Since earning her BA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 2023, Florine Imo has captivated audiences with numerous solo and group exhibitions across Europe and the United States. In her latest show, As Light as a Feather, Imo delves into contemporary female identities through the lens of reimagined angels. By challenging societal norms, she invites viewers to appreciate the beauty found in imperfection and vulnerability.
Imo’s work intricately examines morality and righteousness, presenting angels as complex and multi-faceted beings rather than simplistic icons of virtue. In this exhibition, Imo draws deeply from her relationship with her artist boyfriend, Fabian Ramírez, weaving themes of love, sacrifice, struggle, and healing throughout her narratives. With As Light as a Feather, Imo not only redefines traditional perceptions but also offers a profound, introspective journey for viewers to engage with.
Chard Adio: We first met in London about two years ago, when you were doing a residency, and since then, you’ve done many shows and residencies across the world. But one thing I’ve noticed is how often you come back to London for either solo shows, group shows or residences. So my first question is, what keeps you coming back to this city, and how has it influenced you and your practice?
Florine Imo: I find London to be an interesting place, it’s different from Vienna. When I was in art school back in Vienna, things felt like a bubble. As an artist studying there, you only know what’s happening in the city. Vienna is also a traditional place, and this is reflected in its art scene which is sort of stuck in this pre-contemporary era. So when you’re a Viennese artist who is now in London, things all of a sudden feel different. The art scene is more vibrant, and your work is taken more seriously by people. Whenever I am here, I feel this immense love and appreciation—the people here are so kind, and I feel inspired. So that’s what brings me back: the possibilities, and the appreciation I get from this city’s artists, collectors and curators. But it would be naive of me if I didn’t mention London’s problems because everything isn’t so rosy in this city. For example, there’s a cost-of-living crisis and the price of rent is incredibly high. These ongoing problems are just not conducive to an emerging artist who is fully based here. But artistically as a whole, I see London as a place where I feel challenged and a place where I can grow. In terms of my practice, London was where I did all the works for this show. It’s fascinating because this show is about portraying the holiness, innocence and purity of angels, and coincidently I made the works in a church in Angel, so that was symbolic.
CA: You’ve mentioned the word already, and it’s “angels”. They keep appearing in your work and this show too. The first time I saw them appear in the work was when you were in Los Angeles, and ironically that city is known as the “City of Angels”. So how did these angels come about, was it during LA or before LA?
FI: So my works are made in series, and in every series I respond to what was done before. Earlier in my career as an artist, when I was exploring this idea of femininity and its aspects, the work was labelled as “girly”, and my response to that was to make the work even more “girly”. So I did this show with Steve Turner last year, and I had this idea of showing these different goddesses from different elements. There was a goddess of fire, water, light, and the sky, and the goddess of the sky was this figure with wings. I was captivated by this sky goddess, and I suddenly felt this urge to explore the idea even more, so I kept the angel wings. I think angels are a fascinating topic to explore because within pop culture they are seen as such a controversial figure, they are so synonymous with this idea of purity. So that was the starting point, the initial angel painting was made in LA, but the concept of it, and what it could represent was already seeded before I arrived in LA.
CA: And how does the theme of the angel fit into the narrative of this particular show?
FI: For this show, I am still using the angel to explore the idea of femininity. But beyond the angel itself, I am also using its wings to have this dialogue about the need for femininity to be this pure and beautiful entity. The angel wings allow me to raise questions such as, what is beauty, and what burdens come with it? The show is called As Light as a Feather because feathers are perceived as light, but in this case, they are heavy, and represent the burdens women must carry, and the pressures they face from society. Within society women are expected to fit into this mould, we can’t stray away from this standard, or else we are labelled with all sorts of names. So the work is a depiction of individuals dealing with those burdens, but also this resilience they must portray to wider society.
CA: And did you incorporate any ideas we haven’t seen before for this show?
FI: Something that I haven’t done in a while but did for this show is reintroduce the male figure. This show is also about exploring topics such as loss and relationships. So if I am going to explore those topics authentically, it’s only right I take inspiration from my relationship with my boyfriend. By using my relationship, it allows me to delve into those areas, and examine concepts such as selflessness within a romantic relationship, and love without pain. I think with this particular show, the works have felt more personal, and have involved me looking deep within myself and examining the many facets of my life.
