Artists

Read artist interviews featuring some of the most exciting established and emerging figures in the art world. Our conversations with contemporary artists get to the heart of what makes them tick, exploring the development of their style, their inspirations and the stories behind their recent work. Discover our artist interviews to get to know the people whose works that you can browse and buy in our online store.

Our top artist interviews

One of our most popular recent interviews was a talk with Nelson Makamo, a South African painter and winner of 2018’s Rise Art Prize known for his expressive portraits. Our conversation with Kelvin Okafor, who creates intricate photorealistic pencil portraits, dove into his unique fusion of the technical and the conceptual. You may also enjoy our interview with Fred Ingrams, in which he discusses both his technical process and what drew him to start painting the Fens.

Interviews you won’t want to miss

Among our contemporary artist interviews, you will find our Q&A with Philip Vaughan, author of the landmark 48ft-tall Light Tower which graced the London skyline from 1972 to 2008. You can read about the machinations and motivations driving rising star Anna Sofie Jesperson. Our interview with Mark Chadwick may also be of interest, where the colour master shines a light on the inspiration behind his vibrant abstract paintings.

Nicolas Desbons: Stylistic, Sublime, Steel

Trained in industrial design, Nicolas Desbons' life revolves around metal work. He divides his energy and creativity between locksmithing, ironwork, and his passion: sculpture. Working primarily with steel, this sculptural artist creates airy, exquisite forms that seem to have been shaped out of thin air.

By Cécile Martet | 22 Aug 2023

Aykaz Arzumanyan : Life is a Rose

Every stroke of paint applied with his knife to the surface of the canvas is done with the precision of a watchmaker. The slightest slip and he has to start over completely. A meeting with painter Aykaz Arzumanyan...

By Cécile Martet | 21 Aug 2023

Philippe Buil: The Quest for Intimacy

Sculptor specializing in bronze and steel, Philippe Buil let us take a look around his studio in Saint-Etienne, and spoke to us about the world he has created and what made him choose a career in the Arts. He is also deeply inspired by ancient Roman and Greek art, and has honed his skills and technique to a tee.

By Cécile Martet | 17 Aug 2023

Sophie Barut: Humanity at her Fingertips

Sophie Barut’s beautiful silhouettes take us gently by the hand and bring us back to our youth. Using the lost-wax casting technique, her bronze sculptures cover many themes with great levels of delicacy and tastefulness - themes of love, friendship, life force and disability.

By Cécile Martet | 17 Aug 2023

Marleen Pauwels: leaning into quiet

“My focus is on silence and solitude,” Marleen Pauwels tells me with a luminescent smile. This is not usually the expression that comes with discussing solitude, I point out, as Pauwels presents me with one of her signature elongated figures, alone in a secluded scene of what can only be described, at first glance, as emptiness.

By Sophie Heatley | 08 Aug 2023

“It becomes timeless”: Dave White’s category-defying animal portraits

By committing to capturing his subject faithfully, deferring the questions and claims about art that so many others are preoccupied with, he allows himself to develop constantly as an artist. “I’m just trying to make beautiful things,” he tells me, “and I see beauty in everything.”

By Phin Jennings | 11 Jul 2023

Interview with Viet Ha Tran: Photographing Dreamscape

"I try to draw pictures of my own inner dreams, feelings and intimacy, or reflect these emotions onto my photographs of landscapes and nature."

By Rise Art | 30 Jun 2023

“Try to look steadily”: experiencing oxymoron with Patrick Hughes

I visited Hughes’ Shoreditch studio on a sunny June afternoon. I am there to see some new paintings that distil the Reverspective idea into singular objects. “I’m making new shapes,” he tells me as he ascends the stairs from the basement, striking a series of poses with arms and legs outstretched...

By Phin Jennings | 29 Jun 2023

Leila Fanner: An accidental and surprising journey

“The figure to me is a holding place,” she explains. It is not an attempt to paint a realistic person, this or that woman, but to represent a more foundational, ineffable feminine energy.

By Phin Jennings | 23 Jun 2023

Painting on the edge with Debbi Kenote

Kenote sees the physical shape of the substrate as the first decision a painter makes, whether they know it or not...

By Phin Jennings | 12 Jun 2023