"I like using trashy art, vintage photos and old book covers as canvases for my paintings. For example I pick up kitsch landscape paintings at flea markets, old, dusty and unwanted. The motifs may be sentimental and unoriginal, yet the painting techniques and styles can be really beautiful. Even though these old landscapes are nicely made and have their own beauty, to me they still lack something. So they become the framed backdrops of scenes to where I can add my characters and tell unwritten stories. I breathe new life into this art and in a way I'm paying tribute to the forgotten artist. I will admit that it’s quite exciting to do the forbidden: to alter someone else’s work in a very one-sided ‘collaboration’. However my intention is not to provoke or offend in doing so. It could be seen as ruining the originals but, in my own head at least, I give them new meaning and make them even more beautiful.
Like a lot of pop surrealistic painting, my work is mostly character based. I'm working towards finding a naive, direct expression which anyone can absorb. I dislike elitist art and sterile galleries where visitors are made to feel diminished or ignorant. I want to make art that is directly accessible to anyone, regardless of background or age. To me, character art is just that. Just as graffiti does not have to be limited to the street, characters need not be limited to kids’ products. Characters are a means of expression and can be used to deal with any issue, whether it's dark and complex, or sugary sweet."
In the studio with Emmy Lincoln aka ItchySoul
Little Finger
Free paper publication for contemporary visual art, culture and nonsense
Issue no. 5, March 2014