love a challenge.

What have you learned from another artist lately?
My mother told me getting a permit for my car might help alleviate my anxieties, I think she might be right…

I am guessing you work mainly on commissions – what was the most exciting project you’ve worked on?
Always my most recent project, I like new work and new challenges. At the moment it’s a life-size bronze moose for a Canadian diplomat.

Tell us a bit more about your next exhibition
I am working towards a show in LA in collaboration with two other artists, and in the meantime continuing to do private commissions.

What are your ambitions?
Health and happiness…and world domination.

I am always interested in what holds artists back: is there anything holding you back from achieving the next level or accomplishing your next artistic mission?
Hangovers…but 2010 is a whole new me.

Which medium do you feel is the current spokesman of the arts?
Stuffed animals once again…!?!

What are your ambitions?
To have a view of the sea from my window and own a horse.

How do you feel you evolve as an artist?
Moving forward, don’t stagnate.

What other artists do you admire?
Eric Gill, Marino Marini, Picasso, Paula Rego but to name a few…

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
The best advice I have ever been given was by my favourite tutor at college. He said always have  an armchair in  your studio, to sit back for a while comfortably and reflect on what work you have done.

What’s in the future?
If I knew that world domination would be mine.

For more information about Tanya’s work and to see her beautiful drawings, please visit her site at: www.tanyabrett.com

Rachel Phillips is an artist I came across 3 years ago while hunting for talent at the end of year MA show at Chelsea College of Art in London.

She is a chronicler of modern life who sees the absurd in the everyday, capturing and rendering it in a variety of different medias. However, it was her ‘Shrigley-esque’, small scale, child-like drawings, and hilarious hand-rendered texts that initially caught my attention.

Like David Shrigley, Rachel’s vignettes capture an odd viewpoint of the world and finds comedy in flat depictions of the inconsequential and the bizarre. They are also characterised by a deliberately mischievous technique, thus adding comic effect.

Not all her work is light-hearted. Some of Rachel’s more recent pieces use subject matter that can be quite uncomfortable, dark even, though it is tinged with a certain lightness of touch probably a result of the medium or the simplistic style she uses. Rachel also reveals something of herself in the pieces she creates – her own voice is very much present in her artwork and gives the viewer an insight into who she IS.

Reoccurring themes and thoughts pervade her story telling and her love of the Arsenal is one of them. This is where Rachel and David Shrigley differ. He says, ”Football and art shouldn’t mix as far as I’m concerned. Football is my recreation, it’s everything that art isn’t”.

Rachel’s interest in literature is also clear to see in her distinctive form of narrative which recalls the nonsensical and anarchic writing of famous poets such as Spike Milligan and Ivor Cutler.

What I particularly love about Rachel’s drawings and statements, is that she draws in the most immediate, simplistic way in order to communicate the things she wants to communicate – namely her deadpan humour. It is true that more often than not, I like to be moved by a beautiful piece of art, but it’s not often that I view art and it makes me laugh, and this work doesn’t just make me laugh, it makes me guffaw.

Little Black Book of Art interviews Rachel to find out more…

Tell us a bit about yourself…. Who are you?
My name is Rachel Phillips although in the past I have adopted the name of Rachel Dubois, just because I thought it might be fun – in hindsight it was silly because people just got confused. I was born in Norfolk and went to school in Norwich. I travelled around quite a bit when I left school at 16 and worked in London and Newcastle in a variety of jobs from bars to offices. After 10 years of wanderlust I went to university and read Law, but ended up not liking law and becoming a stockbroker for 15 years. One day I decided I didn’t want to be a stockbroker anymore and went off to art school.

Home?…
Is now a cottage in the countryside in South Norfolk.

What do you do?
I have a studio space in the cottage. However, my favourite spot for working is by the stove in the kitchen. The studio tends to get ignored. Wherever I am working I am surrounded by scrapbooks, cuttings, newspapers and drawings and pens.

We met when I discovered your work at an end of year degree show at Chelsea College of Art; did you study with a view to a professional career?
Not at first. As an undergraduate when I started the course I didn’t think I would ever get to a point where I could ever contemplate being a professional artist. However by the time I arrived at Chelsea to do my Masters all that changed.

