Kirsten Telfer Beith answers FADs Questions
Tie my hands 2006
1 When did you start to make art?
I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember. But when I finished my degree, I felt so disillusioned by it all; I swore I’d never paint again. Then, when I started painting again, after like a decade, I couldn’t believe I’d denied myself for so long.
2 How did you evolve into a professional artist?
All the usual routes; I pretty much excelled with art at school and was shocking at say, physics and Latin. Then I headed off to my foundation and, after a brief flirtation with fashion, I did my degree at Manchester. The rest, as they say, is history.
3 What drove you to make art as a professional vocation?
It makes me feel free and alive. Sitting at a desk never did that; except when I’m writing. Writing fiction has a pretty similar affect on my state of mind. I zone in and forget everything else.
4 Explain your inspiration?
I’m mad about textures. Not the fabric kind but those like, say, decaying buildings. You know, when you see a building sealed off and you just want to climb through the barriers and check out what’s inside? I like stuff that’s hidden under decay. I love looking under layers and finding beauty that once was… But then, there’s also colours and smells and people that inspire. There’s so much to be inspired by in the world. If you look, you’ll find wonder anywhere. You’ll find it down a plughole, though admittedly you’d be hard pushed!
5 In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?
Through a very messy process; it sucks me in, and just when I think it’s going to totally delude me, it’s there on the canvas. I do a lot of pacing. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and hit the canvas with pure aggression, which weirdly, works well – least for me, it does.
6 From ideas to production of art – how and why?
Why does anyone do anything? Why do you get up in the morning? Why don’t you stay in bed where it’s nice and warm and safe? I don’t know why. We get up, we go on; we just do it. We can’t help it. I mean, I’m like everyone else. There are times when I just want to lounge around in bed or sit in the pub or in front of the TV watching shit, but at the end of the day, I need to paint… As to ideas, I haven’t a clue where they come from. I guess they begin with an inspiration or interest, which seduces me into doing something creative.
7 Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium?
I’ll use pretty much anything I can get my hands on. I can’t see myself ever moving into sculpture or film, though. I’m fairly organic and raw in the way I work. Video’s too clean and precise; sculpture, it never really did it for me. And print, well, I started out as a printer and will always be a big fan. Etchings, lino, woodcuts, whatever. You just can’t go wrong with print.
8 Which artists would you most like to blatantly rip off?
I wouldn’t want to rip anyone off. You can attempt to emulate someone else’s work. You can be influenced by it. But to rip it off? Nah. Never. There’s nothing worse than a bad imitation of something; and let’s face it, imitation is always bad.
9 What does being an artist mean to you?
Freedom. Passion. Everything, really.
10 Are you happy with your reasons for making art and are there any trade offs that make it hard?
To be honest, I don’t really know why I make art. I doubt there are many artists who could say, ‘this is why I do it’, unless of course they’re driven by cash. Then it’s a no-brainer… As to trade offs, there’s nothing that comes to mind – but when I was younger, I found it almost impossible to let go of pieces.
11 When does your art become successful?
It’s going to sound naff, but my work is a stream of consciousness or unconsciousness, as the case may be. I start a piece and I’m going at it and going at it, pacing round the canvas, wondering when it’s going to fall together and bam, it’s there. And that’s the most satisfying feeling in the world. It wipes the floor with everything else – makes everything else seem mediocre. ‘Cos you go into a zone when you work – and any artist will tell you this – you go into a zone where you’re totally absorbed. From the outside looking in, you seem frenzied, but really it’s the only time you’re absolutely still. You’re centred; sitting in the eye of the storm – and that for me is pure success.
11 Any routine in making your artwork?
Not really. Just a little chaos within a frame.
11 How do you start the process?
Getting a nice primed canvas covered; getting rid of that white glare, that’s the beginning. Then I’ll work over and over a piece, layering or scraping layers off, for as long as it takes; a month, a day, an hour.
12 What are the pros and cons of the art market?
There are thousands, but like everything else, there’s a balance; a balance, which, like it or not, exists.
13 Who has been the biggest influence on you?
It’s a cliché, but my parents are pretty much up there at the top. I have close friends who blow my mind with their wisdom, grace and sheer energy. Then there’s people who’ve drifted though my life and left me with an aftertaste – and I’m talking both positive and negative here… ‘cos both are influential in some sort of way. I also have friends who are artists, who are constantly producing and questioning and using their brains cells. That’s pretty influential.
14 How many artworks have you given away and to whom?
My family have a whole lot – and sometimes I’ll make something, do a small canvas or whatever, and I know it’s meant for one of my friends. It will just feel like them. Course a lot of them will be sniffing about, saying, ‘when you’ve finished this Kirsten, can I have it?’ I can be a bit of a soft touch on that one.
15 What is your next move?
I’m just getting work together for my show,
‘You’re Behaving Like a 5-year Old’ at Bar Vinyll in Camden. It’s all consuming and I love it.
Kirsten Telfer Beith‘You’re Behaving Like a 5 Year Old’Bar Viynll, Inverness Street, Camden, London NW1 15th February – 13th March
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