by Adam Brant | Mar 15, 2018
We ask TAE artist Loz Atkinson five questions about life as an artist, her universe inspired artwork, and discover how the TAE helped her out of a dark time.
Loz is a full-time artist based in Leicester, UK. She sees her work as provocative yet hopeful, playing with perceptions of what is seen and not seen to give a mystical quality. Loz enjoys working with detail, light and color which she pairs with layering techniques to give visual and evocative depth.
Loz first decided to donate a postcard called “Untitled (Self)” to the Twitter Art Exhibit (TAE) in 2012 after seeing a postcard donated by Hazel Dooney, and now tries to submit an art work each year!
Have you always wanted to be an artist?
I loved to colour, paint and generally make a mess as a child, and my interest in art developed throughout school and college. I’ve always been very determined that art would be my life’s path and I would be the arbiter of my own destiny and work for myself (no matter how hard, stressful or financially unstable!). I studied art at university as I wanted to pursue something I enjoyed in my education (instead of basing my decisions on studying something because it would be ‘good for a job’). In essence I’ve been a full-time artist since leaving university.
As work takes up a lot of your life it is very important to me to do something I’m passionate about rather than just chasing the ever illusive dollar. As a full-time artist you have to be very flexible so I do a bit of everything including:
Creating self-directed work that I exhibit and take to art fairs
Taking commissions
Collaborating, curating and conducting workshops
Whatever else it takes to keep my art practice going!
Can you tell us more about the “Imagined Nebula” postcard you donated to TAE16?
This painting is part of an “Imagined Nebula” series about the inability to accurately describe the vastness of something. The vastness of the universe fascinates me as it is so difficult to perceive, portray or understand (especially when considering how we fit into it!).
The “Imagined Nebula” series follows on from similar themes I explore in other work (which are about evoking a feeling or sense of the vast and the small). They’re also concerned with the human need to measure, understand and conquer the existential mysteries of the universe which we are intrinsically part of (and the folly yet importance of such endeavours). Within all these works there are also psychological processes at play, as well as some of the “big” questions I think we all wrestle with to a certain extent.
Do you work in media other than paint?
Although I mostly create paintings involving nature and geometry influenced by the vastness of the sky and universe, I've also been known to work in sculpture, installation and digital mediums. I’ve also created many pieces for public art events throughout the UK including Elephant Parade London, BT ArtBox, and Wild Dolphins in Aberdeen.
How has taking part in the TAE helped you as an artist?
I wasn’t in a great head space the first time I took part in the TAE. I was getting a bit disenfranchised and downtrodden about the whole art thing. At this time social media, especially Twitter, was one of the only things that was keeping me sane at the time, so sending something in to be shown in a different country, with such a huge variety of artists and helping a meaningful charity, was a great thrill that really helped me snap out of a dark time.
I think most of my cards have sold over the years. It is such a great bonus to know the work I’ve donated is being enjoyed and raising funds to help amazing charities.
Where can people discover more about you and your artwork?
If people would like to know more please visit my website www.lozatkinson.co.uk or follow me on social media where you’ll find all upcoming exhibitions and fairs I’m involved with, along with general studio happenings: