Born 1985, York. Abigail Box is a London based artist. She has exhibited and sold work internationally to Australia, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein and UK.
Click here to see interviews and reviews
Click here to see tours of the studio online
Available work
CONTACT DETAILS
BOX@ABIGAILBOX.COM
Unit 3, ASC Studios, Empson Street , Bow, London E3 3LT
38 Ellsworth Street, Bethnal Green, London E2 0AX
07743419037
EDUCATION
2005 - 08 Camberwell College of Art, BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting)
2004 - 05 Camberwell College of Art, BA (Hons) Fine Art (Sculpture)
2003 - 04 Glasgow School of Art, Diploma in Fine Art Studies (Sculpture and Environmental)
FUTURE EXHIBITIONS | UK, USA, HK
FOREST OF ART | VYNER STREET | 01ST - 23RD DEC 2011
Private view Thur 01st December 6-9pm
The Execution Room , 12a Vyner Street, London, E2 9DG
In collaboration with installation artist Sophie Colley, DegreeArt's Execution Room will be transformed into a literal 'Forest of Art'. Through sound, senses and installation the gallery will become a winter wonderland full of our most collected artists who have recently exhibited at the gallery and throughout London Art Fairs.
EMERGING LONDON | ORANGE COUNTY CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS | 21ST DEC 2011 - 12TH JAN 2012
117 North Sycamore, Santa Ana, CA. 92701 USA
The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art showcases emerging British artists
IMPRINT | THE SERPENTINE GALLERY'S CENTRE FOR POSSIBLE STUDIES | 27TH JAN 2012
21 Gloucester Place, London, W1U 8HR
A group exhibition with the FABELIST invites YOU to roam IMPRINT an interactive world of interweaving, storytelling voices for adults and children alike- capturing the past, celebrating the present and introducing the future.
"The Fabelist is to announce the affixed date of January 27th for the day/evening launch event of a week long exhibition of Fabelist's work alongside that produced through our story workshops with Church Street community. The Serpentine have kindly granted us their beautiful Centre for Possible Studies in Gloucester road just off of oxford street to host our melting pot of interweaving stories, there are going to be some incredibly exciting treats for everyone. Programme and website to follow..."
ABIGAIL BOX, SOLO | IDENTITY ART GALLERY | FEB 2012
G/F, 53 Tung Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Opening hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
T +852 2540 5353
ABIGAIL BOX, SOLO | THE GREAT ESCAPE | DEGREEART GALLERY | APRIL 2012
My next UK solo show. More information to follow. #BigCats
12a Vyner Street, London E2 9DG
Opening hours: Wednesday - Sunday 12-6pm daily and Monday and Tuesday by appointment
T +44 (0) 208 980 0395
PAST EXHIBITIONS
2011 Aggregate, Open Studios , Empson Street Gallery, ASC Studio, Empson St 04TH 20TH NOV
2011 Abigail Box, DegreeArt | Affordable Art Fair, East Heath Road, NW3 1TH 27 - 30 Oct
2011 Selected Artist, Art for Youth, Royal college of Art, 19 - 20 Oct
2011 London Art Box, FLAG STOP UK, Debut Contemporary, Sept
2011 London Art Box, FLAG STOP LA, 02 - 04 Sept
2011 Emerging London, Indentity Art Gallery, Hong Kong, Aug-Sept
2011 oneforone, London View Tube, Puddle Mill Lane (DLR), London, 07 - 30 April
2011 Painting, Sarah Reynolds, London, April
2011 A Reality of their Own, DegreeArt Gallery, Vyner Street, London, 03 - 31 March
2011 Pop Up Spaces, ArtBeat Gallery, Covent Garden, London, Dec - Jan
2010 La Braderie de l'Art, La Condition Publique, Roubaix, France, 11 - 12 Dec
2010 Auction East, Five Hundred Dollars Gallery, London, 16 - 18 Nov
2010 Q-art,
APT Gallery, London, 18 - 28 Nov
2010 selected Artits, Art for Youth, Royal College of Art, London, 13 - 14 Oct
2010 Spit 'n' Scrub, Open Studios, Untit 3 Empson Street, London, 17 - 19 Sept
2010 Signature Awards, DegreeArt.com Vyner Street, London, 05 - 15 Sept
2010 Into the Wilde, Trafalgar Hotel, London, 27 May - Aug
2010 Abigail Box, My Life In Art Gallery, Affordable Art Fair, London, 12 - 15 March
2009 Urban Rococo, Dare To Joust Gallery, London, 14 Nov - 4 Jan
2009 Abigail Box, Exchange Tower, London, 5 Aug - 5 Nov
2009 Showroom, La Fresh Gallery, Madrid, Spain, 17 Dec
2008 Degree Show, Camberwell College, London, 17 - 21 June
