article Artiq meets the next generation of London artists
Artiq meets the next generation of London artists
Ones to Watch by Riki Auton
Ones to Watch by Riki Auton
Every summer, London welcomes an artistic renaissance—a reinvigoration of the industry and an opportunity for emerging talent to flourish. Across the capital, hundreds of degree shows feature the works of students from a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. These exhibitions represent a diverse range of creative disciplines and are a testament to the dedication and artistic fervour of their graduating classes. The yearly influx of talent is invaluable to the creative industries and presents a vital opportunity for artists and curators to establish the trajectory of their future careers. From the blood, sweat and tears of its students, these shows are a one-stop-shop for the country's most exciting emerging talent.
Amidst this cacophony of creativity, we have identified four rising stars from masters' programmes across London. From the RA to City & Guild, these emerging artists are redefining artistic narratives and pushing the boundaries of traditional expression.
Amidst this cacophony of creativity, we have identified four rising stars from masters' programmes across London. From the RA to City & Guild, these emerging artists are redefining artistic narratives and pushing the boundaries of traditional expression.
Ana Benavides
MA Painting, Royal College of Art
Inspired by the textiles, landscapes and the nature of her hometown of Monterrey, Mexico, Ana Benavides is an artist born with colour. She characterises her practice by texture, gesture, and colour, and having grown up in Mexico, she is well acquainted with
all three.
She is also no stranger to hard work and determination. Having studied a BA in Advertising and Marketing, Ana's MA was an opportunity to unleash her creative practice. “When I finally graduated, I said to my parents, I'm doing painting now. I don't care. This is what I love.” The MA was a valuable opportunity for Ana to develop her practice, and the large-scale, gestural works she now creates are far removed from the pop art influences she began the course with. When asked what advice she would give other recent graduates, Ana's determination emerges yet again. “Keep working your ass off every single day, and don't give up”. She continues, “If you really love what you do, and you do it with passion and love, I do believe it's going to pay off.”
Ana's passion is not only evident, it's infectious. She works with a focus, fervour, and fluidity far beyond her years. Reflecting on the impact of her paintings, she says, “I feel nowadays we're in a society, and in general in a world, where we never look within. We never hear intuition”. Encouraging us to reflect on our emotions, she reminds us of the simple power of art: “Expression as a way of liberation”.
MA Painting, Royal College of Art
Inspired by the textiles, landscapes and the nature of her hometown of Monterrey, Mexico, Ana Benavides is an artist born with colour. She characterises her practice by texture, gesture, and colour, and having grown up in Mexico, she is well acquainted with
all three.
She is also no stranger to hard work and determination. Having studied a BA in Advertising and Marketing, Ana's MA was an opportunity to unleash her creative practice. “When I finally graduated, I said to my parents, I'm doing painting now. I don't care. This is what I love.” The MA was a valuable opportunity for Ana to develop her practice, and the large-scale, gestural works she now creates are far removed from the pop art influences she began the course with. When asked what advice she would give other recent graduates, Ana's determination emerges yet again. “Keep working your ass off every single day, and don't give up”. She continues, “If you really love what you do, and you do it with passion and love, I do believe it's going to pay off.”
Ana's passion is not only evident, it's infectious. She works with a focus, fervour, and fluidity far beyond her years. Reflecting on the impact of her paintings, she says, “I feel nowadays we're in a society, and in general in a world, where we never look within. We never hear intuition”. Encouraging us to reflect on our emotions, she reminds us of the simple power of art: “Expression as a way of liberation”.
Anna Higgins
The Royal Academy Schools
Anna Higgins's expanded photographic practice explores our interpretation of image. Informed by early photographic practices and the history of experimental film, she allows process to dictate the outcomes of her imagery. The resulting work is surreal, beautiful, and frustratingly ineffable.
For Anna, imagery is a universal, non-verbal language that transcends our understanding of past and present. She explores forms and symbols that have existed since antiquity and is fascinated by their ability to communicate throughout time. When asked for examples, Anna quickly answers, “The sun, light, colour”. These forms are evident in her work and serendipitously reflect the basic requirements for the analogue and digital processes that make up her practice.
Compared to the theoretical, post-modernist approach of her undergraduate, Anna's time at the Royal Academy was marked by receptivity and material experimentation, “a radical openness to do whatever you want and to make whatever you want”. This openness has become a part of Anna's practice. Rather than pointing to something beyond the image, our understanding of her work should be latent within its picture plane: “I want people to experience the work how they want to experience it, with a radical feeling that there are no right answers.”
With no right and wrong interpretations of her work, Anna makes way for a beautiful piece of advice. Given to her by an older artist and past mentor, she tells us: “Make work for ten people. Just have ten people you know care about your work, who are interested in it, and don't care what the rest of the world thinks. Just think about those ten people.”
The Royal Academy Schools
Anna Higgins's expanded photographic practice explores our interpretation of image. Informed by early photographic practices and the history of experimental film, she allows process to dictate the outcomes of her imagery. The resulting work is surreal, beautiful, and frustratingly ineffable.
For Anna, imagery is a universal, non-verbal language that transcends our understanding of past and present. She explores forms and symbols that have existed since antiquity and is fascinated by their ability to communicate throughout time. When asked for examples, Anna quickly answers, “The sun, light, colour”. These forms are evident in her work and serendipitously reflect the basic requirements for the analogue and digital processes that make up her practice.
Compared to the theoretical, post-modernist approach of her undergraduate, Anna's time at the Royal Academy was marked by receptivity and material experimentation, “a radical openness to do whatever you want and to make whatever you want”. This openness has become a part of Anna's practice. Rather than pointing to something beyond the image, our understanding of her work should be latent within its picture plane: “I want people to experience the work how they want to experience it, with a radical feeling that there are no right answers.”
