FILIPPA EDGHILL X INTERVIEW

Filippa brings a sense of wonder into her own life through her paintings. She is currently living and working in the French seaside town Biarritz. Art brings her to a place nestled between reality and dreams where she can let her imagination grow. In that place she feels meaningful, like the essence of being human is to be able to create.

 

M: "Do you remember when you got the first impulse to be an artist?"

F: "I do remember my first stop of the heart when I realised I could live from and with my art. I had just made a website with a little online shop and I put a few pieces up. The next morning they were all gone and I remember being so confused. I even called customer support because I figured out there was a bug in their system since my paintings where no longer available. It was such a little light that went on when I realised they had just simply all sold while I was sleeping and I think that is when I started to know that there was something further to explore."

M: "What is good art for you?"  

F: "A pure and simple idea that is really hard to execute! I always seem to appreciate art that is hard to make. It doesn't mean it has to be busy and detailed. It can be very minimalist. But If the artist has taken the time to go through an authentic process with rare materials with a story it always pays off in the end. Too much art today is quick and photoshopped to look like the real deal but that can never beat analogue processes. As far as concepts go, I appreciate anything that reflects something I have been feeling or working through internally at the given moment I see the piece." 

 

 

M: "Where is the place for your inspirations?"  

F: "Things I see around me or feel. Often I am inspired by a feeling in a challenging moment. But it never presents itself right away. I think it stores somewhere inside awaiting for the right moment to come up. Whenever I feel good inside and I am in a quiet space with the right tools that is when it seems to present itself. It’s like inspiration is collected in stress but triggered by self-love."

 

 

M: "Are the silhouettes of women in some relation with the intention to reach independent women?"  

F: "I hope so for sure. True representation is so important, especially now following so many years of misrepresentation of women bodies and spirits. People like to see something that looks like them and that is celebrated as art. It’s a wonderful gift to give. Artists, such as painters or filmmakers have a responsibility to do this well."

 

 

M: "Do you have an animal that inspires you?"

F: "Cats for sure. Even if I don’t directly paint them. There is a feminine mystic energy that I really appreciate. I have two cats. They teach me to calm down."

 

M: "What do you see when you start drawing?"

F: "When I start I always know exactly what the painting will look like. It’s all done in my head. I see the lines, where they connect and cross. The colours, the textures and the faces. The painting process is almost like printing. I just do the same painting over and over until it looks like what was in my head from the start."

 

 

M: "Do you draw sketches before you start with a painting?"

F: "I do, so I don’t have to do over the painting so many times. I am really picky about it looking like my original vision. I’ll make a small sketch, then a bigger one. Then colour studies if it is a colour painting. I’ve never made a painting without making a sketch. The creative process is painfully more like math sometimes."

M: "What do you see as the most important challenge in your future?"

F: "The challenge would be to keep the simplicity in my life, how it is right now. I am happy to say it isn’t a goal for me to change my life. I would not really want to grow my art practice to make more work or my work more available. I am content with what the art gives me, as I can travel wherever and cook the food that I like. Maybe I would just like to fix up my car and buy a new surfboard. That is like one or two paintings away. There is so much beauty in the ease and occasional struggle of the life I’m living now. I just want to stay in that space for as long as I can. “May the dog years be many and long”, as we say in Sweden."

 

Thanks to the artist Filippa Jean Edghill

Interview by Mimi Langenstein