CA: A vast proportion of the work in this show are self-portraits, the figures are based on you
FI: The figures are indeed based on me, but this was done unconsciously. When I think about the outcome of this, it’s actually allowed me to express myself more authentically. If I was to put someone else, then it wouldn’t be authentic to the discourse I was trying to create in the work. Also, by me being the central figure there’s this relatability and credibility to the emotions I am conveying to the viewer, it’s more genuine when you see the emotions depicted by the person behind the work and their state of mind when they were creating that piece. So these figures are all me, but they can also be you as well, because we all have these emotions which fundamentally make us human.
CA: Let’s talk about your colour palette for this show. In previous works, you’ve tended to choose a brighter colour palette, but for this show, there’s a shift in tone, it’s much darker.
FI: With this show there a more dramatic and serious compositions, and I think the colour palette needs to reflect that. Whenever I did a “dramatic” or “serious” painting I would lure viewers in with this bright colour palette, and they would assume the painting had this airy meaning. After delving deeper into the work, viewers would all of a sudden have this change in perception. I didn’t want to do that this time; I didn’t want to play this game of hide-and-seek with the viewer using my colour palette, I wanted to be as straightforward as possible. With this shift in tone, I am almost telling the viewer, “You know what the painting is about, and what you are going to feel from it”. Also, not everything is truly dark in the paintings. In some of them, the figures are radiating this light, and are surrounded by this dark background. I think such a contrast works to the piece’s advantage because your eyes are immediately drawn to the figures.
CA: Two of my favourite works from this show are Pierced Hearts, True Love and Visiting My Own Grave. How did those pieces come about?
Pierced Hearts, True Love, is about my boyfriend and I being angels and descending through the sky in a place devoid of time. This piece talks about the idea of love existing with pain and vice versa. It’s about falling deeply in love and suddenly entering this state of deep connection and commitment, but also facing the inevitability of pain in such a relationship. It was an interesting concept to explore because there’s a beauty to this type of pain, it is what makes the idea of a romantic relationship so beautiful and such a human thing, we are vulnerable in those situations, but it is this vulnerability which I feel is our greatest asset and strength. In terms of Visiting My Own Grave, this painting is about feeling liberated and free when reflecting on past memories. The stone figure represents the past, and acts as a footnote of it, while the figure on the left represents the present acknowledging the past and feeling this sense of liberation from it.
CA: One exciting thing about this show is you have transformed the gallery. We have a reflective floor, and ceramic angel feathers hanging from the ceiling. How did this come about? Because this isn’t your first time doing something like this. You did Warrior of My Sky Realm, an installation piece for a previous solo show, and you did another installation for your degree show at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
HI: There was this strong desire to create an installation piece for this show. With all the concepts I am exploring it just felt right. Because the show is about the purity of femininity and these idealised portrayals of beauty. So why not transform the space to reflect those ideas? So when you enter the gallery you are transported into this heavenly realm, but then, you are met with this juxtaposition with the paintings being so dark and dramatic. These paintings were done in London early this year in a church, and it was cold around that time. The works were imbued with this dark and heavy energy, so there needed to be this counterweight; I needed this shiny, almost angelic-like space to effectively present my message.
CA: And with all that has been said, what do you want to impart to viewers after they have engaged with the work?
HI: I want to raise questions about righteousness and innocence, and really grapple with this idea of what people think an angel should be, and what femininity should be in our society. The characters I introduce in my work will always be used to examine femininity, and critique society’s understanding of it. The angels will always be a helpful tool because I can talk about those things and more such as religion and how it interacts with femininity—there’s lots of storytelling that can be done with them. But as a whole, I don’t want to put anyone in a position where they have to leave feeling a certain way—I think everyone is entitled to react the way they want to. I think my point with this show is to tell people to just accept things for how they are.
Florine Imo ‘As Light as a Feather’ 7th June – 6th July 2024, lbf contemporary