2007 Shedworks, Dulwich Park, London, June
2007 Shedworks, Regents Park, London, 21 - 22 April
2007 Cornered, Foyer Gallery, London, Jan
2006 Solitaire, Nolia’s Gallery, London, 13 - 17 May
Click here for a map of all UK exhibitions
Click here for a map of all International exhibitions
AWARDS
2010 The Signature Awards - The DegreeArt.com Gallery, Shortlisted finalist
ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings are based on collages that I construct using found imagery. In painting these strange and sometimes unsettling scenarios with an increasingly experimental approach to the manipulation of colour, space and composition, I strive to highlight the wondrous ability paint has to describe, suggest and invent whilst establishing an ambiguous narrative that I hope will evoke curiosity in the viewer.
The work I made for 'A Reality of Their Own' (March, 2010) forms part of an ongoing exploration into the curiousness about existence and toys with the contradiction involved in feeling both a sense of belonging and feeling displaced. Wild animals are introduced into a series of human environments to provoke a fresh and inquisitive perspective onto something familiar. Attempting to reflect on our everyday surroundings along with our conventions and behaviour and in part making us feel an outsider in what we consider our own space the work approaches the difficulties associated with confronting and comprehending our own reality.
I have continued to have a fascination with being curious. My recent work involves juxtaposing conflicting subject matters in order to question in particular very conventional situations and environments, to which big cats are introduced as a manifestation of my interest in curiosity and to draw parallels between human and instinctual behavior. By further emphasizing the elements of displacement that exist in the construction of and techniques involved in the making of my images the work is accompanied by a compelling sense of familiarity, and also a sense of strangeness, or what Freud would call "the uncanny". Along with an added self-awareness for wanting to create work which is immediately engaging and visually exciting.
REPRESENTING GALLERIES
The DegreeArt | East London
DEBUT Contemporary | West London
Sarah Reynolds Art | London
Identity Gallery | Hong Kong
ARTIST GROUPS/COLLECTIVES
UNIT 3 | Empson Street Studios
The Fabelists
Q-Art | London
COLLECTIONS AND COMMISSIONS
University of the Arts London, Alumni Collection
Private Collections in London, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Australia and Liechtenstein
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Jason Solomons
ONLINE PUBLICATIONS
2010 This is London | A Reality Of Their Own (March)
2010 Colourful Radio | Interview (March)
2010 Let'sMotiv | Interview on La Braderie de l'art (Dec)
2010 August-Us | Interview by Rae-Leen Herrera (Nov)
2010 Little London Observationist, Interview by Stephanie Sadler (July)
2010 Into the Wilde, One to Watch | Interview by Catherine Hewett (May)
2008 Featured Artist | Jotta.com
2008 Camberwell Degree Show Review by Imogen Welch | Comment Art
LINKS
Push Forward | One to Watch (May 2011)
Escape into Life | Blog (April 2011)
DEBUT Contemporary | Profile (April 2011)
DegreeArt | One to Watch - *Interview* (March 2011)
DegreeArt | *Review* (March 2011)
Holy Ghost Zine | Blog entry (Jan 2011)
Let'sMotiv | Review of La Braderie de l'art (Dec 2010)
August-Us | *Interview* by Rae-Leen Herrera (Nov 2010)
Little London Observationist | *Interview* by Stephanie Sadler (July 2010)
Into the Wilde, Jotta | One to Watch *Interview* by Catherine Hewett (May 2010)
Blog Entry by Krystal Rodriguez | 5pixel rags (Jan 2010)
You Made It | Mike Guppy (27 Aug 2009)
Camberwell BA Degree Show | *Review* by Imogen Welch (24 Jun 2008)
Camberwell Snapshot | University of the Arts London (July 2008)
Camberwell Painting | Profile (July 2008)
Abigail Box | Twitter
Abigail Box | Facebook page
Abigail Box | A-N Blog
My Life In Art Gallery | Profile
Matt Roberts Members Website Gallery | Profile
Saatchi Online | Profile
Jotta | Profile
DegreeArt Gallery | Profile
Sarah Reynolds Art | Profile
Identity Art | Profile
Rise Art | Profile
ArtSlant | Profile
AUDIO
Listen again to my *radio interview* with Karla Williams from Colourful Radio.
