Page 3 | Artist Interviews

Artists

Read artist interviews featuring some of the most exciting established and emerging figures in the art world. Our conversations with contemporary artists get to the heart of what makes them tick, exploring the development of their style, their inspirations and the stories behind their recent work. Discover our artist interviews to get to know the people whose works that you can browse and buy in our online store.

Our top artist interviews

One of our most popular recent interviews was a talk with Nelson Makamo, a South African painter and winner of 2018’s Rise Art Prize known for his expressive portraits. Our conversation with Kelvin Okafor, who creates intricate photorealistic pencil portraits, dove into his unique fusion of the technical and the conceptual. You may also enjoy our interview with Fred Ingrams, in which he discusses both his technical process and what drew him to start painting the Fens.

Interviews you won’t want to miss

Among our contemporary artist interviews, you will find our Q&A with Philip Vaughan, author of the landmark 48ft-tall Light Tower which graced the London skyline from 1972 to 2008. You can read about the machinations and motivations driving rising star Anna Sofie Jesperson. Our interview with Mark Chadwick may also be of interest, where the colour master shines a light on the inspiration behind his vibrant abstract paintings.

Everything depends on everything: intentionality and unpredictability with Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Available for the first time, we are launching a collection of 32 original artworks by Pezo von Ellrichshausen from the last ten years. They include selected examples from five bodies of work that span drawing, acrylic, oil and watercolour painting. To mark this, the latest chapter of an ongoing collaboration between Rise Art and Pezo von Ellrichshausen, our Curator Phin Jennings visited their home and studio in Chile to learn more about their collaborative practice as artists and architects.

By Phin Jennings | 11 Sept 2023

Fleur Patrick: Collaborating with the Paint

“The paintings become a record of a battle,” she tells me: a battle between portrayal and distortion. She exercises limited power over the latter, meaning that she can never be quite sure how a painting will turn out until it is finished; “I relinquish control and allow the paint to behave according to its own material tendencies.”

By Phin Jennings | 30 Aug 2023

5 Artists on the Rise

Rise Art’s mission is to share the stories and perspectives of outstanding artists with the world. All of the artists on our global roster have been hand-selected by our team of Curators, based on their commitment to their practice and the quality of their work. Below you can discover five new artists to the platform, each of whom are engaged in questioning and changing our perceptions.

By Cécile Martet | 24 Aug 2023

db Waterman: Beauty From Decay

Dutch artist db Waterman uses a variety of techniques and materials to create fictive settings that are woven together by nostalgic melancholy. Juxtaposing these landscapes with figures emanating positivity and hope makes for puzzling layers with a story that is both yours and hers to tell.

By Cécile Martet | 22 Aug 2023

Nicolas Desbons: Stylistic, Sublime, Steel

Trained in industrial design, Nicolas Desbons' life revolves around metal work. He divides his energy and creativity between locksmithing, ironwork, and his passion: sculpture. Working primarily with steel, this sculptural artist creates airy, exquisite forms that seem to have been shaped out of thin air.

By Cécile Martet | 22 Aug 2023

Aykaz Arzumanyan : Life is a Rose

Every stroke of paint applied with his knife to the surface of the canvas is done with the precision of a watchmaker. The slightest slip and he has to start over completely. A meeting with painter Aykaz Arzumanyan...

By Cécile Martet | 21 Aug 2023

Philippe Buil: The Quest for Intimacy

Sculptor specializing in bronze and steel, Philippe Buil let us take a look around his studio in Saint-Etienne, and spoke to us about the world he has created and what made him choose a career in the Arts. He is also deeply inspired by ancient Roman and Greek art, and has honed his skills and technique to a tee.

By Cécile Martet | 17 Aug 2023

Sophie Barut: Humanity at her Fingertips

Sophie Barut’s beautiful silhouettes take us gently by the hand and bring us back to our youth. Using the lost-wax casting technique, her bronze sculptures cover many themes with great levels of delicacy and tastefulness - themes of love, friendship, life force and disability.

By Cécile Martet | 17 Aug 2023

Marleen Pauwels: leaning into quiet

“My focus is on silence and solitude,” Marleen Pauwels tells me with a luminescent smile. This is not usually the expression that comes with discussing solitude, I point out, as Pauwels presents me with one of her signature elongated figures, alone in a secluded scene of what can only be described, at first glance, as emptiness.

By Sophie Heatley | 08 Aug 2023

Daniel Freaker: Fantastical, Relatable, Material

I’m particularly drawn to evocative spaces, landscapes and architecture where the space somehow echoes a human experience,” he tells me of the settings he chooses for his paintings. He sometimes places characters or signs of human activity against these backgrounds, suggesting that they might be the settings for untold stories, but not always. Sometimes the infrastructure itself is enough to capture the viewer’s imagination.

By Phin Jennings | 24 Jul 2023