Graham Fink at Riflemaker photo: Mark Westall
1 Have you always felt yourself an artist?
I remember at school that the Art lesson was the only one I really enjoyed (as well as Music). I also remember when I was about 10, entering a painting competition advertised on the back of a packet of Ready Brek. I won a Hot Wheel track and 50 cars. I also received a certificate telling me I could now put the initials R.B.A.C. after my name. Ready Brek Art Competition.
2. Can you tell us more about your work and what are the main ideas you would like to express?
The work is about exploration and discovery. The title of my show is called NOMADS which perfectly encapsulates the process and what I am.
The ‘faces’ I find on the streets, eroded walls, cracks in pavements and even in rubbish. They appear to me out of nothing. After hours of looking, my eye really tunes in and they begin to reveal themselves to me. I am creating my own reality. Sometimes they remind me of people in history, Rembrandt, Osama Bin Laden, Chairman Mao, Noel Coward. Others I have christened B.J. or The Scream.
The paintings and animation films are expressions of the ‘Nomadic line’, constantly searching until the faces appear. They are also about death.
The animation ends up destroying what it has created.
3. How do you start the process of making work?
The camera is always with me, so when a face reveals itself I’m ready to capture it. The printing onto marble is a very difficult process and I never print a ‘white’ layer, but rather allow the whiteness of the marble to play it’s part.
In the animations, I start by making many drawings, etched directly onto the emulsion of the film. The sound of the scratching is also important and it guides the direction of the lines. It takes many hundreds of hours to create the final piece. In this case over 2500 frames were individually ‘carved’.
4.Where did you find the marble you use in your work and why is it so special?
The marble comes from the quarries of Thassos. Which is the purest, whitest marble on earth. There are no veins in it, but has a wonderful sparkly quality to the stone. Thus giving a sculptural quality to the photographs.
5.Do you consider the viewer, when making your work?
Ansel Adam’s once said that in every photograph there are two people, the photographer and the viewer. I am always conscious of this. However what I find interesting with my ‘faces’ is that the viewer can sometimes see a different face to the one I am seeing. What’s exciting about this is that they too are on a voyage of discovery. I’ve had people tell me that after seeing my work they’ve started to see faces in walls and pavements. So the journey continues.
6.Name 3 artists that have inspired your work.
Norman McLaren, Andy Warhol, Frank Auerbach
7. What defines something as a work of art?
It depends on the context. But when i make a photograph or scratch a drawing I intuitively know when it is finished. How I know that I know is a mystery, and perhaps greater than the mind. But the observer ( or the Self) is absolute.
8. Why are you having this exhibition now?
I have been making art since I was a child and I finally had the courage to show it.
9.How did you get to work with Riflemaker ?
I always thought it was a very interesting gallery, with a different perspective. I have bought a number of works from there and got to know Virginia and Tot. I liked their attitude, eventually showing them some of my work. They were very encouraging. So it seemed the natural place to start.
10.What plans do you have to continue to pursue your art career in 2014 ?
I will continue to consult the pavement. And try to get the exhibition shown in other cities around the world. After all, NOMADS must travel.
NOMADS @Rifelmaker until 22nd January read more HERE