Aired AM 24th Feb 2011
[Click here to open Player]
INTERVIEWS AND REVIEWS
'A REALITY OF THEIR OWN' | New Works by: Abigail Box | March 03, 2011 - April 03, 2011
DegreeArt.com Gallery | 12a Vyner St, East London
Over one thousand visitors poured into DegreeArt.com this First Thursday
To say that the opening night of 'A reality of Their Own' by up and coming artist Abigail Box was well received is an understatement. Guests were treated to drinks as well as an atmosphere that surrounded the street.
Over a thousand art lovers flocked through the doors of the Degree Art.com gallery, to view the large canvases themed with indoor-outdoor imagery. Paintings that clearly Box has poured her heart into for her first solo show, producing work of substance over quantity (although the latter is not lacked).
The portrayals of animal's wandering into human environments 'feeling a sense of belonging and displacement' which makes the audience question how true that statement is. Such is the urban environment that Box has translated through all of her work, she questions who is invading who? The colourful and accomplished 'Sofa So Good' (2011) featuring two polar bears seated majestically on a red floral sofa does this greatly, the painting offset by a block off light florescent pink show a signature that Box is not afraid to play with.
Box quotes "There is a point where in the mystery of existence contradictions meet." Through this quote Box has tied together an evening of both visually and mentally stimulating imagery as seen in her signature piece below, she is not afraid to toy with such matters of existence.
Much of her series could be seen hanging on many walls soon, a successful night of true appreciation, which has already started murmurs for an encore.
Abigail Box | Interviewed by Ryan Lanji
DegreeArt.com proudly supports Abigail Box and congratulates her on her recent exhibition 'A Reality Of Their Own'. Abigail has an undoubtedly captivating aesthetic, and is the perfect candidate for our March 2011's One To Watch!
What's your favorite song at the moment?
All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey. All year long
What's your favorite color?
Right now gold.. especially next to neon yellow.
Do you have any phobias or fears?
I'm not sure that I do.. I get anxious about losing things, which is often
Any favorite places in London?
I love London - it would take me forever to explain how much - and I still can't quite believe that I moved here a bit by accident. I like walking places and especially walking over the bridges and looking over the Thames, Tower Bridge is stunning. I also really love London parks, as a kid we had our own garden which I used to think must be the best thing but I much prefer going to public parks and people watching. London Fields is my current favourite
Tell us a fun anecdote!
Gosh... my answer to 'how has your day been?' often involves me explaining how I have attempted to carry back to my studio work materials that are too massive for me - I'm convinced that I'm the size of He-man and that I can lift anything - Whittens Timber have been at a loss watching me walk out of their yard with a sheds worth of wood over my shoulder in an attempt to walk back to my studio with it. I need to start investing in delivery..
About what you do:
What is your favorite era of art?
I'm very inspired by colourfield painting, when Jules Olitski's painting 'Instant Loveland' was hanging at Tate Modern it was something I really enjoyed being in front of - it's massive, three by six meters, with colours cascading across of it - I think it's really exciting.
What realms other than art inspire you? Anyone or anything specifically?
So many things...! everything. specifically, I'm pretty certain the neon element in my paintings came from at one point wearing an excessive amount of day glow, I have a love for high-vis work vests, also I appreciate that I live in an area with a lot of amazing street graffiti. I keep a log of everything that I'd like to remember: interesting window displays, bright skies, quotes, links to music videos or blogs, dreams or conversations I've had: I've got something written down somewhere regarding a conversation on art that I had with my doctor..
