Welcome to the 283rd episode of A View from the Easel, a series in which artists reflect on their workspace. This week, artists savor the limits of their studios and find the clarity of sunlight passing through the window.
Do you want to participate? Discover our Submission directives And share a bit on your studio with us through us This form! All mediums and workspaces are welcome, including your home studio.
There is a judgeliLong Island, New York
How long have you been working in this space?
Three months.
Describe an average day in your studio.
An average day in the studio begins at the end of the afternoon. I am not really a person in the morning, and I need a good time after having woken up before I can be productive. When I arrive in the studio, I generally sit for a while, look at the fabrics and I gradually put in work. Once I decided to start, I'm just starting. I often listen to music, podcasts, work in silence or even conversation on the phone with friends; Oddly, it helps me to move away from the constant flow of thoughts that run in my mind, which ultimately benefits from work. I see painting as a meditative state, and creating this mental distance helps me to enter it in more detail.
How does space affect your work?
I don't know exactly how it affects the work, but I know that space has a big impact. This is why, even if I like my original studio, I am very open to travel and paint in different spaces. I spent the last three months at Long Island, working in Amy Sillman's studio. It was definitely difficult at first, but in the end, I think it helped me to break – at least that's how I see it.
How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?
I am influenced by everything with which I interact, in particular the architecture, the textures, the colors of the city in which I am, the energy and the story of a place. These things settle quietly, like dust, whether I am aware or not.
What do you like in your studio?
What struck me in this particular studio is its comfort – is not a typical studio space. He has his own character. You are not content to enter and take it in place … You must mold yourself, you mix. He asks for something specific to you. You are part of the rhythm of the studio, and in this negotiation, something moves in the work.
What do you want to be different?
At first, I wanted white walls, something familiar. This is generally how I work: right, clean, organized. But in this space, the walls would not allow it. So I painted on the floor, leaning paintings against the walls and at the end, I loved it. I wouldn't change anything. The limitations have become part of the language. I could never clearly see the paintings clearly – the strong architectural presence of the space always interfered. I had to imagine what they would look like on a white wall, which has become its own kind of teasing.
What is your favorite artistic equipment with which to work with?
Oil painting, always. There is no more satisfactory or mysterious medium for me.
How long have you been working in this space?
Seventeen years.
Describe an average day in your studio.
I cycle in my studio around 10 a.m. I make such a good coffee in my studio that I am still impatient to get there. So, first coffee and reading time (I have a lot of books around). Piano music also helps wake up and find concentration. Then I start on the book of artists on which I work; I make drawings, I write texts, I make collages or I am printed on my press in Platen de Boston, aged 120. The presence of this press in my studio looks like a calm and faithful friend, almost like the proximity of an old dog.
How does space affect your work?
It's a bit small, but its high ceilings help me think better, and its northern light gives a good cool state of clarity.
How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?
We work with 11 artists in the Building Studio, which is an old -fashioned building of 1937. We are chatting, sometimes we go to each other. Every day, I walk in the area in break and I generally buy grocery products. Or I visit exhibitions in museums and galleries in Utrecht.
What do you like in your studio?
I love its proportions; square but not quite. Its whiteness, its fresh light. It is located under the stairwell of this old school building, and that is why it can be a little forgotten. He has large windows and I look at the sky a lot.
What do you want to be different?
A little bigger would be so great.
What is your favorite local museum?
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
What is your favorite artistic equipment with which to work with?
Ink!
