Inside Artists - Issue 16

100 ARTIST INTERVIEW Fiona Scott-Wilson

Fiona Scott-Wilson

I

ntricate scenes emerge from hundreds of pieces of cut paper in Fiona Scott Wilson’s works, which depict sun-soaked beaches and slices of English countryside. The influence of her artistic career can be felt in the painterly effect of the artworks, where her experience with gouache, oils and acrylics continues to inform composition and colour. With scalpel and paper – sometimes in a dozen different shades - the details are built across many layers, with every leaf, shell or petal carefully arranged to create complex images of life and nature. Scott-Wilson’s latest project, Art4Kids. gallery, sees her applying her paper expertise into pieces specifically designed to inspire young children with exciting scenes of creatures, adventure and imagination. Has cut paper always been your medium of choice? How did you begin using the process to create artworks? I started experimenting with cut paper many years ago to create special handmade Christmas cards but did not really start using it as a preferred medium until around 2014 when I decided to explore new ways of working with multi coloured papers and different textures, instead of using paints or inks. So I swapped my brushes for a scalpel and developed a technique of using it like a paintbrush, to paint by cutting out the elements and shapes I needed to create a design or an artwork. I build up the ‘painting’, by positioning and sticking down many hundreds of pieces of coloured paper to create the affect I wanted. My process has evolved organically and I

discovered that I could ‘paint’ using a multitude of component pieces in different shades of colours to create a painting or design. My work is not a collage of paper but a definite design using paper as a dry medium instead of paint. Can you tell us more about your working style; do you tend to make lots of preliminary sketches or do the artworks evolve more organically as you begin to cut the paper? I do make sketches and often draw what I envision in my head but my artworks do tend to evolve organically as I build up the component parts and move around the shapes. My style of working continues to evolve from the earlier more simplistic, graphic images to more complex intricate images with multiple shades of colours, and multiple layers.

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Inside Artists - Issue 16

Published on Aug 31, 2019

Inside Artists

An artist observes the world around us. They are both participant and outsider looking in; taking notes and representing what they see through their chosen medium, be it paint, clay or photograph. It seems impossible therefore that the issues affecting the planet wouldn’t be part of the artist’s psyche while creating work. Whether taking an emotional, political or academic viewpoint, the artist is creating a new platform for awareness; passing their ideas to new generations and allowing the viewer to connect with the planet through alternative perspectives. The climate crisis, changing landscapes and declining natural spaces are all themes explored by artists in this issue. While we are all aware of the catastrophic effects that modern society is having on the environment, to be confronted with such artworks may ignite a new desire for change, to preserve for the present and the future.