When is your earliest memory of realizing your ambition to become an artist?
I've always been told to do what enjoy doing and I’ve always, since I can remember, enjoyed being creative. I like that art is not limited by a need for function or sense - it can be a complete break from reality - realising this I remember feeling that it was exciting and something I wanted to be apart of.
How difficult did you find the transitional struggle of studying and creating art compared to graduating and having to pursue it on your own outside of the institutional confines and in the real world.
I felt like I had only just started to get to grips with what my own work was about in my last year or so of college, at the time I felt that I needed longer but looking back it was a great time to leave because I had realised a direction for my painting and there was so much that I wanted to create and so I didn't find myself in a creative lull. Since leaving Camberwell College, there has been a difference in the way I feel about practising as an artist. In college the work produced is seen constantly by tutors and the other students whereas now that's not the case there is a bigger incentive to get work out of the studio and into exhibitions so that it can be seen by the public and I've become more aware of how the work is experienced from it being seen by a wider range of people. It's especially nice to hear that people with no art background appreciate my work and have opinions about it.
I've been lucky to have found a nice place to work, my studio is next door to another 40 or so other spaces so I'm never far away from other creative people. I find working from home difficult, my studio is very much the space where I think, experiment and make worki>
Are there any mediums you struggle to work with? Anything you aspire to work with?
I'm a catastrophe with charcoal.. a mess, with no resounding results. I'm just starting to work with introducing large areas of gold into my compositions... so I might have a go with some gold leaf.
What's your most nerve-racking moment as an artist?
Delivering paintings - I am the worst at driving vans!
Do you have anything to say to art collectors who are taking the time to invest in graduate art?
It is so important - this sort of investment and encouragement means emerging artists can continue to make work and make it available to a wider and a bigger range of audiences, which means we can help influence the direction of contemporary art, new artists means more movement and progression. I'm inspired as much by other emerging artists as I am by already established artists and the history of art.
Where would you like to see yourself in the foreseeable future? 5 years, 10 years?
I've got some places I'd like to go to - I'd like to do a residency in Berlin as it has an interesting art scene. I'd also really love to go on safari at some point, to be able to experience first hand some of the animals that I work with in my paintings.
Rae-Leen Herrera | Posted: February 26th, 2011 | Abigail Box
In our latest pick of the month we discover London's finest, Abigail Box. Her works feature fantastic explosions of color, portraits, and capture wildlife in society in an absolute stunning manner. I knew I loved them when I first came across them, they brought out all sorts of emotions within me; confusion, love, laughter, tears, sadness, surprise, zest, relief, rage, envy, amazement, and many more I am sure.
I hope you love them as much as I do. Spread the word and please leave feedback.
Us: Before we start, can you give us a history lesson on yourself? Where and when did you go to art school?
I spent one year at the Glasgow School of Art in 2003, which is a fantastic college but I wanted to move nearer to the London art scene so applied to University of the Arts London Camberwell, where I spent one year studying sculpture and three more years studying painting. Since graduating in 2008 I spend most of my time in a studio in Bromley-by-Bow.
Us: I love the 'Square Headed Cow' Why the cow instead of your usual wild animals?
Abi: Yeah, I usually work from the collages I make but this image of the cow and the yellow tip I found on an old postcard… I liked the composition of the picture, the two strong shapes and the contrast of the yellow and black. But I especially liked that the outline of the cow's head was difficult to define in the darkness of the bin.
I've emphasized this in the painting, the whole cow and head area is block painted in black, and the cow looks to have a square head. The black space is very two dimensional, completely out of place in the context of the rest of the image. As is the cow on the rubbish tip with it's head in a bin. I like that sense of displacement running through the piece.
Us: I heard your paintings are really large, how large, and what would be the creative process involved in this?
Abi: I struggle to make the pieces I paint to work on a smaller scale. I wish I could, it would make moving them around much easier! The original collages I make are all around A4 size but then I go on to make drawing from these which I then project up on a much bigger scale onto a canvas.
