Meet Josephine Hill, IAVA’s newest member. We asked Josephine a few getting to know you questions.
What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?
To this day I can recall being drawn to the painting easel at Preschool. The colours and paint gliding across the page. The scale of the page compared to me and feeling like I could create something big. It always felt like a space where I could just be, the noise the activity around me seemed to disappear. When I was complete I had a sense of contentment and achievement. There is a black and white photo of me at the Preschool easel in Mum’s photo box, I have always wished it was in colour.
A favourite piece of artwork which still hangs in our home today is a field of poppies, a watercolour filled with movement and colour, significate as it is the first piece of art I purchased some 30 years ago from a gallery in the Sunshine Coast Hinterlands. Whilst its frame has changed in that time, I still love the artwork as much as the day we bought it.
How would you describe your art practice?
Having studied colour and continuing to explore the way colour can interact with light and influence mood and life, a colour palette is primary to my practice. When I begin a piece of artwork both form and colour are at the fore front of my mind. Once I have those in play the rest evolves as the artwork forms across the canvas. I work mainly with acrylics on canvas but have a number of bits and pieces in my studio I experiment with. Possibly the influence of my preschool years but I prefer to paint on a larger canvas than a small one.
Do you have a favourite artist and/or artwork? What is it that makes them your favourite?
It is absolutely impossible for me to name a favourite artist as I’d feel it was a betrayal to another artist I love and another. I am very drawn to the work of the Masters of Modern art – Monet, Cezanne, Herbin, Manguin, Derain, Kandinsky and the list goes on.
Most recent adventure or achievement?
I am extremely fortunate that I have had the opportunity to travel to experience foreign lands, gain insights into cultures and see many great artworks across the globe. At the beginning of this year I sat with The Woman in Gold at the Neue Galerie in New York. The portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klim has intrigued me as has its story of how it came to be at the Neue on permanent display.
Any current goals you’re working towards?
More travel, more exploring our world in an attempt to learn and understand.
More experimentation with my practice and less fear.
But before all of that, completing my works for my solo exhibition in November to bring much colour and joy to a world that seems extremely dark and troubled.