OLIVER AKERS DOUGLAS

GEORGIA FIENNES

ANDREW GRAVES

KATE SEMPLE

 

Tuesday 5 December – Wednesday 20 December 2023

 
Introducing a quarterly online series that will feature interviews and new works by four gallery artists made especially for each edition. This December, the first edition launches with new paintings by Oliver Akers Douglas, Andrew Graves, and Georgia Fiennes, as well as ceramics by Kate Semple. 
 
Explore their new work and find out more about the artists in their own words below.

  • OLIVER AKERS DOUGLAS
  • SPOTLIGHT Q&A

    Oliver Akers Douglas at work on North Beach. © The Artist.

    SPOTLIGHT Q&A

    EASTWOOD FINE ART: You are primarily self-taught – having studied English Literature, followed by a short period spent at Camberwell College of Arts – are there specific experiences or interests that have informed the development of your practice? 
     
    OLIVER AKERS DOUGLAS: From as far back as I can remember I always wanted to paint. I have always been happiest when lost in a solitary creative zone. Particularly outside. I painted non-stop through my teenage years at school, inspired by teachers and strong friendships with other schoolboy artists. This was my first glimpse of the intoxicating excitement of a creative life.
     
    After school, I actually studied at Camberwell first, and being disillusioned with formal art education, I then reverted to an academic degree in Literature. I was still painting throughout the several years I was studying and consequently while working as a journalist in London. It soon became abundantly clear that I was suited neither to office life nor a career as a writer. It was too static and self conscious for my temperament. So in 1999, I rented a studio in Peckham, and remember distinctly the renewed feeling of optimism I enjoyed every time I woke on a painting day.

     

    Read the full interview

  • GEORGIA FIENNES
  • SPOTLIGHT Q&A
    Georgia Fiennes's studio, 2023. © The Artist.

    SPOTLIGHT Q&A

    EASTWOOD FINE ART: Your work draws on the traditional genres of still life and depictions of the natural world to create vibrant and playful settings, could you tell us about your sources of inspiration? 

    GEORGIA FIENNES: I studied Fine Art in Boston. Art schools in America use fairly traditional teaching methods similar to the ones used in Florence with long days of drawing, painting, and sculpting from life; learning to really look and see. I then came back to finish my degree in the UK where much more conceptual teaching techniques were employed. It was then that I learned to apply and adapt. I wanted to create realistic paintings of visually legible scenes and images that equally allow the viewer room to question their pairings and settings.

     

    Over the last 25 years, I have sought inspiration from so many different places – these have varied as my life has evolved but I have frequently returned to the same sources: animals, china, lighting, textiles, interiors, and nature. The first questions I am always asked are where do you find your inspiration and why the animals? I regularly use antique prints of flora and fauna as a jumping-off point, but I think we are so visually overstimulated these days that it’s not a case of where to find the inspiration (because it is everywhere) but more a case of how to condense it to create something meaningful and beautiful. As for the animals – they give my paintings soul, a way of conveying personality and feeling. I don’t like the emptiness without them.

     

  • ANDREW GRAVES
  • SPOTLIGHT Q&A
    Andrew Graves's studio, 2023. © The Artist.

    SPOTLIGHT Q&A

    EASTWOOD FINE ART: Within your practice, you have developed a distinct abstract language that layers vibrant colour and nebulous form. Can you tell us about your process and approach?
     
    ANDREW GRAVES: Yes, I’m keen on the idea of something being nebulous, the forms in my work have a kind of handmade geometry, they are also roomy. I use patterns to stitch ideas together, to engage the viewer and allow them to become aware of the painting process and decision-making. The complexities of creating a composition are evident. The colour also speaks on a different level, an emotional one that has a subjective reach to the viewer. Both elements are playful and open, yet also maintain an element of doubt which makes them human and connectable.
     

  • KATE SEMPLE
    • Kate Semple, Fabian
      Kate Semple, Fabian
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    • Kate Semple, Marcel
      Kate Semple, Marcel
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  • SPOTLIGHT Q&A
    Kate Semple, Fabian [left] and Marcel [right], both 2023. © The Artist.

    SPOTLIGHT Q&A

    EASTWOOD FINE ART: Your ceramics take everyday vessels and transform them into beautiful objects for contemplation, could you tell us about your practice and how you first began working in ceramic? 

    KATE SEMPLE: I grew up in South Yorkshire. Mum was an antique dealer specialising in vintage ceramics. Beautifully formed vessels adorned with painterly brushstrokes filled our family home, from Beswick to Clarice Cliff; each piece had a price sticker underneath and they would come and go. Dad was an engineer who in his spare time would tinker in his handbuilt workshop, turning felled wood into beautiful vessels for his loved ones.

     

    I took Ceramics O level whilst at Doncaster Art College studying Fine Art Foundation 1987. This is where my curiosity in ceramics began. Throughout my life, I have regularly taken part in ceramics evening classes, though it wasn’t until the start of the pandemic that I began handbuilding with clay at home. I lost my father at the start of this time and cared for Mum who died a year later. During this period clay became a focus and distraction, a place to channel positivity whilst navigating such difficult times. I feel this is why my work bears soulful and emotive registers. I'm not looking for perfection – my work is responsive and energetic. I work standing, which I think helps to imbue my pieces with energy and individualism. To encourage a sense of uniformity I will often work on more than one piece at a time, as with these candlesticks. This also helps to consolidate their forms whilst I'm building. 

     

    Read the full interview