Budding artist Anouk Mercier gives us a sneaky peek into her life as an artist - inspired by traditional artform thriving in a contemporary society.
Paris born and England raised, Anouk knew she wanted to be an artist from the age of two and a half when given her first sketch book.
‘Possibly not having a TV had something to do with it, we had reading and drawing to entertain ourselves. We were encouraged to be creative,’ she muses, ‘but I’ve had a sketch book ever since.’
Dipping into her Parisian roots she speaks fondly of The Beaux Arts, remembering a self-fulfilled prophecy: ‘When I was seven, I decided I would go to that school.’ After studying evening classes there for a year, she returned to England to acquire a BA Honours in Fine Art & Visual Culture from The University of West England.
The Recipient of the Innes Wilkin Art in Architechture Prize 2008, she’s now working full-time at two of the top Bristol Art Galleries, (Royal West of England Academy and Spike Island,) is preparing for her first international exhibition in Berlin; has joined the Plan 9 Artists Collective; runs a drawing club and, oh yeah, she’s also working on a 4m x 4m drawing, entirely created from intricate pencil markings. So how does she fit it all in?
‘I sometimes wish I did something more straight forward, but there never really was a decision to make when it came to art; I’ve always known it was what I wanted to do. I’ve never questioned it.’
What is the process that you use for these images, and what inspired the technique?
‘I was captured by an exhibition piece that used this form of printing, a process that combines an image, an old photocopier and a solvent called acetone, and I was also inspired by interior decoration, particularly
the 17th Century Dutch house,s with seasonal landscapes painted on the walls and Romanticism more generally.’
These works fuse mark-making and styles that contrast both temporally and contextually. She collages vogue models onto intricate pencil markings of rural, romantic landscapes. Captivated by classic religious and romantic paintings, and of the picturesquely composed photo-shoots of Vogue, Anouk unites them all with a common theme: Narrative.
‘I realised that it was the theatrical element of both the romantic and religious paintings and the Vogue pages that evoked a sense of storytelling, or a scene in a drama; a freeze frame or tableau. There are three consistent components in my works: the women, the landscapes and the mark-making. They act as narrative prompts to ignite the spectator’s imagination to formulate ideas of narrative inspired by books, mythology, fairytales and theatre.’
What is your vision for the future, if you could design the stones that paved the way ahead?
‘I plan to travel with art, starting with a residency in Berlin. I would like to be living off my art. To be living off commission; that’s where I want to be.’
What are your opinions, as a fine artist, and as a curator, on conceptual art?
‘A good conceptual art piece should still somehow grab you, because it requires more effort from the spectator. It is selling a concept, but it still has to sell itself. I think if a person tries to understand it, it is successful. In a way all art is conceptual; it all stems from an idea.’
I ponder the ‘obsessive detail’ in her mark-making, (her words, not mine,) and marvel at the patience and devotion such a result must demand. She laughs and replies, ‘my work
must use up all my patience because I’m impatient in every other aspect of my life! People do art for different reasons, which is reflected in the piece. I draw mostly because it allows me to switch off; it’s a release.’
Perhaps that escapism is what is reflected through Anouk’s work – in the landscapes and the narratives, the amalgamation of contemporary, urban fashion, with classical, timeless pastoral scenes - depicting a theatrical tableau, for us spectators to release ourselves into the depths of her drawings and interpret in them our own story.
You can see Anouk’s latest work at the Plan 9 Art Space in Bristol on 13th November.
Visit Anouk’s Profile Page for contact details, website links and a summary of featured articles on Fallyrag.
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on digg
Share on Delicious
Share on Reddit
Share on StumbleUpon
Share on Blogger
Share on MySpace