Interview With The Artist: Philippa Tomlin

Currently based between Scotland and England, the wonderful, award-winning artist Philippa Tomlin makes visual art that’s as bewitching as it’s disturbing. A brand new exhibition featuring her work, CULT, arrives at the end of July. I caught up with Tomlin to find out more about the exhibition, and ask what inspires her.

I feel like your work is macabre, but also beautiful. Is that duality something that drives the aesthetic?

Very much so. I’m fascinated by how beautiful skeletons are, how delicate bones are. Fragile beauty. Especially small birds and animals. I feel that as humans, we forget how much death is part of being alive and pausing for a moment, really studying and exploring the beauty of death reconnects us.

I adore gothic culture, in terms of literature, music and film, and I am very much drawn to this beautiful world of dark fantasy, but also very real acceptance of decay. There is something thrilling and sensual in embracing the darker side of our imagination, perhaps it is knowing our time here is short and that we have to make the most of the things that bring us pleasure while we can.

Please tell me more about the new exhibition.

Cult was created to show work by artists whose work doesn’t always fit into nice traditional gallery spaces. It exists in the in-between spaces of pop art; fine art, gothic culture, underground markets, street art, and is often dismissed as “too dark” and “too weird”.

We are not afraid to explore the darker elements of our psyche, we poke at the bad tooth, we provide the “Eww, where did that come from?” moments . We explore nightmares, things we are not meant to say, and the unconsciousness of what connects us as human beings. Our lived experiences are not beautiful landscapes,and vases of flowers.Neither are they art school abstracts. So our work isn’t either. It’s real, and while it’s not always easy, it’s relatable.

There’s a tangible link in being able to address trauma through fantastical artwork, and it is important to us that we keep making and sharing this work for our own mental health. So we do!

In terms of visual art, who are your biggest influences?

I am an absolute magpie. Influences come in from anywhere and everywhere. The classics such as Dali and Goya are high up there. Admittedly, I am slightly lazy when it comes to research, but there are some artists whose work was burnt into my brain at a young age- pretty much active in the 1990s! Others are absolutely the people I currently work with , I’m privileged to be able to say that every artist in this exhibition has inspired me in some way or another and it’s absolutely why I wanted to bring them all together.

But namedropping a few original artists:

Dave McKean for his layers and colours , so many rich ideas! I adored ‘The Sandman’ comics when I was a teenager and he did the original cover artwork. I love being invited to properly look around an image collecting information and spotting new things. I also love how low tech his work was…or seemed. I’m definitely influenced by his work.

I have always loved the work of Rodney Matthews, big fantasy landscapes and stories told through paint. Another artist who at face value creates a beautiful space, but then you find you’re looking closer and telling stories.

Fiona Rae was part of the YBAs (Young British Artists) back when I was a teenager and apart from that making her an absolute badass in my eyes, she again makes pieces of work that you have to spend time with,looking and exploring the colours.

Will the exhibition continue elsewhere?

Yes! The exhibition will be going to Xcite at Braehead , hosted by Mortar Projects, a Renfrewshire -based artists collective of which I’m a founding member. We also hope to tour this exhibition, or a version of it, to Belfast before the end of the year!

To get tickets, head to:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/cult-an-exhibition-87685551133