Interview with Annie Kevans

Q) Something about you…what you want…

A)I would like to be a really good painter.

Q) What are your main goals when you create?

A)To produce work that causes people to think of a person or situation in a new way.

Q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

A)I keep a note of things that shock or surprise me as I see or hear about them. When I decide to do some work about the person or story (usually at a later date), I research the subject thoroughly. I don't start painting until I've done the research so I suppose you could say that I have a kind of method of working.

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

A)My website has been incredibly useful. I have had lots of emails from strangers who have seen my work in an exhibition or newspaper and have looked me up on the internet and sent me a message.

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A)In a nutshell: figurative but not portraiture. I choose my subjects according to what they represent to me. I see traditional portraiture as the other way around: where a subject chooses the artist to represent them as they see themselves.

Q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

A)Oil paint on paper.

Q) What is your favorite

a) taste

b) sound

c) sight

d) scent

e) tactile sensation?

A)

(a) cheese,

(b) waves, crackling fire and crunching snow

(c) the sea

(d) freshly mowed grass, hot croissant and bacon

(e) water

Q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

A)I have a few group shows arranged for this year (a few in London and one in Munich) and I have two solo shows this year (one in London and one in Vienna) so I am working on a variety of projects.

Q) Do you listen to music while you’re painting and what do you like to listen to?

A)I almost always listen to music when I'm painting. I only stop listening when I'm absolutely fed up with my CDs and sick of the radio. I have a very wide variety of music from Nick Cave to Julie London, country music to rock.

Q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

A)Yes, although I don't look at other artists' work when I'm in the studio as I don't want to be influenced by them when I'm creating work. I won't listen to the radio when I'm concentrating as I find the adverts and news distracting. I'll listen to CDs instead to allow my mind to get lost in the music and the work. I read a lot of books before I start a project so I suppose I'm influenced by what I read in them.

Q)Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

A)Pure Gum (Portuguese) Turpentine from Atlantis art shop, oil paints and paper from Falkiners on Southampton Row in London.

Q) Where have you shown your art…?

A)Various galleries around the UK and one in Italy.

Q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

A)Have children.

Q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

A)Fairly important but artists shouldn't spend too much time on self-promotion, if possible. I'm very lucky as I have an agent who does it for me.

Q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

A)My work reflects my reactions to events and situations that I come across. I wonder about current obsessions and attitudes that I observe in the society I move in.

Q) Favourite book?

A)I'm not sure if these are my 'favourite' books but these are some of the books that I remember having been influenced by when I read them: 'The Little Prince' (Antoine de Saint-Exupery), 'The Stranger' (Albert Camus), 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck, and loads more - I am a book worm.

Q) Designers/Artists you admire?

A)Chris Ofili, Chantal Joffe, Pae White, Marlene Dumas, Rineke Dijkstra, and loads more.

Q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

A)www.anniekevans.com