Belinda Fox Painter - The Netherlands

Travel influences Belinda Fox’s art.  Living in Singapore brought bright colours, while pairing back colour in The Netherlands.  Belinda Fox causes great enthusiasm and eagerness in her work.

Zoneone Arts brings Belinda Fox to you…

You majored in printmaking and spent time at Port Jackson Press do you see this as your major genre?

Printmaking informs the basis of how I work and is a big influence but I would not call myself a printmaker. I mainly paint but I work with many mediums in 2d and 3d. I guess I am a multi discipline artist these days…

 

Belinda-Fox-Pedestal-2018-110x100cm

Discuss line in your current work?  

In my latest show in Berlin the line plays an important role of tying and unifying, connecting the paintings and the printed backgrounds. I wanted the audience to have a full experience of how I create by feeling totally immersed in the work. You have lines that are quite brutal from the woodcut panels, to the soft watercolour, to the printed woodcut line with incidental lines on delicate Japanese paper. These webs of lines intersect and contrast each other giving the viewer a full experience of how I create.

Your work currently is showing in Berlin is very light – pale discuss.

I think the change in environment from living in Singapore to The Netherlands has created a paired back palette perhaps. It is unconscious really.

Can you take ‘A few Moments 1’ and expand on the work.

A few moments w 2018, Watercolour, drawing, collage, encaustic wax on board, 91.122cmPhoto Credit: Bernd Borchardt

Size: 92x122cm 

Composition:

Based on the gladiolus flower, the theme for the show and this work was ‘remembrance’ and historically the gladiolus can be symbolic of horror and remembrance. With this work the flower is abstracted to a point of departure from its origins. It hints at perhaps leaving a stem on a head stone. My daughter sees it as a scorpion tail! The idea of the show is to highlight the importance of remembering our past mistakes in order for us not to repeat them.

 Introduction of boarders:

Yes this is a new idea. The fluro orange border is designed to create an urgent jolt – like a signpost to stop and look. The natural wood is just for pure beauty and to revert our thoughts back to the wood that is also present in the printed woodcut and the actual woodcut boards. It is all connected through material and application. 

You Never Say,2017, watercolour drawing, collage, encaustic wax on board 110 x 100 cm

Photo Credit: Bernd Borchardt

Discuss the texted in ‘Drawing a Line’.

I have collaged elements into the paintings from various books that are about wars. In particular the Richard Flanagan Book ‘Narrow Road to the Deep North’. This is a physical reminder of past wars and terrible pasts that we must not forget and certainly not repeat. Current milase of human rights and morals makes me worry about this a lot!

 Drawing a line 11, 2016 Watercolour, collage, drawing, encaustic wax, wood cut on board, 91.5x122cm Photo Credit: Bernd Borchardt

Expand on the importance of having Michael Reid in Berlin, has been for you personally and other Australian artists.

I feel Michael having a presence in Berlin is an incredible asset to Australia and the artists he represents. It is brave and it is a big task to have galleries in two countries. I feel extremely lucky to have an opportunity to show in Berlin. It is of extra benefit for me living over in Europe. I am trying to gather interest over here so this show is very important for my future aspirations.

 

Michael Reid Galerie, Berlin Photo Credit: Bernd Borchardt

Explain the Asian influence in your work.

I guess Asian aesthetics has played a role n my work for a very long time from years of travelling in the area. Textile traditions and picture making in these regions have long inspired and influenced my work. In the ‘Tilt I’ a pigment print showing currently in ‘Size Matters’ in Singapore an Asian method of depicting the raging sea has been drawn upon.  This is to abstract the scene which is very graphic and distressing of refugees fleeing a sinking ship.

 

Still Life V (i feel my heart is burning) 2016, Drawing, painting, acrylic on paper 120x 150cm

You still see the need to enter Prizes such as the Swan Hill Prints and Drawing Award explain this in your current career. 

I am very particular these days about what competitions I enter. I set myself a limit of 2 per year. And I only enter something if it is good enough, or relevant to the award. They are very hard to get in to and are often an extra expense that does not always pay off! But I think awards can be great to expose your work to new audiences if you get selected in the finals. If you also win that is a big bonus. Its important not to take them too seriously though. It is highly subjective and not a reflection on your worth as an artist. 

You are currently living in The Netherlands; can you tell us how your work went to the Australian Ambassadors Residence in Deg Haag.

This was a small thing and the Embassy were very kind and asked me to contribute to a show they had planned after hearing I was living here. The work was made for this exhibition with ANZAC day in mind and I also knew it would then go to Berlin after the show in Den Haag was over.

Explain how your globetrotting life has affected your work?  

An artists life affects their work no matter what you do. So it has informed my work immensely. I am very lucky to be living in different parts of the world and learning and discovering things along the way. Where I am living affects the work I make. It’s been quite a defining aspect of my practice I guess. It’s also such a blessing to live such a varied and unique path.

Discuss your collaboration with Neville French.  How did you came together?

Tilt 12,2017, 30x32x20cm, Collection Manly Art Gallery, Photo credit: Silversalt photoghraphy

Oh! this is a whole extra interview! We have worked together for many years now. It is a wonderful and exciting ongoing conversation that I am sure will continue for a long time. We love what coming together brings out in our work. It is totally unique having two minds working towards a shared goal. It is a very special experience – when it works! Our last show was a particular high point for both of us. We combined my printmaking and the ceramics to create a full room installation. It was a very interesting and rewarding project for us. I look forward to our new adventures.

Belinda Fox, Photo credit; Hein van Liempt

Contact:

Belinda Fox

www.belindafox.com.au

insta: @foxbelinda

Belinda Fox, The Netherlands

Interview by Deborah Blakeley, August 2018

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