You use a variety of mediums in your work as well as the written word – which medium do you prefer working with best?
I do not really separate the two when I am working. However, when I am drawing I particularly like using biros because of their immediacy. I also like coloured pencils and to a lesser extent these days, felt-tip pens. For text work I sometimes like to use an old portable typewriter given to me by an elderly lady in Norwich who said her husband used it for filing his stories when he was a Fleet Street reporter in the 1930s.

I like the fact that you use the written word in art because I think words are just as powerful as an image, and words can be beautiful as well – how do you explain the written word in the art you create and what impact do you want it to have?
It took me some years before I felt confident enough to express myself in words in art because I was pre-conditioned to believe that only painting could be art. I spent the whole of my Foundation year painting large canvases and attending life classes. Later, when I started drawing and experimenting and doodling with pens and including words in my work I suddenly felt a lot happier with what I was doing and it seemed the natural thing to do. However, my work is quite autobiographical so I sometimes used to find it difficult to express myself where everybody could ’see’ me and I was aware that even at art school some people did not like what I was doing. Humour started to creep in and people were stopping to look at and it was making them laugh. I started to feel a lot happier about exploring my own feelings and felt a lot easier about it when I reached this stage and less sensitive to what people thought. I know from talking to people that everybody gets different things from my work. Some find it humorous and that is what they will always look for from it. Some see it as purely autobiographical and that is what they are looking for. I just hope that if it is something I found interesting then others will find it interesting too.

Favourite piece of art you have made?
My favourite piece is still “He saw Ikea in the distance and he knew everything would be alright”. I did this in 2005 or 2006 and it has now been sold to an American collector who saw it when she was studying in England. She thought it summed up a certain British way of life which is exactly the way I saw it and why I did it. I was happy to sell it to her.

When did you first become interested in art?
I became interested in art when I was about 13 and a teacher at school introduced us to the work of L S Lowry. I still love Lowry’s paintings and drawings. My mother also used to take me to galleries.

How does making art make you feel?
I suppose it just makes me feel that I am being me and that is about the best thing it could do.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
To be perfectly honest I cannot recall anybody giving me a good piece of advice,  mostly people are ready to put you down and tell you what you shouldn’t be doing and don’t do this and don’t do that. I tend to ignore all advice.

(NB: Rachel’s art also asks questions about the nature of contemporary art and its audience -  this drawing is clearly a reference to world-renowned art dealer Jay Jopling)

Where did you last go on holiday?
I am just back from a trip to Morocco. It wasn’t exactly a holiday but more of a house party with lots of drumming and dancing. I have a Moroccan friend who teaches drumming and I ended up at a house on the other side of the Atlas Mountains with him and 14 other people. It was quite an experience.

What makes you laugh?
Watching people in galleries not daring to react to what they are looking at because they are frightened about what people will think of them.

What makes you cry?
Arsenal not winning.

What are you reading?
Paul Theroux’s ‘Riding The Iron Rooster’, the story of his rail journey through China. I love Paul’s writing style. The book is almost 500 pages long but I know it almost off by heart. I dip into it all the time and took it to Morocco with me.

Loving?…
If you mean who am I loving, it has to be my partner, Pierre, who I have been with for over 20 years. He is a beautiful and caring man who gives me freedom to do what I want.

What wouldn’t you do without?
My notebook and pen.

Your finest moment?
I haven’t had it yet.

Where do you go to be alone?
I don’t really need to go anywhere to be alone because I am alone in my cottage a lot of the time.  However if I really feel the need to get away then I go to Paris.

The most interesting person you have ever met?
Oh, this is a difficult one. I met Carol Ann Duffy recently and I said “watcha Carol” and she said “watcha Rachel” and that was all so she doesn’t really count. I would like to meet Slavoj Zizek because he seems to know about or has written about anything and everything and Arsene Wenger because he is so much more than just a football coach and I am always fantasizing  about having lunch with him. I am working on it.

Sum up your life in three words…
No textiles please.

Have you a secret vice?
Reading the Thomas Cook European Train Timetable in bed.

What keeps you alive?
Being endlessly curious.

What role does the artist have in society?
Oh, to change people’s view of the inevitable I hope. To lighten the load of everyday life and to show people that there do not have to be rules and it is all right to enjoy. It cannot change things but it can help.

How do you get inspired?
An obsession with what is going on around me. An obsession with people and a desire to communicate.

Who first influenced you artistically?
Well if you go back to when I was a teenager it has to be L S Lowry and his stick figures as mentioned above. After that it was Bruce Nauman when I first discovered his work when I was a student and then Richard Prince and his jokes.

