My inspirations

Matisse

I was so happy when I was in Amsterdam to find that at the Stedelijk contemporary arts gallery was hosting a Matisse exhibition.

http://www.stedelijk.nl/en

Last year I visited the 'Cut Outs' exhibition at the Tate in London and was very impressed.

Matisse uses colour, shape and collage to convey movement and life. He uses simple repeated motifs on a grand scale to change the dynamics of a space.

The exhibition at Stedilijk paired each piece of Matisse's work with either some works that inspired it, or were inspired by it. I liked this idea as it encorages me to draw inspiration from what I see and take it into new contexts.

A fun element to the exhibition was a 'family' room in which families were encouraged to have a go and cut out their own Matisse inspired shapes. The walls were metal and magnetic and you could put sticky magnets on the back of you work to display it. I think I surprised staff as a lone 31 year old woman I went to sit and play with paper for two hours.

I felt a bit sad that these activities are made particularly for engagement for children and not designed really for anyone over 10 years of age to engage with. It made me think back to Murray Watts' talk about artists encouraging playfulness and imagination. Was not Matisse an old man when he became famous for his cut out series? 

One of my favourite things to do is to cut out shapes in paper. To many 'adults' this practice may seem a wasteful use of my time and rather childish, but being lost in my imagination and absorbed in artsitic practice brings me a sense of peace and time to reflect. I believe it enriches me as a person and means that I am more content in the practical work I have to do.

My love of collage began as a child. As a child I would spend hours sat on the rug next to the gas fire in our small terraced house in S.t Helens, cutting out shapes and patterns. In my house in Sheffield today I can still be found in this position. In fact the dementia necklaces for my exhibition were made in this way, rather than at my studio on Scotland street, and hopefully reflect elements of playfulness and creativity.

Mattise used gouache paint on the paper he cut out from and predminantly worked on a flat surface. I like to draw inspiration from his use of colour and shape, but work in 3D using recycled papers.

http://www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html