Exploring the artistic journey of Amy Steel : a fusion of tradition and innovation.
“Out of thin air” by Amy Steel, a show to see before march 2th at Bim Bam Gallery Paris.
Can you share the inspiration behind your focus on female sexuality and ecopolitics in your art ?
I see female sexuality and eco politics as interconnected. I am looking for ways to explore female sexuality as something that is multiple, open, and sensuous.
I would like my paintings to be suggestive of a way to experience the world differently, framing sensuality as being the connective tissue between things.
So many of our current structures value domination and control which is a huge problem for the survival of the natural world. My paintings reshape worlds, animals and women commune with one another through a language that is rooted in bodily experience and sensuous perceptions.
How do you see the role of nature as a transformative space for women, as reflected in your work ?
I see the landscape as the central character in my paintings. Nature is a place of huge transformation, acts of creation, destruction and procreation abound. The landscapes are always in flux creating the space for the women in the paintings to be living similarly; never fixed and in a constant cycle of rebirth.
How do you approach the intersection of painting and performance in your work ?
My practice is rooted in painting, but I am also interested in the intersection between painting and performance, for me they feed each other. My performances operate similarly to painting in that there is a specific viewing position, and I am often thinking about the performance as a surface.
There is also a lot of performativity within the paintings, my identical twin sister models for me, allowing me to be both in and out of the paintings. A doubling takes place, I become her in the context of the painting.
What influence has your education at the Slade School of Fine Art and Goldsmiths University of London had on your artistic practice ?
When I was studying for my undergraduate degree at Goldsmiths University I wasn’t painting, instead I was making live performances and videos.
At Goldsmiths the emphasis was on the conversation the work generated. Studying there taught me how to engage with a very broad range of art and gave me a rigorous education in critical discourse. It may have changed but at the time it felt like there was a lot of fear in the building, students were scared to share work they weren’t sure how to talk about.
It wasn’t until my postgraduate at the Slade School of Fine Art that I began painting. A tutor encouraged me to paint after seeing a couple of watercolours that I had made. It was like falling in love, I was completely and still am besotted with painting.
The Slade was a very nurturing environment, and I am so grateful for the time I had there. The environment encouraged students to take risks, to be vulnerable and to make art that felt like an expression of them.
How do you want your audience to feel when they experience your art ?
I would love for the viewer to experience a feeling of freedom when looking at my paintings. But ultimately, I am happy for people to engage with them in whatever way feels accessible to them in that moment.
Could you discuss a particular piece of art that you feel particularly embodies your message or artistic vision ?
“October” was one of the first paintings I made for the show “Out of Thin Air” at Bim Bam Gallery. In the painting the relationship between the flamingo and the woman is ambiguous: is she pulling her underwear down or hoisting it up? Everything in the painting shares the same colour palette, the pinks radiate out from the landscape suggesting that there is no border between one thing and another, they are all interconnected.
What challenges have you faced in conveying complex themes like ecopolitics through visual art ?
One of the challenges in conveying complex themes such as eco politics in my paintings is that the themes come across through a feeling rather than a descriptive ‘message’. They unfold over time and through longer looking.
Can you talk about any upcoming projects or directions you're exploring in your art ?
My next project is with Sapling Gallery. The Gallery recently relocated from London to Los Angeles. My paintings are going to be shown inside a modernist house that was built in the 50’s. The architect had a vision to imbue the home with a sensual design and bring the feeling of outside inside. I am looking forward to seeing how the paintings will feel in a very different context to how I usually see them.
Finally, what advice would you give to young artists who are inspired by themes similar to those in your work ?
Advice is always something tricky to give, there are so many ways to do anything. The only advice I can give to emerging artists is find and stay true to their own voice, by voice I don’t mean ‘style’ I mean an essence as to who they are as a person and how to bring that into the work and share it.
Photographie de l’exposition par Nicolas Brasseur