What have you learned from another artist lately?
I did some video work when I was at Chelsea and have recently discovered the work of Kalup Linzy where he takes multiple roles in his films which is something I have experimented with in the past.

What’s new for next year and where do you see things going in the future?
I have always had a yearning to act so I am joining up with a drama teacher for some sessions after Christmas. But whatever happens I will be producing some new drawings and text and hopefully selling more of my work.

Visit Rachel’s blog at: www.racheldubois.blogspot.com which she writes under the character of Ruby McMahon or visit her website at http://www.racheldubois.com/whatsnew.htm

This week we interview Ikuko Iwamoto who creates beautifully intricate ceramic works influenced by the microscopic world. She aims to bring its organic chaos, intensity and fragility to the things we use every day without losing their function.

Ikuko recently created her own brand called IKIK Ceramics, working with fellow artist Kaz Kondor, who’s interest in details of insects are clearly evident in each piece.

IKUKO Iwamoto has attracted several commissions and awards including the DBA Inclusive Design Competition Trophy commission (2007/ 2009), The Ceramic Review Prize for Innovation (2009), Crafts Council Development Award (2008) and The Clerkenwell Award (2006).

She has exhibited widely and has been included in Ceramic Art London’ 09, Origin 2008 and more recently Tent London. She is shortlisted at British Ceramic Biennial (see article in our Ceramics section) in Stoke-on-Trent this year and is going to take part in Origin 2009.

Tell me a bit about yourself, you are from Japan, why have you decided to settle and work in London?
I have been living in London since 2001. My ceramic master in Japan suggested I continue my studies in ceramic design and I decided to come to London to study at Camberwell College of Art. At Camberwell, I was focused on making sculptural ceramics but after graduating I got a place at the Royal College of Art and decided to change my style and direction by making functional pieces.  After leaving the RCA, I aquired a studio in Clerkenwell and things started from there.

When did you become interested in art?
When I was little, I really loved doodling. That’s why I am still making work I suppose.

How does making art make you feel?
Sometimes very stressed, but I relax when I am decorating and glazing my work.

What specific feature of working with clay and porcelain appeals to you?
I took a metalwork course when I was a student at Camberwell, but I got stressed and frustrated because metal is a hard material to work with and not very malleable. I like the feel and elasticity of clay so I decided to carry on working with it instead.

How do you get inspired?
The microscopic world. Invisible things.

What have you learned from another artist lately?
I have discovered Steve Reich’s music.

What’s new for next year and where do you see your work going in the future?
Making new, larger scale work. Participating in Ceramic Art London, Tent and Origin and the British Ceramic Biennale.

Who first influenced you artistically?
I think I was probably influenced by a musician.

The diverse textures and materials are a temptation to the sense of touch. How would you describe your artwork?

I am interested in invisible things. I would like to make invisible things visible – bring them mre attention. The sense of touch to me is more important than our visual senses – I like to make things that are tactile and have a range of textures.  I like people to relate to my work through feeling it…that is the most important thing to me. It’s difficult to describe.

Please tell us about your technique, what materials/clay type do you like to work with?
I am using porcelain at the moment and all my pieces are handmade.

What are the challenges you have found in your work?
Large scale pieces.

What are your ambitions?
I’d like to exhibit internationally.

What types of projects would you like to undertake next?
Lighting  projects and more sculpture.

How important is the company of other artists and creative individuals to your wellbeing and creative output?
My studio is in a building where there are many designer working together and we all support each other.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
My partner always gives me good advice – we collaborate on work together.

What is your favourite piece of art you have made?
Spikyspiky bowl.

More of Ikuko’s work can be seen at: www.ikukoi.co.uk

This week, we interview London artist Ima Okon at her studio in Brixton. A printmaker by training, the core of her practice is informed by her faith, interest in space and the passage of time. Inspired by abandoned urban landscapes, her work takes on anthropomorphic qualities obtained through her intense process of applying and reapplying combinations of printmaking, photography, film, model-making and installation.

Tell us a bit about yourself…who are you and what do you do?
My full name is Ima-Abasi Okon, but Ima is fine. I am an artist living and working in London. I graduated in 2008 form Central Saint Martins School Of Art where I underwent an MA in Communication Design. In the past my work was solely generated by printmaking techniques but after the MA my process has crossed over to include photography and whatever else expresses the idea.

