#curwenstudio

[englishmodernism]

Three Forms Assembling. Barbara Hepworth. 1968 lithograph. Perhaps an overlooked side of her work. #barbarahepworth #lithography #curwenstudio #threeforms

[thecurwenstudio-blog]

Getting to know new Curwen artist EMMA TALBOT.

We interviewed Emma to find out more about her life and work:

‘Dream’ signed original lithograph by Emma Talbot

-Tell us about ‘Dream’,

ET- This print is based on the altered state of dreaming, a figure lying in bed is simultaneously climbing through a window into an overgrown world. Surprising marks appeared during the making of the print where the touche is added to layers of colour, making some beautiful colour transformations .

- How important is printmaking to you?

ET- I find the processes of printmaking really suitable for my work. The different qualities that can be achieved add a great deal of interest for me, in terms of how my images are realised. Printmaking offers so many possibilities and variations, it has opened my work up even further.

-Your figures are often featureless, what is the significance of that?

ET- I'm often trying to capture the way I think visually, remembering scenes and scenarios I have actually experienced  or imagined (in ideation based on reading or anecdote or by dreaming). Often, in the mind's eye, the features of the figure are far less important than gesture or details of place and setting and so this is what I concentrate on.

The scenarios I depict are not exclusively unique to me, they are part of the contemporary experience of being alive. I like the idea that the figures, being faceless, could be anyone, like a well known role which is played by different actors. When we speak of our private lives, we often find a common understanding and I like the fact that something personal can become more universal and easily read by others.

- Text often features in your work, could you tell us a little about the appeal of merging word and image?

ET- There is little difference between writing and making images for me, both convey messages and ideas. The text is painted just as much as the words and I like to combine both without a sense of hierarchy.

- Do you use your own words or quotes?

ET- Both - my work is a space where all different things can come together, my own voice and my voice reading others.

- How would you sum up what you are trying to achieve as an artist?

ET-I'm trying to articulate what it's like to be me, alive today. I'm trying to capture the kinds of thoughts that are in my head.

(see the first part of the answer about featureless faces above)

- What do you take inspiration from?

ET- Japanese Prints, Indian and Persian miniatures, Textiles, handcrafts, woven carpets, song lyrics and writers such as Helene Cixous, Anais Nin, Paul Ricoeur and Pablo Neruda.

-Which artists do you most admire?

ET- Sassetta, Thomas Hirschhorn, Harun Farocki, Henri Rousseau, Louise Bourgeois

- Did you always want to be an artist?

ET- Yes, always.

‘Dream’ is available to order at www.thecurwenstudio.co.uk

Emma currently has a solo show @FreudMusLondon- where you can see ‘Dream’ in the flesh, find out more about it here 

Hand-embellished silk panels from ‘Unravel These Knots’ show at the Freud Museum.