Image: Video Killed the Radio Star Lauren Mortimer
1 If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
I’ve got a degree in Fashion Communication with Promotion, so I would most probably be working as a stylist had I not chosen to go back to my first love of drawing. There isn’t anything else I would have wanted to do.
2 What was the most intelligent thing that someone said or wrote about your work?
I was trying to teach a little girl aged 7 how to draw. To which she responded, “You’re really good at drawing, you should be an artist”.
I replied, “I am!”
“How come you’re not rich and famous then?”
Children are very literal, and it made me laugh. They can be be quite intelligent.
3 Do you care what your art costs? State your reasons!
The pencil is primarily my best friend. Thankfully pencils don’t cost that much. But, if they did, I would still pay a lot of money for them, as I think it would be worth it. So I think on some level, no, I don’t care what my art costs.
But maybe I would change my mind if the price of graphite did suddenly rocket! Having said that, I think that you must be able to make money from your art, as well as doing it for the love, so it’s better if you are able to keep the costs down as much as possible.
4 What are the three big ideas that you would like your work to express?
The first is contrasting the innocent and idyllic world of childhood with reality. By doing this, I create charming drawings which have a subtle darkness. My work is also becoming increasingly narrative, so I want it to be able to tell a story, and the viewer can interpret that story in their own unique way. It is important to me that the viewers own imagination gets activated, where my imagery and their translation can bring a brand new meaning to the work, unique in that moment of time.
5 How do you start the process of making work?
The first thing is you have to be inspired. Sometimes there are too many ideas and I can’t try them all out, but then sometimes they don’t work and I’ll have to move on to something else. Once my ideas are in place, I often use a range of new and vintage photographs as references, collating and reworking them to create a unique image of my own.
6 What’s next for you?
I am trying to gradually build up a name for myself, and with everything that I do I think that I am constantly learning. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. I have just been received online representation by Degreeart.com, so I hope to gain more clients from that. I am also about to self-publish a children’s book that I have illustrated. It was a collaboration I did a writer friend. Working with other people excites me.
7 What can we expect to see on your stall at Artsmart?
You can expect to see limited edition prints of my artwork, as well as greetings cards and screen printed notebooks.
Image:Aim, Fire! Lauren Mortimer
You can see and buy Lauren Mortimer limited edition prints etc at ArtSmart Friday/Saturday 1/2 July 2011