Did you study formally with a view to a professional career?

Yes, but the pathway has somewhat changed. At college I studied Graphic Design with intentions of being a graphic designer with my own international studio and everything. I was taught how to thoroughly research a subject, push my ideas beyond the obvious and not to dumb down the work. It was quite open, so open that when I left I had trouble with my portfolio, as it had become something else – I couldn’t see how it would fit in. Though in hindsight I think that was one of the problems – trying to fit my work into an area instead of letting it be what it was. What is your opinion of arts education? Is an artist born or made or both? So, a year later I enrolled on the MA with the intention to use those two years to indulge myself and perhaps find answers. I wouldn’t classify myself as a designer (though I still design and easily excited by it) but its principles are evident in my work and the way I approach ideas. My thoughts behind colour, language and composition can find their beginnings from that period of my life.

What is your opinion of arts education? Is an artist born or made or both?
I think you’re born with a desire to be able to do something creative – it’s insatiable. Though art education has its place too. It can harness and refine that desire whether technically or critically. Above all, the right education places you in an environment with desires and talents of other people, corridors that are malleable and no lid on top. For me it sharpened areas that needed sharpening. There’s a big difference between potential and performance.

Where were you brought up? Are any other people in your family artistic?
I was brought up in South London – raised by traditional Nigerian parents. My mother’s a dressmaker and my father’s an accountant. At the time the only professions that they recognised were the academic ones, my father had it all planned my eldest brother an electronic engineer, my sister a lawyer, me a doctor and my younger brother an accountant. The first two worked fine. Then I came along and shook the boat…slightly. My younger brother, musically is very talented and has a couple of mix tapes circulating the grime scene, he’s started to play the saxophone and has made a couple of short films as well as directing his own music videos. He hasn’t studied formally, though he’s very clear on how he sees himself and the life he’s trying to carve out. To use his own phrase: Very abstract. I think my boat rocking kind of made it easy for him. I also had a cousin who was much older than us and seen as a bit of a dreamer. I can’t remember if he actually studied art but his paintings and drawings where always at the house, there was one In particular with flowers and some sort of still life that I remember trying to copy. Other than that everyone else is purely academic!

How do you get inspired?
I am moved by things that are important in my life such as my faith, salvation and well-being. I guess this has an overall effect on the conversations that appear in my work.  To ‘get’ inspired, that would be the first place I look.  Then it would be colour. Also going back to things that interest me.

You mentioned that faith plays an important part in your art – please explain…
My faith is the first place I look, as that’s who I am and that’s what I believe to be true. I believe that within my body there’s a spirit—the Holy Spirit so when I look at things its mainly based on communicating what we can’t see and playing with notions of internal and external, spirit and flesh, eternal and temporal…

What have you learned from another artist lately?
How fragile time is and that ‘there is no tomorrow’. That latter has definitely ushered me forward significantly.

Was art your first love or do you have another passion?
No, art is right up there underneath God. I have a great passion for a cup of earl grey and a slice of cake.

What is your view on photography and film, do you feel is the current spokesman of the arts?
I think they’re both very strong mediums in themselves and have been used in strong ways. I don’t see any particular medium as a spokesman of the arts only of an artist’s idea at that time. Trends will always be prevalent in any environment but just because we don’t see a particular medium in the limelight doesn’t mean that it’s not being used prolifically.

Who first influenced you artistically?
It would have to be Mr Fletcher, my art teacher from primary school.  He was great. I valued his opinion so much that every piece of work I did I made sure I showed him even if I had moved on to a different class.

Tell us about your creative process…
I start off with questions that I may have, or questions that need answering and then go to the source – the great Jesus Christ himself. I then set about exploring those answers in a contextual way.  I look for an output/narrative that conceptually is visually and structurally similar to us as vessels. I think that’s why visually at the moment…and generally, I am drawn to architecture with a function to house people. I also surround my self with images, pieces of text that I may have come across…My process is quite methodological with the medium being in direct correlation to the idea.