I like for the animals involved in the image to be as large as possible, they are meant to be confrontational, either with the viewer or with the other element in the piece itself, their large size helps to emphasis that. I also like for the edges of the work to be as far away from you as possible, almost so that you're surrounded by the work. This is sort of an impossibility but there are a few things I can do with the composition that can help give the illusion and draw the edges of the painting into the periphery vision. And it's so fun to paint big! Big canvas and brushes, plastering on paint, big expanses of bright colour, I love it.
Us: Why do you think I fell in love with your art?
Abi: Thank you! I hope because I have such a good time painting it all. The colour and the big energetic painting is part of it but also although there are underlying more serious concepts to the work there's also a lot of nonsense. I've always liked that in painting there's no need to paint something that makes complete, or any, sense. We live with a certain amount of responsibility and seriousness that I don't feel I should have to continue that into my work, not in something that offers an opportunity to have a break from reality.
Us: Also, what is an exhibition you are most famous for?
Abi: Shedworks, twelve garden sheds in Regents park. It was a great exhibition for being in such a public domain. I still can't believe that the park organisers were so approachable and let us do it. The sheds that we'd ordered didn't arrive and so we had to get a hold of a different twelve shed that in the end had to be assembled within roughly three hours before the opening of the show, we had to get everyone we knew from college to come over to the park with power tools to help out. Then after the opening had finished the park organisers had us stay with the work overnight, there were maybe six or seven of us, a lack of blankets, one guitar and several domino's pizzas that we'd managed to order to one of the park gates via a very skeptical pizza delivery boy.
Us: The night we met, you discussed with my sleepy scientist husband what you found to be your most creative time? When is that and why do think that is?
Abi: Last night is a classic example, I stayed up until six in the morning painting a tiger. We were discussing how it is that I do some of my best work whilst I'm half asleep. I feel most focused at that time and most able to paint. I think my brain switches off somewhat and what's left is happy to work away creatively. I've heard a few people say similar things. It's not useful mind, it means there's a small window of time where I'm getting tired... then I'm too tired. So this leads to chain drinking coffee/wine and perservering through a whole night of enjoying what I'm doing but also really wanting to go to bed. Similar to staying up and writing an essay on Proplus.
Us: Tell me more about your style and color palette choices.
Abi: I work a lot of with contrasts, with colour and painting styles. The different painting style I use, moving between realism and something more abstract, originate partly from the original collages but also works to emphasis further that one part doesn't naturally belong with the other. Colour I have fun with, it's all a 'why not' approach. A large canvas can be broken up with contrasting sections of colour, and space can be transformed, with different colour arrangements the foreground and background can be manipulated to give the illusion of different depths throughout the canvas. I'm not always even that great at achieving those effects but it's great to experiment with. I like for there to be a lot of areas in my work that give enough space for experimenting and making accidental discoveries, I learn how to paint everyday.
Us: What is your favorite painting? It does not have to be your own.
Abi: Peter Doig, any of his paintings, I love the way he handles paint and translates space on to the canvas, the way he must see it in real life and they way he conveys it in his paintings, when I talk about manipulating space with colour this is what I mean! Although I just saw a Godfried Donkor exhibition at Fred Gallery on Vyner street which I got really excited over. In the paintings of men fighting/boxing, his subjects have a weight about them that make them seem very 'placed', amidst what I find to be an interestingly sectioned up canvas. oh and he's blocked out areas in gold leaf, contradictorily this both flattens areas whilst giving depth to the overall picture.
Us: What do you dabble in when you are not painting?
Abi: Playing with the microwave
Us: Do you have any show's coming up soon? If so what can we expect to see? Anything new and inviting?
Abi: Q-art end of year show opens on the 18th November at the APT Gallery, Deptford Bridge, London. Q-art holds open convenors throughout London at which six people bring work to present and discuss/critique with the group. This exhibition will involve everyone that presented over the last year, so it will be a highly varied assortment of work. Then I'm really excited about having my first solo show at DegreeArt.com in March 2011.
Thanks Abi!
