INTERVIEWED BY Malibongwe Tyilo
Since graduating from the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2013, where she was awarded the Simon Gerson Prize for an outstanding body of work, Alexia Vogel has been making waves on the art scene and injecting new life into landscape painting.
In March last year, she debuted a well-received solo exhibition, Lost in Reverie, at the Barnard Gallery in Newlands, Cape Town. Up next, Alexia will participate in a group show, Lords of Winter, at Equus gallery, on the Cavalli Estate in Stellenbosch. We caught up with the artist to chat painting, inspiration, and standing out in an increasingly packed contemporary South African art scene.
There is something quite dreamy and fantastical about the way you paint. What inspires you to use this technique?
My inspiration comes from the landscapes in old family photographs and images found online. My paintings start with multiple landscapes in mind; I rarely choose one image to focus on. From here, the very ‘turpsy’ oil paint directs where the painting may go. Seeing how the paint flows and falls across the surface leads the landscape into a more abstracted scape. The spontaneity in my mark-making places the scenes between the imagined and the captured.
Over the past couple of decades, as conceptual art and performance art have become more and more mainstream, there has been less attention paid to painting, especially landscapes. What drew you to painting?
I have always enjoyed looking at paintings. I enjoy getting absorbed by them and always try to make work that will hopefully be absorbed by its viewers.
I was also very fortunate to have lecturers at university who encouraged painting and to truly explore it as a medium. I think to be in an environment that is excited by painting also played a huge role in my love for it.
What can we expect from you at the upcoming group show at Equus Gallery?
The title of the show is Lords of Winter and I happened to be making a painting that has a wintery mist about it, so that was a happy coincidence.
Besides the group show, what else are you working on at the moment?
I am currently working towards a show in Sydney in June and group shows with my representative gallery, the Barnard Gallery.
Who are some of your favourite artists?
Claude Monet, Peter Doig, Adam Lee, Ross Bleckner, Gerhard Richter, Jake Aikman, Georgina Gratrix, Ian Gross and Sarah Biggs.
There is so much happening on the contemporary local art scene at the moment, how do you make sure you stand out?
It is not easy. I don’t particularly try to stand out; I rather try to be seen. I market myself on Instagram and tumblr to keep people interested by showing new work in progress, studio snaps, etc.
Lords of Winter runs from the 3 April until 26 June 2016 at Equus Gallery.