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.

“It becomes timeless”: Dave White’s category-defying animal portraits

By committing to capturing his subject faithfully, deferring the questions and claims about art that so many others are preoccupied with, he allows himself to develop constantly as an artist. “I’m just trying to make beautiful things,” he tells me, “and I see beauty in everything.”

By Phin Jennings | 11 Jul 2023

Interview with Viet Ha Tran: Photographing Dreamscape

"I try to draw pictures of my own inner dreams, feelings and intimacy, or reflect these emotions onto my photographs of landscapes and nature."

By Rise Art | 30 Jun 2023

“Try to look steadily”: experiencing oxymoron with Patrick Hughes

I visited Hughes’ Shoreditch studio on a sunny June afternoon. I am there to see some new paintings that distil the Reverspective idea into singular objects. “I’m making new shapes,” he tells me as he ascends the stairs from the basement, striking a series of poses with arms and legs outstretched...

By Phin Jennings | 29 Jun 2023

Leila Fanner: An accidental and surprising journey

“The figure to me is a holding place,” she explains. It is not an attempt to paint a realistic person, this or that woman, but to represent a more foundational, ineffable feminine energy.

By Phin Jennings | 23 Jun 2023

Painting on the edge with Debbi Kenote

Kenote sees the physical shape of the substrate as the first decision a painter makes, whether they know it or not...

By Phin Jennings | 12 Jun 2023

Interview with Day Bowman: Treading Between Abstraction and Figuration

"Scale is important to me. I love working large so that my whole body is gesturally creating the marks and slashes and brushstrokes."

By Rise Art | 05 May 2023

Interview with Emily Starck: Symbiosis with Nature and Spontaneous Abstraction

"I want people to be opened at the beauty of art, let them feel it as they easier do it in music."

By Rise Art | 23 Mar 2023

Rogan Brown and the Art of Science

Rogan Brown is a contemporary artist who is redefining the world of sculpture. Eschewing traditional materials such as stone and metal in favour of fragile paper, he creates sculptures that explore the natural world and science with fresh eyes. These artworks place organic forms under the microscope, magnifying them and distorting them to present new perspectives.

By Rise Art | 16 Jun 2020

Life and Art with Seçil Erel

Throughout spring and summer 2020, Connective Spaces, Liverpool Street Station by Seçil Erel will hang in Avenue Restaurant as part of a new exhibition celebrating some of our most promising abstract painters. To mark the occasion, I wanted to dig a little deeper into what makes this, and the artist’s practice in general, so special.

By Phin Jennings | 04 Mar 2020

Peeling Back Contemporary Collage with Peter Horvath

Horvath repurposes images from early 20th century advertising and Hollywood to redefine their meaning and subvert expectations. Rise Art caught up with him to find out more about his artistic journey, process, inspirations and future plans.

By Rise Art | 17 Dec 2019