London Art Spot: Abigail Box | Posted on July 4, 2010 | by Little Colombia Observationist
While I stood in front of Abi's giant polar bears on canvas at Jotta's Trafalgar Hotel exhibition, "Into the Wilde" a few weeks ago, I wondered: cute and cuddly or about to attack? The answer is whatever you want it to be. Abi likes a bit of mystery in her work and leaves us to make up the story.
After she obtained her BA in Fine Art from Camberwell College of Art, Abi's been involved in exhibitions all over London including this year's Affordable Art Fair and an upcoming Art for Youth exhibition at Royal College of Art this Autumn.
Her portraits have been commissioned by BBC2 and Art House, but Abi's turned to brighter ideas now, experimenting with neon paint and massive (cuddly/dangerous) wild animals that are now on show.
For this week's London Art Spot, Abi talks about her infatuation with neon colours, shares her favourite unusual London hot spot for buying art supplies and shows off her latest work-in-progress of a savage little girl on the hunt holding her kill.
LLO: Which aspects of London life most influence your creativity?
AB: I love London. There's such a lot happening and I really appreciate the opportunities available. Jotta gave me the opportunity to participate in the Trafalgar Hotel exhibition "Into the Wilde". Jotta is a great London-based organisation that works with both established and emerging artists. I'm influenced also by the enthusiasm people have here and the way that people interact with the city and each other. I enjoy the variety in lifestyles, which leads me to the questioning of social convention that has a subtle influence on my work.
LLO: Tell us about the two main styles of work in your portfolio - these surreal other-worldly neon paintings of animals in sometimes bizarre locations and a collection of detailed portraits that feel very realistic.
AB: I've always enjoyed painting portraits, they're stimulating skilfully and it's a great satisfaction when I feel I've captured a person just right. The rest of my work is separate from my portraits although it was sort of born out of a need to break away from such a naturalistic and disciplined style of painting. The non portrait based work I make leans much more towards having complete control over what picture I make, and that with paint I'm not limited by sensibility.
LLO: Where does your fascination with wild animals stem from?
AB: It's their presence. Big animals in particular embody the paintings in an almost protective way. And within the concepts that my paintings explore the animals are partly used as a representation for our basic instincts, our inner savage.
LLO: And what is the significance of the fun neon paint that characterizes most of your paintings?
AB: I partly like that it literally highlights the issues that revolve around looking at a situation without preconceptions. Also such unnatural colours are another way of emphasising that painting doesn't stand in the way of imagination. This is something that took me a while to realise my interest in, and it's now one of the biggest reasons that I paint and make art. And I love bright colour, I like hearing that people find my paintings fun and visually exciting; I think that the bright neon adds to that.
LLO: There is definitely a hint of a story in all of your paintings, almost like freeze-frames from a film. Is this something you consciously consider before planning a piece of work?
AB: Yes, I like for the work to be suggestive of an ambiguous narrative because it encourages curiosity, and I like to be left guessing. I sometimes feel that even I don't know what my subjects are up to. Everyone forms their own rough opinion which is usually influenced by personal experiences.
LLO: How do you come up with your titles and are they usually decided before or after the painting is finished?
AB: A bit of both. All of the titles are appropriated from other sources, book titles, or quotes from interviews or parts of articles, radio documentaries, all sorts. Although they're not random, the borrowed text will always refer to a similar theme to the painting. With the narratives and subject matter being ambiguous as they are, I find the titles help to anchor the concepts slightly. It also seems fitting that seeing that the paintings are painted from collages I make from found imagery that the the titles can also be an extension of that collage.
LLO: Favourite place in London to pick up art supplies?
AB: I love Whittens Timber Yard in Peckham. The staff are so patient with me. I go in and start asking for wood to cut this way and that and always forget all the angles I need... and then return to book a delivery having failed in my attempt to board the number 78 (the small kind of bus) with a whole tree's worth of wood.
LLO: Which other London-based artists do you admire?
AB: I'm a big fan of David A Smith (He is also exhibiting at the Trafalgar Hotel at the moment.) He uses neon lights in his work along with sculptured animal forms. I like that his work has an instant impact and that they treads the line between unsettling and seductive. That, and I'm jealous of the neon lights he uses.
