What Artists Like #6

– with Guest Curator Orlanda Broom

Welcome to What Artists Like, an artist-led series of interviews, highlights and nominations edited by me, Nicola Wiltshire. This week’s newsletter is generously curated by bestselling Masters Artist Orlanda Broom, as nominated by Colette Lavette.

NW – Your work has been exhibited in LA, the Threadneedle Prize, plus multiple times at the Royal Academy Summer Show. You’ve also completed major commissions for the Four Seasons Hotel in New York and the Mandarin Oriental in London, making you one of the most experienced artists on New Blood Art. Many emerging artists could only dream of a career like yours. Are there any challenges that come with being a more established artist? Do you look back on your early days living in Spain and Portugal and wish you’d done anything differently?

OB – Thank you – but I have to say, there are always challenges, it’s never plain sailing and there many things I would do differently! I think over time you just get a bit more used to the ebb and flow of it.

NW – You mention that there are two strands to your practice: “lush, exotic landscapes and contemporary abstract pieces”. Your work is so textural and both approaches sit so well together. It’s almost like the abstract pieces are playtime for your deliciously abundant landscapes. Which came first for you?

OB – The abstract pieces came about through experimentation with resin; initially using it as a thick varnish for my landscape paintings, I soon realised it had greater potential. My work has always had a semi-abstract element and even though the two strands look quite different, I am exploring similar themes within both bodies of work. Like a lot of artists, I have various approaches to conveying ideas and using different materials helps develop and further my practice. One compliments the other in terms of how I paint them… the practical and mental approach are quite different for each.

NW – In an interview with Windsor and Newton you mention your paintings are “representations of the future, where nature has taken back over”. Are they based on real plants/flowers, or are they imagined?

OB – I try to convey a sense of wonder and seduction through these exotic places at the same time as there being the potential for entrapment. The plants and flowers aren’t strictly based on real plants, but I do draw from life and refer to botanical art books. I like the forms to be slightly strange, surreal and I’m also following the way in which the paint flows, so there’s an element of abstraction in the plant forms.

NW – Do you have to travel to find inspiration, or can you find it within your daily life?

OB – Inspiration comes from all sorts of places, I started painting with hyper colour when I lived in London, as a kind of antidote to what I perceived at the time as grey, urban living. I like the otherworldly escapism that landscape paintings can offer and tapping into memories of places I’ve been which can’t help but have a rose-tinted element.

NW – I can see how important paint is to your practice, which is full of rippling brushstrokes, colourful scuffs and pools of liquid pigment. Do you do much drawing? I’m interested how that would fit in to your work, which seems so driven by the painting process.

OB – You’re right – because my paintings are also an exploration of the medium itself, drawing isn’t integral to my work. Having said that, although I don’t plan out compositions (all that is done on the canvas) I do keep a sketch book which is more like a journal. Having different processes and approaches important in keeping some energy and experimentation within the work as a whole.

Orlanda has selected 7 works from the New Blood Art Collection, including bold sculpture, delicate etching, intriguing painting and more. Orlanda has nominated Charlotte Brisland as the next Artist Curator. Excited to learn more!

Thanks for reading,

Nicola Wiltshire

“I love the limited palette, strange play with scale and the looming quality of the plant/tree forms… it’s very mysterious. I like the way she talks about her work and I know she’s a fan of JG Ballard, for me, this comes through. I’m lucky to have a couple of Charlotte’s paintings and I love them.” – OB

“Intriguing organic forms which have a bodily feel, I like the ambiguity of these sculptures… they conjure up all sorts of reference points. I’m also curious about how they are made.” – OB

” I love the lightness of touch, delicate washes and bleed of the paint. There is something otherworldly about this painting, it’s very beautiful and captivating.” – OB

“The attention to detail and beauty of Emiko’s work is wonderful. We used to be studio neighbours so I know her work quite well and I love this latest series of prints, the flower so subtle and delicate on this strong red ground.” – OB

“This looks like it’s landed on earth from outer space, just love that this amorphous thing is inhabiting a corner, being intriguing and strange! There’s so much to take from her work, from an interesting process to the ideas she’s exploring… a fascinating artist.” – OB

“I think there are some parallels between the themes and ideas we are exploring about the fragility of the environment. There’s a sense of quiet drama in this painting, the format she’s chosen to paint on feels nostalgic, romantic even… but there’s something foreboding and dark about this work.” – OB

“This painting makes me think of Greek Mythology – it’s evocative of a different time, something ancient. The palette, her use of natural pigments and minerals that she grinds herself all give the work a feeling of a step back in time. Beautiful.” – OB

View all Orlanda’s work