What have been your favourite projects to date in your career and why?
I was asked to participate in an exhibition that draws upon the relationship between music and printmaking in which I produced an edition of hand-sewn hymnbooks. (Actually this is a prime example of how graphic design is still quite prevalent in my work). From the beginning I knew that I didn’t want to do anything purely pictorial but a lot more subtle. I started to look at the relationship between the performer and the fan and the fans unrelenting loyalty and ‘worship’ this lead to further observations on the action of worship and losing yourself in worship. Experiments with punctuating Psalms with action-fuelled choruses from songs that I grew up with, mainly 80’s Hip Hop formed into my own hymns. I formed quite a few but chose the hymns that when placed together formed more of a narrative – The project didn’t look like me and that’s what I enjoyed the most about it. I found something new about me.

What are your ambitions?
I would like to travel more, especially with my work. At the moment I have ideas to go really big with my work and for it to take on more of a sculptural element.

What role does the artist have in society?
I think everybody’s role in society is to be the best person that they can be. I need to be the best Ima I can be not because I’ll be letting myself down but somebody else. There’s a person out there, unknown to them, that is waiting for the best ‘Ima’ to show up in their life, be it my work, a conversation etc but the best of me so that they maybe inspired to be the best they can be.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
That there is no tomorrow.

I am always interested in what holds artists back: is there anything holding you back from achieving the next level or accomplishing your next artistic mission?
Reason. That’s why the answer to the last question is so important.

Favourite or most inspirational place?
There’s a clip towards the end of I am Legend when the woman who’s escaping with the cure says something about the world being quiet. That’s my favourite place when the world is quiet. When my anxieties about life are switched off! When all that I am and all that I won’t be is on mute. When opinions that shouldn’t effect me but do are muffled and all I can hear is the voice of assurance.

Sometimes our real accomplishments are human stuff, not the resumé/CV stuff – if it’s not too personal, what do you feel have been your real accomplishments? Has it affected the your work?
Last year a student of mine brought me flowers and a card to say thank you. The message in the card was really sweet and not expecting it, I read it in her presence and became quite embarrassed. I realised later that that embarrassment was due to fact that I actually care about the future of my students and that their time in my presence was helpful. She confirmed that for me. That’s an accomplishment.

You work in Brixton in a building with a fair amount of studios – do you engage with the other artists around you?How important is the company of other artists and creative individuals to your well being and creative output…
I’ve not too long moved into the studio so my first real chance of meeting everybody was at the Wide Open event held here. I got to see the faces behind the doors and look at the work that was taking place next to me. It’s quite important that there be someone who I can show stuff to and the good thing is that the majority if not all of my friends are creative in some way and that really helps. Whether it’s for encouragement, brutal honesty or to learn something new. But being in an environment knowing that people are getting on with things in a similar manner helps you focus.

More of Ima’s work can be seen at www.imaokon.co.uk

Little Black Book of Art interviews 29 year old Italian photographer Umberta Genta for our ‘Artist of the Week’ section…

Q: Why does photography appeal to you?

I think it appeals to me because it simultaneously records, monitors, and provides the means to alter reality… whatever that may be.

Q: Who are your inspirations? and What other artists do you admire?
In terms of photographers I’m inspired by Francesca Woodman, Helmut Newton, Jurgen Teller, Deborah Turberville, among others.

Q: Did you study formally? and Did you study art with a view to a professional career?
I studied Art History with an emphasis on the business side of the art world – worked for a while at an auction house – but then felt the need to put my own ideas into practice, so I did a postgrad degree in photography at Central Saint Martins. I guess anybody who is interested in photography likes the idea of being a professional photographer, so yes I did study with a view to this in that sense, but no matter how successful you are I think it always seems somehow incomplete, somehow just out of reach. I think taking pictures is foremost something that you do, and to a certain extent, with all insecurities in tow, the only thing you think you can do…

Q: Which one item of equipment would you say is the most important to you?
Equipment is not always what matters, you can use the best equipment in the world but if the idea is not there…you’re just not going to get the ‘right’ shot. Technology can enrich creativity, not make it.

Q: Does the technological advancements in photography affect you and your work?
I’m up to date with what’s going on, and I’m attracted to it, but not obsessed with it. Photoshop is amazing, the capability. I use it for minor retouching.

Q: How do you decide on locations and subjects?
If it’s for a non-commercial purpose, I go with my instinct, and choose someone whose image, style, story appeals to me. The locations are usually their homes or their working space.

Q: How do you explain your work and practice to the layman? and How important is it for your work to be understood?
That’s always a difficult one and to be honest there is no ‘real’ answer, but I suppose in this moment, I’m examining the idea of being lost and encountering people on that journey…a sort of photo-therapy for the irreparable.

