Like many artists, Sarah-Jane Szikora knew that she would be an artist from a very young age. Un-like many artists, Szikora discovered this whilst in a hospital bed, with her eyes bandaged. Yet, there she sat, crayon clutched in hand, drawing pictures nonetheless.

Home Sweet Home by Sarah-Jane Szikora

Following her studies at the Northern art colleges, specialising in illustration, Szikora embarked on a minor business venture making 3D sculptures. In 1993 she climbed to the next rung on the ladder, in the shape of working full time on her art. Several years and dozens of side-tickling works later, Szikora’s career is soaring like a fat man’s blood pressure - just looking at one of her paintings is enough to give you a sugar rush.

Sarah-Jane’s distinctive style reminds me of eating sugar cubes from the bowls in posh tearooms; you know it’s cheeky, but it’s also very satisfying. Szikora’s regular characters include the edible gingerbread men, the skinny people and her fat ladies with pinprick heads. She mingles themes of sweets and confectionary and creates visual puns out of everyday expressions, which you simply can’t resist smiling at.

Her characters are as famous as she is – celebrities of the art world; her Gingerbread men and Ladies Wot Lunch have had their faces splashed across the media – from hardback books, sculptures and Royal Worcester ceramic ware, to jigsaw puzzles and even stationery sets. I wouldn’t be surprised if these much-adored characters were soon exhibiting their own clothing lines, dolls, and a perfume range.

I put a few questions to the artist herself, to investigate what was underneath the sugarcoating:

How would you describe your work method?

It all begins with the idea….when I’ve turned that round in my head for long enough (I don’t sit in a studio doing this…it is just a 24/7 thing and always lurking around in the mind somewhere) I will then do a little scribble or two, very rough just to make sure a composition will work, and then I’m straight into a canvas.  I paint in oils and take anywhere between 1 week and 1 month to complete most pieces.  I work from an attic studio at the top of my house…I love radio 4 and so long as I have a steady stream of coffee, will happily do very long days this way.

Ladies Wot Lunch by Sarah-Jane Szikora

Where do your ideas stem from?

Anywhere and everywhere – people and human behaviour are what interest me. Food plays such a large role in my work simply because we need it - our reactions and responses to it are quite fascinating. Humour is equally important to me. Life is hard and where would we be in this world if we couldn’t see the funny side of it?  

Which other artists have inspired you or your work?

Too many to mention, but if pushed my top list would be: Picasso, Lowry, Stanley Spencer, Degas, Bonnard, Rousseau and Michael Sowa

What response do you wish to incite with your art?

Warmth.  Human connection.  I am not interested in the shock value of conceptual art…I like a little dollop of irreverence, but the world has seen enough misery without Tracy Emin’s dirty knickers thrown in.

It seems that many artists sit upon the darkness and insecurities that pervade our consciousness and then translate them into art. Szikora, on the other hand, uses clever concepts and humour to flip these everyday trials upside down and gives us a generous dollop of light relief.  She openly admits to battling bulimia in her early adult life, which gives an interesting insight into her fascination with the human relationship with food, as well as the need to mock our obsession with our body shape – hence the distorted figures of her characters. Whilst many people take nothing constructive from bad experiences, Szikora takes a more philosophical approach to life:

The world doesn’t owe you happiness; you must earn it. Get on that journey of self-discovery and change something.  Art helped me to be happy, so hopefully by offering my results, I can pass a little bit of that on.

What is your most ludicrous ambition?  

I would love to preside over my own confectionary empire…a sort of Willy Wonka gallery with the finest sweeties and chocolate available and where people can come and indulge in pure escapism.

If that ambition is ever actualised, you will find me skulking around the chocolate menagerie, waiting to pounce on Lindt’s life-size rabbit. Szikora’s refreshing and uplifting paintings are both cheeky and witty, cunningly and skilfully executed, and utterly as addictive as the sweets she creates on canvas. To see more of her work why not visit her website: http://www.sarah-janeszikora.com/