In his Reith lectures Grayson Perry called artists “Pilgrims on the Road to Meaning”. At New Blood Art we wanted to gain insight into our artists personal roads to meaning so we asked them 3 questions:
– Sara Oskarsson
The moment when you are at a party (for example) and someone asks; “What do you do?” You think about how to answer and then you summon up the courage to say, “I’m an artist.” Can you remember when that moment happened for you and tell us about it?
I think at one point I realised that being an artist was like being an alchemist. Having the passion to turn ‘nothing’ into something hopefully beautiful and/or meaningful – As a way of trying to counteract the ‘ugliness’ in the world. At that point I began to be proud of the notion of being an artist.
Do you have any rituals or routines to help the creative process?
I always listen to music while I paint. Turning on music, I listen to music I love which includes classical, alternative and rock. My absolute favourite and the music I find most inspiring is by composer Arvo Part.
What was the best piece of advice you were given?
I once saw a film about the Catelonian painter Antoni Tapies, where he was asked what advice he would give young artists and he said: “Most importantly: try to grow spiritually, the practical side will come with practice”. I live and paint by that.