JanineWhat inspires you to create your art?
I suppose it is like an urge, a ‘must’, as though my body is telling me it is that time again. It isn’t important to me to identify myself with the term ‘artist’, but artistic expression must be a large part of my being because I keep doing it. Perhaps it’s a habit? Though I think people who I view as truly artistic, radical, outrageous, they make me want to be creative and artistically express myself. They excite me.
Is there a medium you most enjoy using (i.e. paint, pencil, textile, wood etc.)
As a painter I use oils most of the time. I find oils richer, bolder, and more effective when mark making and mixing the colours on the canvas. Oil paints work well being applied both thick in consistency and thinned down and they dry slowly so you can play with sections of the canvas for longer periods. For my performance work, which is contemporary solo performance, I express myself through playing with and delivering: character action and reaction, multiple narrative, multiple text structures, physical theatre and abstraction in text and movement.
What makes the creative process easy/challenging/fulfilling/sustainable for you?
Sometimes I need to remind myself that I do art because I choose to do it and I enjoy it, not because I expect myself to do it because I always have. When I remember this, it is easy. I heard Jim Moir on TV recently talking about his art career and he said he only ever did the things in life that he enjoyed, nothing else, and it has just worked out well for him.
For my visual art / painting work, I find creative processes challenging when I put expectations on myself to finish a piece by a certain time, or to do a certain amount, like a tick list – this just doesn’t coincide with ‘healthy’ artistic processes, for me. Also, when I was doing more commissions, painting things I hadn’t chosen, like pets (which I find hard to paint), I found this tiresome and less enjoyable because they were less inspiring to me. This brings me back to the first question, I suppose I have to be inspired by everything that surrounds me to do my painting, not just look to inspiring people.
For my performance work, I have had challenges that I am still overcoming and making sense of internally, I find the process easier when I have full control, or rather, when it is clear to me when I am to facilitate control, when I am to submit control or share control. I also find the process for creating easier when I am working with certain people. These certain people might have the same interests – come from ‘my world’, see ‘my visions’ so to speak. Though there is an undeniable value in working with people who have a very different starting point, and different ideas – connections can always be made but it just might be a little more complicated, and require further learning and self-adjustment.
Any upcoming events you want to tell readers about, or links to your work?
Performing Arts work: my current performance project is a solo piece titled: The Changes of the Seasons. I have been commissioned by Mafwa Theatre, based in LS9, to create and deliver this at their Family Flourish event: Harvest on the 9th September 2023 at Roxby Gardens, LS9. They do fantastic work, check them out: https://www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/events
Visual Art work: I currently have two paintings hung at Wildcraft Bakery in Meanwood, as part of an exhibition by Zineophelia – a group of Leeds based artists.
Performing Arts website: https://www.carrieannevivianette.co.uk/. Social Media: @cvivarts
Visual Arts website: https://cvivartsfineart.wordpress.com/. Social Media: @cvivartsfineart
How do you experience creating art in East Leeds?
Now that I am a mother the time I have to do my artwork has significantly reduced, and my availability to travel out of East Leeds to a venue to devise and rehearse performance work has also reduced. So, unless I am working on somebody else’s project, I remain close to or at home to do performance work. I have used nearby venues (Dance Studio Leeds and Chapel FM) for developing performance but mainly I use my large, back garden and living room in East Leeds. My painting work has always been done at home. I used to have a back garden studio which I painted in, this got affected by weather and is now full of objects that need sorting through. Something on the to-do list.
Working at home is fine because I am very lucky to have just enough space, my back garden is very spacious for prancing around in for performance work – though I’m not sure what the neighbours think? There is something quite nice about the life of your art merging closely with your family life – when it’s all in one space.
I’d like to present my art more in East Leeds – painting and performing. There are great happenings and organisations that deliver art in the East Leeds area, such as Chapel FM, The Old Fire Station, East Leeds Project, but I find the work I do is usually presented outside of East Leeds. This is why I am looking forward to performing in Lincoln Green on the 9th September.
Hopefully there will be more platforms for me in East Leeds in future. I know there is a lot of talent in East Leeds – well, there is everywhere. I’d like to see more of it, particularly social events dedicated to performance work: collectives, duos and individuals, a real range of what performing arts can offer. I’d love to host this actually! A group of radical performance artists taking up stage in unlikely areas of East Leeds – this sounds good to me. I think East Leeds now has a developing arts community thanks to a lot of dedicated individuals.
Your message to others who want to make a living from, celebrate or share their creativity?
Don’t view creativity as a means for a living, enjoy it, bathe in it, go bonkers in it, share it if you want to and celebrate yourself every day – in many different and creative ways.
Interviewed by Natalie Tharraleos
