Anna Hoyle’s artistic world
The Australian artist shares her influences, inspirations and dreams.
Words by Raquel Fernández Sobrín
– What’s the first piece of art you remember seeing?
Not sure, but possibly a print of a Modigliani drawing in my parents’ bedroom.
– What’s the one you could never forget?
Probably that one… It was a ghostly pure line drawing with empty almond shape eyes. It really scared me so much!
– What’s your favorite artwork by someone else?
Always hard to choose… Pukumani poles by Australian Aboriginies from the Tiwi Islands always take my breath away.
– Have you ever been in front of them? How did it make you feel?
Yes, some of them in galleries… I felt in awe of the beautiful shapes and marks and patterns.
– What’s the work of art in any medium that changed your life?
I was likely an oil by Picasso back when I was a kid… I felt like I’d found a friend, distorted and playful forms were on!
– Are you more into contemporary art or do you prefer the classics?
Probably contemporary… I have always absolutely adored anything medieval or non Western, although I love Turner and Vuillard.
– Who are some of your favorite artists?
So hard, missing some here I’m sure: Wim Delvoye, Ken Lum, Ellsworth Kelly, Brook Andrew, Stephen Bush, Genieve Figgis, Hervé Morvan, Sarah Sze, Yinka Shonibare…
– Are there any in particular that have influenced the direction of your work?
All of them, as a formative child probably the line work of Paul Klee and Miró. Line can play! Also, a brilliant exhibition I saw at the Haywood in London in the nineties ‘Outsider Art’ with works from the Prinzhorn Collection.
– Is there any theme you’ve seen in someone else’s work and pursue with your own pieces?
I have always loved using text, but it has taken me a long time to shape my work so that image and text can both play together happily.
– Is there any artist whose work you consider overrated?
Heaps, but it isn’t helpful to name names really without qualifying the statement… Names can get conflated by connections and background money and financing that one might never know about. At the end of the day the work is either great or not….
– If you had an unlimited budget, what’s the piece of art would you buy without hesitation?
If I had an unlimited budget I would buy all of Trump’s golf courses and re-vegetate back to their indigenous state and habitat for wildlife.
Also a screen print by Brook Andrew… I would love to build a really good print collection.