Q: What was the first photograph that you remember making an impression on you?
I have an awful memory, but Nan Goldin’s Joana’s back in the doorway, largely because it depicts an intimate moment, undisturbed by the presence of the photographer.

Q: I love your Black & White work and you also have some colour. What makes you choose to shot something in B&W over colour?
Nowadays I prefer colour, but yes, I used to work in B&W and sometimes still do. I was recently doing a shoot in Morocco, and used Black & White because I wanted to create a degree of sentimentality, for the mind to colour in, it’s not always a conscious move but sometimes it pays off quite nicely.

Q: When you put your work ‘out there’. Do you have it critiqued by someone else, or do you just go with what your heart tells you is right?
I go with my heart but I’m lucky enough to know some people who do nothing but critique. I go with my heart.

Q: How does your work develop – on paper, in your head?
I visualize something, a situation, a type of interior, and write about it. It can take a long time until I put it into practice, and I’ll work on other images in the meantime, until I find the right subject for this idea. It has to develop organically.

Do you rely on lighting (natural, or artificial), or do you rely on dark-room/computer manipulation?
I love playing with natural light most of the time, because there are infinite conditions, and it’s the best resource we have. As I say I use a little bit of digital retouching and I also print in dark-room, but I try not to alter things too much so that i don’t loose the honesty of the image.

Q: What’s new for this year and where do you see things going in the future?
I’m completing a project called ‘People I don’t know’, and looking into showing it. I would like to take my work to Italy, my country of birth, but I suppose just keep on working, keep on being creative as much as possible and maybe try and figure out some new types of printing my work.

Q: What do you wish you’d known about the profession before you entered it?
I wish I had known about the concept of patience!

Q: What are the best and worst things about being a photographer?
The best thing is the freedom of not being tied down to a 9 to 5 job, and yet I suppose the most frustrating thing is not always being able to do 100% what you want, especially when you have to consider clients’ needs, but that can be beneficial too.

Q: What cameras and lenses do you use most often?
I love medium format cameras and wide-angle lenses.

Q: What’s the most important quality a photographer needs to have?
The courage to stick to what they feel, what they need to express.

For more information about Umberta’s work, please visit: www.umbertagenta.com

This week, we look at the work of recent graduate Hatty Morris, 25, interviewed in her Stockwell studio, South London.

Hatty’s work was all snapped up by frantic buyers at her summer graduation show – so she’s one to watch out for!

What specific feature of the medium appeals to you?
Drawing with charcoal and rubbers on a big scale is very active and physically tiring – I enjoy this a lot. I like the logic of black charcoal and white paper and at the moment I don’t see a reason to use colour.

Who are your inspirations?
I like looking at natural history drawings (especially early ones- Italian 16th century), anatomy drawings, cave paintings, children’s drawings and symbols for people and animals such as those on road and London underground signs.

Did you study formally?
Yes. I studied Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School and before that, History of Art at Cambridge University.

Why be an artist?
Making things is what I enjoy the most, so it would be sad not to keep doing it.

What other artists do you admire?
Because my ‘inspirations’ are not usually artists or strictly art, I’m not sure. I do like Charles Avery’s drawings and models and Alex Hoda’s sculptures. I love Mark Wallinger’s plans for ‘The Angel of the South’.

Did you study art with a view to a professional career?
Yes, I studied it knowing I wanted to continue beyond the course.

How does your work develop – on paper, in your head?
A bit of both but the most important problems and solutions come during the actual making and I want any struggle to be visible in the finished piece.

How many of your ideas never get produced?
I try out nearly everything I want to, but often they don’t work and aren’t completed.

How important is it for your work to be understood?
I hope there’s not too much in my work that needs understanding. It is very important to me that no knowledge of art is necessary in order to enjoy it. I don’t want to make art about art but hopefully something that anyone could find funny or odd or satisfying to look at.

What was the first work of art you sold?
A huge GCSE painting of some trees to a lovely music teacher at school for £50!

What’s new for this year and where do you see things going in the future?
I’m taking a project to London Zoo in October. The visitors will be asked to make drawings of the animals and from these I will make a giant animal series to be shown in the zoo. I think I’ll always want to work on projects with institutions like museums and zoos which have the space to show big work and a ready supply of visitors I can bully into working with me.

For more information about Hatty’s work go to www.hattymorris.com