Abigail Box is our March 2011 'One To Watch'

DegreeArt.com proudly supports Abigail Box and congratulates her on her recent exhibition ' A Reality Of Their Own'. Abigail has an undoubtedly captivating aesthetic, and is the perfect candidate for our March 2011's One To Watch!

 What’s your favorite song at the moment?

All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey. All year long

What’s your favorite color?

Right now gold.. especially next to neon yellow.

Do you have any phobias or fears?

I’m not sure that I do.. I get anxious about losing things, which is often

Any favorite places in London?

I love London - it would take me forever to explain how much - and I still can’t quite believe that I moved here a bit by accident. I like walking places and especially walking over the bridges and looking over the Thames, Tower Bridge is stunning. I also really love London parks, as a kid we had our own garden which I used to think must be the best thing but I much prefer going to public parks and people watching. London Fields is my current favourite

 Tell us a fun anecdote!

Gosh... my answer to ‘how has your day been?’ often involves me explaining how I have attempted to carry back to my studio work materials that are too massive for me - I’m convinced that I’m the size of He-man and that I can lift anything - Whittens Timber have been at a loss watching me walk out of their yard with a sheds worth of wood over my shoulder in an attempt to walk back to my studio with it. I need to start investing in delivery..

About what you do:

What is your favorite era of art?  

I‘m very inspired by colourfield painting, when Jules Olitski’s painting ‘Instant Loveland’ was hanging at Tate Modern it was something I really enjoyed being in front of - it’s massive, three by six meters, with colours cascading across of it - I think it’s really exciting.

What realms other than art inspire you? Anyone or anything specifically?

So many things...! everything. specifically, I’m pretty certain the neon element in my paintings came from at one point wearing an excessive amount of day glow, I have a love for high-vis work vests, also I appreciate that I live in an area with a lot of amazing street graffiti. I keep a log of everything that I’d like to remember: interesting window displays, bright skies, quotes, links to music videos or blogs, dreams or conversations I’ve had: I’ve got something written down somewhere regarding a conversation on art that I had with my doctor..

When is your earliest memory of realizing your ambition to become an artist?

I’ve always been told to do what enjoy doing and I’ve always, since I can remember, enjoyed being creative. I like that art is not limited by a need for function or sense - it can be a complete break from reality - realising this I remember feeling that it was exciting and something I wanted to be apart of.

How difficult did you find the transitional struggle of studying and creating art compared to graduating and having to pursue it on your own outside of the institutional confines and in the real world.   

I felt like I had only just started to get to grips with what my own work was about in my last year or so of college, at the time I felt that I needed longer but looking back it was a great time to leave because I had realised a direction for my painting and there was so much that I wanted to create and so I didn't find myself in a creative lull. Since leaving Camberwell College, there has been a difference in the way I feel about practising as an artist. In college the work produced is seen constantly by tutors and the other students whereas now that’s not the case there is a bigger incentive to get work out of the studio and into exhibitions so that it can be seen by the public and I’ve become more aware of how the work is experienced from it being seen by a wider range of people. It’s especially nice to hear that people with no art background appreciate my work and have opinions about it.

I’ve been lucky to have found a nice place to work, my studio is next door to another 40 or so other spaces so I’m never far away from other creative people. I find working from home difficult, my studio is very much the space where I think, experiment and make work.

Are there any mediums you struggle to work with? Anything you aspire to work with?

I’m a catastrophe with charcoal.. a mess, with no resounding results. I’m just starting to work with introducing large areas of gold into my compositions... so I might have a go with some gold leaf.

 What’s your most nerve-racking moment as an artist?

Delivering paintings - I am the worst at driving vans!

Do you have anything to say to art collectors who are taking the time to invest in graduate art?

It is so important - this sort of investment and encouragement means emerging artists can continue to make work and make it available to a wider and a bigger range of audiences, which means we can help influence the direction of contemporary art, new artists means more movement and progression. I’m inspired as much by other emerging artists as I am by already established artists and the history of art.

Where would you like to see yourself in the foreseeable future? 5 years, 10 years?

I’ve got some places I’d like to go to - I’d like to do a residency in Berlin as it has an interesting art scene. I’d also really love to go on safari at some point, to be able to experience first hand some of the animals that I work with in my paintings.

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