Louise Blyton - Artist
Louise Blyton is a Melbourne based artist whose exhibition ‘Cloak’ is about to open at Dianne Tanzer Gallery, Melbourne ( http://www.diannetanzergallery.net.au/ )
A professional exhibiting artist for 20 years, Louise’s life is thoroughly immersed in the arts – she owns and runs St Luke Artist Colourmen one of Melbourne’s best Art Supplies stores where she interacts with and provides technical advice to other artists on an almost daily basis. Louise is also married to fellow artist and manufacturer of the Langridge range of products, David Coles.
In her new show, “Cloak” Louise tackles the hard stuff. A dark and contemplative exhibition of sculptures and large paintings that emote truth and beauty. Large angular linen covered forms are enveloped by vast areas of the deepest velvet black pigment.
Fragile yet imposing these forms rise sharply from the floor casting and projecting their shadows in ever shifting compositions. ”Cloak” is architecturally menacing, cutting and mysterious; the space it inhabits imposes silence and reflection.
Amanda van Gils recently caught up with Louise to talk about her work and some of her thoughts on being an artist.
How long have you been making art?
I feel I always have, but as a professional exhibiting artist it has been about 20 years.
What are you currently working on?
I have been working on an exhibition titled ‘Cloak’ which will be opening at Dianne Tanzer gallery in Melbourne on the 1st August. It is a site specific exhibition, which is my preferred way of working.
You work with pigment on shaped supports- do you define your work as sculpture, painting or something else?
At the moment I would say definitely sculpture, even the works I do on traditional supports I see as flattened out sculptures.
Could you tell us about the ideas you are exploring through your work?
I guess I’m pretty old school in that it’s all about composition, colour and the materials. The physical considerations of shadows shifting from plane to plane depending on the light, though even when the gallery lights are off it should still be art.
I have an aesthetic that demands that colour, form and material be fused, and an aesthetic that seeks out balance and beauty. I am aiming for a distilled essence of beauty.
Working with the 3 dimensional forms allows for a mysterious interaction between the artwork and space around it, where the space around the work is just as important.
Words like contemplation, calmness and harmony inform my work
I believe that it’s arts job to take you to a different level. This quote from Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1) really resonates for me:
“An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them.”
How important is clarity of concept to you prior to starting the artwork?
I absolutely must have clarity before I start. I would love to be one of those artists that can just go into the studio and muck around. Most of the work is done in my head, I must have a clear “vision” before I get into the studio, and then it’s full steam ahead!
What about the role of titles with your work, some hate them others revel in them, what about you?
Titles were very important to my work when it became more minimal. I have always used very poetic titles; I used them as a window for people to enter the work. I don’t feel I need the titles as much now on single works, maybe it’s a growing confidence in the belief of what I’m doing. Titling an exhibition is still important that it conjures some contemplation though.
How important do you think craftsmanship is to artistic creation?
It’s essential; you just can’t do one without the other.
What caused you to choose the medium you currently work in?
I love the idea of stripping the medium back to the pure raw materials- dry ground pigment on unprimed linen, you can’t get anything that is so unaltered, so true.
If took a lot of work to get the affect I was after, a lot of messy experiments and getting to know the different pigments as they all have different personalities and behave in different ways.
Though the materials I work with are romantic the application is not- I work in a plastic bubble with many facemasks, 100’s of gloves and lots of fixative!
Can you step us through the process for this current body of work?
I used an aluminum based product as support and had it cut to shape.
It is fairly pliable so I was able to bend it to the desired angles myself.
The front and back of the support is covered in linen. Because I leave areas bare in the finished work I mask those areas to protect them.
The coloured areas are raw pigment, which is applied over many layers, really pushing the pigment into the surface and fixing between layers. It’s actually a very physical process.
Once the pigment is applied and fixed, the last step is to cover the edges in linen.
Have your artistic influences altered over time?
Strangely no, when I look back over the years there has always been a strong thread in my work. It all comes back around but I feel that it gets stronger and clearer as I grow as an artist.
Working towards an exhibition, is it a daunting task?
My work has always been site specific so I work to deadlines, which can be daunting especially when you want to push it bigger and better. The space always dictates the work. I find having deadlines really helps me to focus.
Running an art shop, creating your own work and exhibiting (2 solos this year) must require some pretty impressive time management. Do you have any tricks or techniques to make sure you get everything done?
Once the vision and deadline are in place there is no stopping me!
I’m very lucky to be surrounded by art materials and artist’s every day and that inspires me greatly. I have wonderfully supportive friends, staff and husband who cheer me on when I need it.
When you have a true love of what you do there is always time to work and play, you just have to embrace it!
You undertook a residency at Red Gate studios in Beijing a couple of years ago. How did the residency impact how you thought about or created your work?
I didn’t realize the impact it would have! Beijing is a great place to work. I really put my head down and worked through things that would have taken longer here- it was a good time to explore work and take risks that I may not have done back in Melbourne. Making work that I didn’t think would be seen was very liberating and allowed me to more easily head off on a different tangent. That time made me question if I was pushing the work enough, the art was already coming out and off the walls but what was the next step.
If someone says to you “Oh your work is decorative and lacks any meaning…” your response would be…?
These people are not my audience and I don’t feel the need to spoon- feed them into “getting it”. I don’t believe that is my role as an artist. No artist desires to prove anything. I am privileged to interact with a wide variety of artists on a daily basis and I see enough to know that there are all sorts of audiences who respond to different work; I believe there is an audience that understands my work.
One thing you wish you had listened to from an art teacher or lecturer?
Once when I was having an “art student meltdown” Ruth Johnson said to me, “Louise, do the work, the career will follow.” The thing I have always remembered is, the work is what counts first, you can’t have a career without it!
What do you love/hate about being an artist?
I feel extremely privileged. I do tend to think of it being a calling and to be taken quite seriously. It’s a hard road to go down but when you can realize your vision it is an amazing feeling.
The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim
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Compiled and edited by Amanda van Gils © 2009+
Comments
7 Responses to “Louise Blyton - Artist”
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Great interview Louise and Amanda, wish I could see these in the flesh and walk around them, have a great show.
I agree with Simon and wish I could see them in the gallery
Very structured approach, unlike the others I will be there.
Good interview. Everyone should see this show. I’ll be OS so unfortunately will miss the opening. Feel sure it will be a great show!
Great show Louise, you should be very pleased with the end result and the way it presented in the gallery, well done!
Wonderful interview Louise!
Can’t wait to see the show!
Christine x
A really lovely, honest interview. Some of it really struck a chord, especially the mention of art being a calling, and there being no career without the work.
Wish I could be there to see the show but won’t be back from Rome until October…!
All the very best - I’m sure it will be amazing,
Kim