Interview with an Artist: Gabriella Hirst

1.  When did you first get really heavily into art and decide to go to art school?

‘When I was young my parents would take us to galleries all the time as kids, I suppose you could say I had an artistic background, and my grandfather is an artist. There was a time when I was about 15, when my perspective shifted and I realised that galleries weren’t so tedious, and boring after all. It was then that I really started to get in to art…

When I got older, my interest only increased. I went on French exchange when I was around 16 and remember seeing art students at galleries, and on the street drawing in Paris and thinking –  “wow that looks like so much fun…’” I didn’t really want to go to art school at first, I figured I should get out into the world first, and see what the world could teach me. But eventually I came around to it, and when I started at the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales, I soon realised that I had a lot to learn there, and met some really wonderful like-minded people.'
 
2. What art projects are you are working on right now, and what or who inspires you as an artist?

‘Right now I am working on paintings on silk, which are in response to time, I spent in Japan at the beginning of the 2011. I saw a bit of work from fabric series by Louis Bourgeois, which I found I really inspiring.  She worked with a lot of sewn fabric was a sculptor using fabrics in her works, which linked back to her family and upbringing. The textures she was able to create in her work really intrigued me.'

'I am also working on a series of portraits for a law firm here in Sydney (that is my bread and butter at the moment.)’
 
3. We are big fans of your dreamy savage girl stretch silk canvas paintings where a story builds in visual layers. Can you tell us a little about the concepts behind and the 18th Century feral child Marie-Angelique Memmie LeBlanc who inspired the work?

‘I started that project mid 2010 and am continuing still. The more I research her the more interested I get in her… Marie-Angelique was discovered in the early 1700s in an area in Southern France and basically emerged from the trees into this small town. She was understood to have been living in the forest up until she emerged (she was 19 or there about’s) when she was found. She was taken in by the local nobility and kept as a novelty and taught French.'

'She lived until she was around 60 years old and became adept at making paper flowers, which was a feminine craft at the time. The more I researched, the more possibilities came out as to the reason for her mysterious arrival in the town. That is what I found the most interesting. I wanted to explore not only her as a person, but also the mystery and fantasy that people wrap around stories to make them more interesting, and where the fact and fantasy cross over.’

4. Can you tell us a little bit about what you are working on next?

‘I am going and start working on more Marie-Angelique, and explore further into the new information I have found. I also need to build up my portfolio. I finished Art School at the end of 2010, so I still need to add more work to my repertoire. I suppose the end phase will be an exhibition for this work as well..’
 
5. What advice can you give our younger readers thinking of perusing a career as a professional artist?

‘I have only recently finished art school, so I am at the very beginning of my career. But this is where I would start if I was a school student thinking about becoming a professional artist;
The first step is go and see everything you can wherever you are, expose yourself to as much as you can so get some kind of taste of your interested in. Seek out artistic things in your city, like life drawing classes, talks, art events, to get an understanding about what you like.  Travel and draw as much as you can.'

'Also, try and seek out like-minded people who think the same way as you.  Look for a mentor or someone you admire, someone who is doing something you are really in too and see how they go about their work, and succeed as a professional. Going to art school is not compulsory, but it is definitely a good option as it gives you a base of people who are doing the same things as you, and are as passionate about art as you are.'

 
'And of course - constantly make as much art as you can and exhibit it as much as you can. Whether that be on a blog or on a wall the street, or by organising a group show with an Artist Run Initiative to show you work, and develop your practice.  Lastly, take any and every opportunity that comes your way - don’t let things go by!'