Name: Boudicca Collins
Location: Brixton, London
Website: https://www.boudiccacollins.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jester-Jacques-Gallery/329803133717517
Brief artists statement:
Nature is the main inspiration of my work and bright colours are also essential. I like my paintings to transport the viewer to another place, away from the dull monotony of life that we have to lead into somewhere more beautiful, hidden in the sub conscious.
How important was art and creativity when you were growing up?
My father was an artist and although my mum and dad didn’t live together, I used to go to my dads house every weekend. His house was full of junk and he would use his house as his studio. Whenever I spent time with him, he would just put me on the floor and say ‘do what you want, spill paint everywhere’ and I would pursue different projects. He also used to do the sets for the BBC so sometimes I would get to see the backdrops he was working on. My dad was the greatest inspiration to me.
How did you get interested in animals and where does this influence come from?
I grew up with a lot of pets, from tortoises, to guinea pigs, cats, rabbits, you name it! I have always loved being outdoors and in Nature, and animals have a very beautiful aesthetic. It is all about escapism. When you’re surrounded by concrete and pollution, you daydream. The whole subject of escapism is interesting in the context of humanity, especially looking at it from where we are now. Bright colours, animals and jungles are what I dream of!
How has your education helped your career?
The most important way that education has helped me in being an artist is through the contacts I have made and the people I met, from other artists who are great, to the tutors who are fantastic. I think at the end of the day you’re always going to carve your own path, but its good to have a helping hand.
Which historical and contemporary artists do you refer to most often? How are you influenced by their work?
William Blake has got to be one of my all time favourites, that has inspired me from when I was very young, both his poetry and his artwork. I also like James Rosenquist, Frida Kahlo, Eugene Delacroix. I also like writers like Edgar Allan Poe and Aldus Huxley.
I was blown away by his paintings when James Rosenquist had a retrospective here in London when I was in my first year of university. He used to be a billboard painter and just what he was doing with the color and the imagery, it made me think ‘yeah, it’s alright to do that, it’s alright to make a big painting and do what you want to do.’
Do you have a quotation that you keep coming back to and that keep you going?
Yes, I do! “If you look hard enough, you will find the treasure.” The other one is “if in doubt, choose pink.”
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve just finished a very small painting which is on a shield and it’s a jaguar face with flowers around him. I have also recently finished a larger painting called “Tortoise Time,” which explores what I am getting into at the moment, which is animal spirituality. I am interested in portraying the power of animals in Nature.
Why do you work so large? What does it lend to your paintings?
It gives me the space to create the image I want to without having to condense anything I want to portray. I don’t want to have to comprimise the composition because there’s not enough space. There’s also the idea that blowing something up and making it large can give it a new dimension, a new power, a new way of finding its way into someone’s subconscious. If you go to Sri Lanka or Thailand, how they make statues of their Gods, for example giant Buddhas, they are investing power into this image and I do that with my animals.
What purpose does glitter and crystals serve in your work?
I think that comes back to the idea of the subconscious and what people find attractive. I use it aesthetically to make my artwork more attractive, but its also playing with the idea that it’s a fake thing, not a real diamond. It reminds me of what Huxley wrote about Heaven and Hell and striving for this other level of the subconscious. I think that religion, spirituality and symbolism are important in the work.
What’s next for you?
At the moment I am working with a friend, setting up a pop up shop in New Cross and its going to be called ‘Cabbages and Kings.’ So we’re putting up a show there next week and I am putting some of my paintings in. I also have a window display at a gallery in St George’s Circus and I will be doing some work for Jester Jacques Gallery over the summer.
Leave a Reply