ARTIST INTERVIEW: Paul Emsley
Paul Emsley
© Alexander Caminada www.caminada.co.uk
Tell me about yourself and what inspired you to become an artist
My father and my mother were both artists. There never seemed to be any other way of life for me. My father was an excellent draughtsman and through him, I became aware of artists like Stanley Spencer, Augustus John, Andrew Wyeth and many others. Apart from my father's work on the walls there were prints of Van Gogh, Picasso, Matthew Smith and others. I discovered at an early age that I could draw, and that has always been the basis of what I do, even in my freest moments.
'We wrote a world'
Acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on canvas. 55 x 55 cm.
Your earlier work ‘Works 1’ focuses on portraiture and still life with a realistic approach. What was it that inspired you to create your current abstract ‘Works 2’ series? Do you have more creative freedom with your more recent work?
I've spent many years developing my highly detailed technique. I felt that it provided a real test of skill in a time when technique was frowned upon. It enabled me to leave teaching and make a living. However, I always felt a niggling sense that I had other things to say. I reached a point where there were no further challenges in that direction. If I'm honest, I have to add that the experience of painting the Duchess of Cambridge proved to be very difficult and I don't wish to continue painting society portraits. I felt it was the time to leave all that behind me and to develop this other side which had become increasingly urgent.
'HRH The Duchess of Cambridge'
Oil on canvas. 115 x 96.5 cm
What messages would you like to convey through your ‘Works 2’ series? What is the importance of the use of bold colours in this work?
Contemporary painting is thriving and I would like to be a part of that. There are certain threads which fascinate me. The thrill of painting on a large scale and employing different skills is intoxicating. I'm hoping to develop my own way of depicting the human figure. That seems to me to be the most fundamental challenge facing any painter. I have also begun to introduce texts. I trained as a graphic designer and lettering as we knew it has always fascinated me. Also, I love poetry and I see the transcendent use of both words and visual forms as being similar. Using words and phrases provides me with a further motif or element and this is helpful. As a painting develops, speech bubbles become an integral part of the work. The text or letters often do not make literal sense. They are more like poetic signposts to the imaginative reality of the work. Sometimes there is no intended word at all but the painting seems to suggest some half phrase or letters, which become a field of play or experimentation. I use bright colours simply because I find they express the sense of excitement I'm feeling. I suppose they might also be the opposite of my earlier monochrome work.
'A.Ke'
Acrylic,spray paint and oil stick on canvas. 92 x 92 cm
Thinking about your most recent piece that you have created, what was your creative process? What was the narrative behind the work? What feeling would you like to capture?
I often begin by painting over older works. I find that the forms beneath suggest possibilities otherwise not imagined. I work on canvas stapled to boards mounted on the studio walls. I allow the new and old forms to lead me as I apply paint, spray paint and oil stick. The most recent one is a female figure. The head is slightly off from the figure and is partly abstracted to convey the ambiguity of forms. The title is ‘K.not’. Another recent work is a large painting in which a figure emerges over a leaping antelope which survived from the earlier work. There are various layers of thought, chance etc in the painting. The text reads 'Hero's falser leaps'. Of course this does not make literal sense but it is a portal to the half-thought reality which was in my mind as I worked.
'Knot'
Acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on canvas. 90 x 93 cm
How has your artwork changed from the beginning of your career to now?
As one grows older, our bodies and nervous systems change. Most artists will say that they cannot replicate their earlier work in later years. We become a different organism and therefore that which flows from us alters simultaneously. I have taken a radical leap because what I was doing previously no longer felt ‘right’.
In your career, you have had many famous sitters including; The Princess Of Wales and Nelson Mandela. How did you feel when creating these portraits? Describe your process. How did choose your composition?
It was an exciting and interesting time. I felt I was doing good work and I believed in it. My technique was developing rapidly and people seemed to like the work. After winning the BP Portrait Award, I painted Sir V. S. Naipaul for the National Portrait Gallery. Subsequent suggestions and recommendations led to me finding myself in Johannesburg at the Nelson Mandela Foundation offices to meet and photograph Mr. Mandela. It was a long and difficult process to get to that point. The portrait was well received and is now in the collection of the Foundation. Being selected to paint the first official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge as she was then felt like an enormous honour. The process took place under strict conditions of confidentiality and took over my life for a period of about two years. It was an interesting experience but the fuss after the unveiling was unpleasant and may have contributed to my eventually leaving that style of working.
'Nelson Mandela'
Black chalk on paper. 117 x 88.5 cm.
Who has been your favourite sitter to paint and why?
That’s difficult to answer. All of the prominent figures I’ve painted were polite, accommodating and easy to work with. Some had difficult reputations but I never saw that side to them. When doing a commissioned portrait, you work within a specific brief which doesn’t allow for too much experimentation or excitement. It’s when I’m drawing from life that I really have the most pleasure. There have been many models whose heads have fascinated me. It’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly makes an interesting head. I’m drawn to unusual proportions, angles or shapes. The overall shape of a sitter’s hair or chin can be enough to make the process exciting.
Who is your favourite artist? If they were sat next to you right now, what would you ask them? Do they have an influence on your work?
That depends on when I’m asked. A few years ago it would have been Velasquez. A few months ago it would have been Adrian Ghenie. A few weeks ago it would have been Philip Guston and Rose Wylie. For me, the two greatest painters of our time have been Picasso and Francis Bacon. I think they will be remembered in a hundred years from now when many other big names will be forgotten. If either of them were next to me now I would not ask them anything about art. Their words would most definitely be a disappointment. Their work is more than eloquent enough.
'For all we know'
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas. 170 x 300 cm.
What has been your greatest achievement/challenge in your career?
That changes from week to week. Each painting is my greatest challenge. While in the middle of a painting, I have a sense of dread that I’ll never make a successful work again. However, once completed and left for a few days, I’m often surprised at the satisfaction I feel. That lasts for a very short time before all the uncertainties of the next challenge return.
What is the best piece of advice you have been given as an artist?
Never ever give up. Painting is a redemptive activity. Each time you make a painting, your life hangs in the balance or so it feels. The only way to save yourself is to persevere until relief eventually arrives.
'Why are you not like me'
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas. 170 x 308 cm.
Why do you think art is important in society?
Actually, I don’t think that. Art is a metaphor for some of us as we struggle to make sense of our existence on this planet. Artists have a tendency to think we are in some way special. We are not. Society will do just fine without us. It will continue to reproduce, produce food, trade, make war and so on. We artists are here under sufferance. We are dispensable. We are also enormously fortunate to have such an all consuming activity to interest and occupy us.
