MICHELLE GEARIN - INTERVIEW When did your artistic passion begin? I guess it began in primary school, I had a warm and supportive art teacher, Sybil Orr, she told me my sense of colour was unique and beautiful. That gave me the confidence to express in art what I couldn’t in another language. Have you always wanted to be an artist? Absolutely yes. Being an artist just always seemed to portray freedom to me. My parents had artist friends, and I would just watch the way they talked about things, they didn’t fuck around with boring conversation, it seemed passionate and real and so rich. Describe your work. It’s really hard for me to describe my work as I work without a plan. My paintings are absolutely intuitive. They are often images of emotional tension. What is the philosophy behind your work?
When I paint, I need a level of trust in myself, it’s a struggle. My paintings sometimes solve internal thoughts, which is quite magic. The work transforms and images appear and disappear, the narrative plays out often without my conscious input, like in a dream. Why do you choose this material/ medium to work with? I use oils as they force me to be patient and look and consider. Issue 44 - November 2021
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