NEW ARTIST INTERVIEW: ANNA MASTERS | DegreeArt.com The Original Online Art Gallery

NEW ARTIST INTERVIEW: ANNA MASTERS

We came across Anna Master's beautiful works while visiting Variations at the OXO Tower, a group exhibition she participated in with DegreeArt artists Jayson Lilley and Giuseppe D'Innella, amd were immediately captivated by the delicate precision of her pieces. 

Anna is a mixed media installation artist who creates wall based and site specific pieces by suspending found and natural materials such as dried rose petals, butterflies and clock parts on thin nylon wire to create intricate compositions. She has recently joined our roster of artists on DegreeArt and Contemporary collective, and has very kindly taken some time out to tell us a little bit about her work.

Tell us about your journey as an artist. What drew you to working with such unusual objects?

I actually started out as a painter, creating realistic oil paintings. I was doing a project with roses – I liked how the rose is so loaded with symbolism but the flower dies so quickly, and wanted to examine whether that symbolism changed as the flower died.

Whilst I was painting a series of small images of dried rose petals, I started to question why I was painting the object when I could use the object itself.  From that point on, I’ve gradually developed a practice of reimagining found, used and organic materials into new contexts and formats. I’m drawn to materials that have history; that have had a life or a use before they reach me, and which we can read into on various levels. I’m interested in the way that, through the creation of an art work, we can contribute to or alter the readings of these loaded materials.

The compositions of your works are astoundingly precise! What is your method for ensuring each component goes exactly where you want it?

The way that the works are constructed aids me a lot in the planning of the pieces – I create layers of nylon grids, which essentially divides the working space into neat squares. This means that I can draw up designs on squared paper before starting work on the actual piece. The level of planning that goes into each piece varies dramatically depending on what I want to achieve. For complex, geometric designs, I will draw out each layer individually and plan precisely where each piece will be placed. For other pieces I’ll start of with a very rough design and let it grow more organically according to what looks and feels right in the space.

Butterflies and time pieces are symbolic of change and the passing of time. Do you attach any of this symbolism to your work?

I do. The thing I’m really interested in is how people understand and navigate the world. Something that caught my attention was the way that Western culture seems to   resist the progression of time and age. My recent works have been about artificially ‘halting’ time; almost capturing a moment where the materials appear to float for an instance before gravity pulls them to the ground.

Could you describe your process? How does an idea become a completed piece?

As mentioned earlier, my works are made up of layers of clear nylon grids, which I use to attach materials to give the impression that they’re suspended mid-air. I start work on the back layer – this is where I usually do a lot of the work to establish the main design of the piece. From there, I work on each layer going forward until I reach the front. Usually when I get to the front the piece is complete, but every now and then I’ll feel the need to go back to the initial layers and do some alterations, which means either destroying the front layers, or doing some incredibly fiddly work with the tweezers!

How do you plan to develop your practice in the upcoming year?

I’m currently exploring some new ways of displaying my work, which I hope will open up some opportunities to create work on a larger scale and with more ambitious designs. I’m also experimenting with some new materials – but I don’t want to give anything away too soon!

To see more of Anna's portfolio click here, for any enquiries plesae contact isobel@degreeart.com

Select currency

prettyArtForAll