Artist in conversation: Emma Coyle
Emma Coyle has been working within art for
over 20 years and been based in London UK since 2006. Coyle’s figurative work focuses to push ideas
and produce accomplished paintings and photography of a Fine Art standard using process and
execution of ideas.
Follow Emma here.
- Hello Emma! Can you tell us a little bit about you and your practice?
I have always produced strong imagery working from a Fine Art background and am interested in the technicality of painting. I choose to use media imagery and fashion photography as a starting point because of interests in 1st wave Pop Art from the 1950’s. I feel that my work represents the original themes in Pop art and my interest in taking these themes and using them in a contemporary context.
For my figurative work I am constantly collecting images from current print magazines, whether I am working on an on-going series of paintings or not. I choose an image which to me is solely strong in form to begin with, this is most important for me to produce a strong painting. As a Pop artist I am using images which the media choose to represent modern times and my choices then represent an interest in strength of imagery not necessarily the subject matter.
Fifteen years ago, it was ever few years when I would carefully select and group images together to start working on a series of drawings. I now do this every two years so that the contemporary images are more relevant to my work to represent what is current, which relates to the Pop art aspect. I work with groups of drawings for months at a time to manipulate the image, and then continue through to painting.
The three most important aspects to my paintings are line work, using primary and secondary lines, colour, the mixing of colour, and composition elements, using formal or informal composition. I have always worked in series of paintings. The numbers of paintings to a series can be anywhere from three to twenty. When in the middle of a series, this is when I decide how far it will go and how many paintings will be made. A theme will run through each series without the paintings necessarily looking like they are in a series together. For the series to be completed there needs to be a resolve of an idea or ideas.
- Have you been formally trained and what was it that first drew you to your medium?
I studied Fine Art in Dublin covering mediums from darkroom photography, ceramics, sculpture but always preferred working with paint.
- Although a painter, your work has appeared in various prestigious publications around the world. How do you navigate between the more traditional fine art world and the publication work?
I have a strong interest in Fine Art and contemporary art. I am constantly reading and like most artist’s everything is relevant, we dismiss nothing.
- Have you been working on anything new and exciting recently?
Yes, I am working on my Binary series which has been very experimental for me. I have been playing around with new colours and working with informal compositions.
- What advice would you give to young aspiring artists?
Keep working constantly on your art, it is the only way it will progress and get stronger. Read about art and visiting art in galleries and museums is also very beneficial.
