If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
A Midwife
Can you tell us more about your work and what are the main ideas you would like to express?
My work is almost always about people, I take examples from people I know or have read or heard about and imagine their personal traits or struggles to be universal or at least extrapolate-able, which very often I think they are. I am particularly interested in the things that people try to hide or deny about themselves, the thoughts desires and fears that become charged by their unacceptability, the things that we hold closest to ourselves. For a long time I have been interested in repetitive cycles, where growth and subsequent self destruction are presented as inevitable; cyclical – very tied up with notions of sin and guilt. More recently, since I started painting really, I have afforded the subjects in my work more authority, they have become protagonists rather than puppets, but are still to a great extent governed by a pre-determined fate- the trap of their humanness. I use animals and animal skins in my work to reflect ideas of habit, lives that can not escape instinct, a thrumming force which dictates their paths through life, and at the same time frees them from shame and moral responsibility – all urges faithfully followed. In this way animals become signifiers of both the sanctity of our sentient repression and the ominous danger of our freedom. They recall our natures in a way that makes us feel uneasy, punctuating our complacency and reminding us of our peril.
How do you start the process of making work?
When I’m painting I usually take ideas from drawings. Where my drawings are fairly spontaneous, my paintings are highly staged; I need that process in order to find something that I think will sustain my interest, by having a raw and unmediated drawing that I can refer to, I can concentrate without losing my vision. I like the paintings to be very focused, and this can leave me feeling a bit cold when I’m making them, It really helps to have something that I find emotive to remind me what I’m doing.
Do you consider the viewer, when making your work?
Yes – too often. I wish I didn’t because I think its unproductive but I can’t help it. Its always great when I get really absorbed and loose that self consciousness, the work is definitely much better for it, but to get there I have to feel like the work is going well, to get excited about it, and sometimes that just doesn’t happen!
Name 3 artists that have inspired your work?
Nathalie Djurberg, Erwin Wurm, Paula Rego
What defines something as a work of art?
I think there needs to be intention, and some sort of process.
In times of austerity, do you think art has a moral obligation to respond topically?
No
Anytime, any place – which artist’s body would you most like to inhabit?
Beyonce? I’d say a painter but I never really think they’re having a good time.
What was the most intelligent thing that someone said or wrote about your work?
I can’t really answer this because I have a terrible memory, but my third year tutor Annie Whiles was always really insightful, I felt like she really understood what I was trying to do.
Which artists would you most like to rip off, sorry, I mean appropriate as a critique of originality and authorship?
Michael Borremans. He does contemporary existential painter very well.
Do you care what your art costs? State your reasons!
What it costs to make, or how much I sell it for? Its shocking how much painting costs, but I can justify it until I’m completely out of money. At the moment I don’t really think about my pricing (beyond what I can realistically sell for) because I need to make more work and pay my rent, but It does often occur to me how inflated the art market seems. If I get into a position where the basics are no longer an uncertainty then maybe I’ll do means tested pricing.
What’s next for you?
I’m not sure, I think I need to do lots of painting to make up for lost time at goldsmiths, and I’d like to go and work somewhere remote for a bit.
You can see Bee’s work at LondonNewcastle at The Catlin Award Show but hurry shuts tomorrow Sunday 26th May 2013
