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Interview

Olivia Kemp p3

Landscape artist Olivia Kemp mentions a couple of books on artists Andrew Wyeth and Samuel Palmer...

READERSVOICE.COM: I was wondering if you’d come across any other books you’ve liked that you could recommend, like biographies of artists, maybe of Rembrandt, whom you’ve long admired, or humorous books?

OLIVIA KEMP: Two of my favourite books to have in studio are Memories and Magic a book about the American painter Andrew Wyeth and Shadows on the Wall a book about the painter Samuel Palmer. Both beautiful books.

RV: What got you started on the large imaginary locations, like with The Archipelago? Where did some of the objects come from, like was the lighthouse the one you talked about in that nuclear testing site on the English coast?

OK: Drawing imagined scenes is something that evolved slowly over time. I was drawing landscapes that I saw and began adding and moving things quite early on. This slowly developed until I would just use a few elements to build something entirely imaginary. They’re always littered with things I have seen in real life. My castles drawing “Ascending the High Pass” was based on a trip to the castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau in Bavaria. “The Archipelago” was based off of a trip to Norway and things I had seen there. The lighthouse was from my research into old whaling stations and abandoned working coast sites both in Norway and elsewhere.

RV: Do you still live in London and do you find as many inspiring scenes in the urban landscape, that have a slightly odd or strange aspect that strikes you, and might be suitable for pictures?

OK: I don’t live in London any more! I really never used London much in my work.

RV: What are some of your plans?

OK: I have a solo show and two art fairs coming up, so am planning some research trips. I’m yet to settle on exactly where.

– see oliviakemp.co.uk
– copyright readersvoice.com