With no right and wrong interpretations of her work, Anna makes way for a beautiful piece of advice. Given to her by an older artist and past mentor, she tells us: “Make work for ten people. Just have ten people you know care about your work, who are interested in it, and don't care what the rest of the world thinks. Just think about those ten people.”
Ben Topping
MA Fine Art, City & Guilds of London Art School
Inspired by the process of ruination, Ben Topping's work explores history and decay; his practice reconstructs narratives from heritage sites and derelict buildings and encourages us to find beauty in fragmentation and deterioration.
Drawn to printmaking during his BA, Ben's work is heavily influenced by process. “The whole idea of printmaking is you're etching into a metal plate, so I'm physically destroying the surface of the metal to create an image of something that's been destroyed. It's like using erosion to depict erosion”. It is for this reason Ben believes in the mutual conversation between artist and artwork. He is not only open to but informed by the influence of his materials and processes. Though he had previously worked with casting and 3D printing, his time at City & Guilds introduced bronze casting to his practice. Much like printmaking, he was drawn to the specificity and order bronze requires, and the medium quickly influenced his study of Corfe Castle. Located in Dorset, Corfe was the subject of Ben's scrutiny for over a year and, alongside Porchester Castle, is the ruin he would most recommend to others. Sharing his captivation with these decrepit sites, Ben explains their unique ability to evolve and shift. Their existence across many periods of time makes them universal - they can so easily be “distorted and implemented into different areas of fiction or history or painting”.
When asked what advice he would give recent graduates, Ben's answer is simple: “Don't forget to make artwork! So many people come out of art school, stop for too long and then forget that they can be an artist. Do whatever you want, just don't forget that you enjoy art.”
MA Fine Art, City & Guilds of London Art School
Inspired by the process of ruination, Ben Topping's work explores history and decay; his practice reconstructs narratives from heritage sites and derelict buildings and encourages us to find beauty in fragmentation and deterioration.
Drawn to printmaking during his BA, Ben's work is heavily influenced by process. “The whole idea of printmaking is you're etching into a metal plate, so I'm physically destroying the surface of the metal to create an image of something that's been destroyed. It's like using erosion to depict erosion”. It is for this reason Ben believes in the mutual conversation between artist and artwork. He is not only open to but informed by the influence of his materials and processes. Though he had previously worked with casting and 3D printing, his time at City & Guilds introduced bronze casting to his practice. Much like printmaking, he was drawn to the specificity and order bronze requires, and the medium quickly influenced his study of Corfe Castle. Located in Dorset, Corfe was the subject of Ben's scrutiny for over a year and, alongside Porchester Castle, is the ruin he would most recommend to others. Sharing his captivation with these decrepit sites, Ben explains their unique ability to evolve and shift. Their existence across many periods of time makes them universal - they can so easily be “distorted and implemented into different areas of fiction or history or painting”.
When asked what advice he would give recent graduates, Ben's answer is simple: “Don't forget to make artwork! So many people come out of art school, stop for too long and then forget that they can be an artist. Do whatever you want, just don't forget that you enjoy art.”
Jesse Akele
MA Painting, Royal College of Art
Personal, colourful and well-composed, Jesse Akele's paintings are a testament to her ability for storytelling. Even when abstracted from the moments that inspire them, Jesse has an incredible capacity for capturing truth.
Raised between South London and West Yorkshire, and trained in theatrical naturalism, Jesse is inspired by observation. She is fascinated by how our mannerisms and attributes vary and explores the effect of mimicking those attributes back to us. Like the theatrical process of performance and rehearsal, this often involves intense scrutiny of moments in time. Going from moment to moment and back again to understand and capture the essence of her image.
To Jesse, her MA was an invaluable time. Compared to the privacy of her home studio, the RCA was in constant flux. “Every time you walk down the corridors, someone's doing something completely different to what they were doing yesterday.
It wakes you up every time you come out of your studio”. This ever-changing environment forced Jesse to think more critically about her practice, and she discovered a longing to imprint more of herself on her work. With her background in naturalism, she began exploring the psycho-physicality of performance and painting. “When you're on stage, if you've got an impulse to scratch your face, you don't stand there and look like you don't know what to do. You follow the impulse because people do scratch their face in real life.” The same goes for painting: “Eliminate the gap as much as you can between what you want to do and what you actually do”.
Explore other articles from Artiq Annual Volume 2 or read the full annual online here.
MA Painting, Royal College of Art
Personal, colourful and well-composed, Jesse Akele's paintings are a testament to her ability for storytelling. Even when abstracted from the moments that inspire them, Jesse has an incredible capacity for capturing truth.
Raised between South London and West Yorkshire, and trained in theatrical naturalism, Jesse is inspired by observation. She is fascinated by how our mannerisms and attributes vary and explores the effect of mimicking those attributes back to us. Like the theatrical process of performance and rehearsal, this often involves intense scrutiny of moments in time. Going from moment to moment and back again to understand and capture the essence of her image.
To Jesse, her MA was an invaluable time. Compared to the privacy of her home studio, the RCA was in constant flux. “Every time you walk down the corridors, someone's doing something completely different to what they were doing yesterday.
It wakes you up every time you come out of your studio”. This ever-changing environment forced Jesse to think more critically about her practice, and she discovered a longing to imprint more of herself on her work. With her background in naturalism, she began exploring the psycho-physicality of performance and painting. “When you're on stage, if you've got an impulse to scratch your face, you don't stand there and look like you don't know what to do. You follow the impulse because people do scratch their face in real life.” The same goes for painting: “Eliminate the gap as much as you can between what you want to do and what you actually do”.
Explore other articles from Artiq Annual Volume 2 or read the full annual online here.