LLO: Tell us about your Art for Youth show coming up in October. What can we expect?
AB: I've now seen some of the work by the other artists and there are a few others that are interested in animal forms, so I'm excited to see all the pieces set up in the space working along side each other. It's great that 35% of all the sales goes to the Art for Youth charity.
LLO: What are you working on now?
AB: There's a piece I've been working on recently that features a little girl who's been hunting. Here she has replaced the bear; she’s the savage one. Although she's very young and looks harmless and actually quite serene considering she is standing holding her kill. It made me smile the other day when someone said that the all-in-one ski suit she's wearing gave her a bulky shape, so she still sort of looks like one of the bears in my other works.
Thanks Abi!
Into the Wilde: Abigail Box | By Catherine Hewett | 17.05.2010
Camberwell College of Art graduate Abigail Box talks to jotta about showcasing her work in the upcoming jotta exhibition Into the Wilde. Her vivid paintings use neon hues, accentuating the bizarre placement of wild animals among modern interior settings, "a conscious decision for my paintings to be an escape from real life rather than be about it."
Do you believe your art work reflects the chosen themes of the Into the Wilde exhibition?
Into the Wilde is an exciting name and I think all of the artists who work on the show are suitably adventurous. A lot of my own work explores our own 'under the surface' animal instinct and a and sense of the unknown.
Your use of neon colours and animals in your paintings gives a graphic, almost street art quality to your work. Is this an intentional departure from traditional painterly techniques?
I do like the neon and bright experimental colours in street art and fashion. My use of neon started almost by accident, having gone to buy paints with a friend and being insanely jealous that she had a need for neon paint. I ended up buying every colour of neon they had. This coincided with a time where I had been painting such real and serious things and I had made a conscious decision to change direction for my paintings to be an escape from real life rather than be about it.
Many of your pieces feature animals juxtaposed with modern man-made backgrounds. Where did this conceptual framework stem from and develop?
The animals, especially the bears, are something about which I imagine most people have a mixture of associations with. Think of wild bears and then the soft bears from childhood; I like the contradictions in that. I like the play between the traditional man-made interior that is so familiar and the unpredictable wild beast in this setting. It raises questions about civilisation versus nature, the vulnerability of the boundary between the two, which leads me to consider the validity of some of our social norms and conventions.
Do your paintings ever feature narrative?
I'd like to think that my paintings have the vocabulary for a narrative, as if they were stills from a film or animation, but that you couldn't be sure what has just happened or what will come next. I hope that ambiguity evokes curiosity.
How do you plan the paintings that you create? Do you do preliminary sketches and samples or do you just improvise?
I keep a lot of cut-outs and old books with imagery I find compelling in one way or another, and then I collage it all together with a intuitive approach. I make line drawings from the collages and project them onto large canvases. I'm essentially creating a giant colouring book, which is something I never really intended, but now, come to think of it, I like this comparison. I can't tell you how much I love filling a white space with a riot of colour.
What are you working on at present?
I'm working with some images I have of young hunters. For ages I've had this photograph of a little girl wearing an all-in-one neon snowsuit holding a dead bird that she's just shot whilst hunting. There's something compelling about her expression, she looks unfazed by the kill, dealing with death in a very matter-of-fact way. She's more awkward about having her photo taken if anything - similar to the old paintings of young royalty dressed in armour, more awkward for being painted than for the idea of going to battle. It's an odd jump going from painting bears to painting hunting scenes, but again it's where those two worlds collide.
Camberwell Degree Show BA Fine Art - 2008 | commentart.com, 24.Jun.08 | Author Imogen Welch
...Abigail Box's paintings have something of graffiti about them, partly because of the fluorescent colours used but also because of the architectural details and stencil style she uses. The strongest is titled "Brave New World" which surreally has bears in an urban environment. I was less impressed with most of the rest of the painting with the exception of a colour installation by Nina Rodan, or is it 923 paintings? She has hung those little old fashioned white card price tags on a wall, but each one could be seen as a miniature painting. From a distance the pattern that the colour blobs make looks like a representation of a world map from the statistical section of the atlas...
Portrait Photograph courtesy of Jens Marrott
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