Kathy
Siganakis
1. What part of the process of creating art do you like
best?
Thinking, researching and
forming ideas for paintings. A visual diary is very
useful and visiting a few galleries almost always helps.
Then planning what to paint e.g., interpreting
the ideas into an image. Finally applying the paint
onto the canvas.
2.
What is your working environment like?
I am lucky enough to have a
studio in an Artist Complex in Collingwood with other
friends, who are artists, close by. Having a space
dedicated to my art that I do not have to pack up each day
and room to display my works in progress is wonderful.
The interaction with other artists is a great support
and keeps the creative juices flowing.
3.
What kind of (formal & informal) art training have you
had?
After attending many art
classes over the years I enrolled as a mature age student
to study for a Diploma of Visual Art. I graduated 5
years ago with a major in painting and a minor in
sculpture.
4.
How has your art training affected the kind of art you
produce?
Formal art training gives you
the confidence and freedom to experiment with your
art practice. It forces you to exhibit and take
chances. It develops the ideas process and gives you
the technical ability to follow through. Being
introduced to modern art, studying art movements and
specific artists opens your mind to other ways of thinking
and seeing. The result of all this is my interest in
abstraction and interpreting and not copying an image.
5.
Name some important influences and inspirations in your art
career.
My greatest influences have
been students and teachers over the years.
Discovering the German Expressionists and the
American abstract expressionists and understanding their
place in time. I particulary like the American
artists: Hopper, Diebencorn, Theiboud and
Rauschenberg.
6.
What has been the most difficult thing you have encountered
in your work?
Trying to find my own style and
looking for new direction in my painting. I sometimes
also find myself getting too tight. It is easy to
slip into copying something instead of making the image
your own
7.
Have there been major turning points in your art
career?
Realising that painting is now
intuitive and not having to labour over technique.
Having the skills to work through a problem.
Knowing, more often, when to abandon, fix or finish a
painting.
8.
What has been the highlight of your art
career?
Seeing or knowing that someone
loves and is moved by your work. Even better when
they purchase it. Creating something that you love
and can't part with is also special.
Caption:
Renos,
Acrylic on canvas, by Kathy Siganakis