Adding layer upon layer of paint on paper, in the form of abstract motifs, Christopher Tansey produces work that reflects on his innermost thoughts and memories. Using his own life experiences as creative fuel for his conceptual paintings, the artist explores the materiality of his work as a further method of storytelling.
We caught up with the artist to speak about the life experiences that have influenced his work, the emotions that come with looking at his art and the influence of lockdown on his creative output. See the full interview below and head to our New Tenants Exhibition to see Tansey's work in our virtual space.
You describe your work as auto-biographical and self-reflective, how has painting helped you to express yourself?
It has meant that over the years, I have been able to draw on my own experiences and my own thoughts and feelings about memories and various events in my life. Interestingly, the resulting product is paintings.
Are there any moments where you really feel inspired to paint?
I feel inspired to paint quite impulsively and often when I have a very vivid recollection or memory of a holiday, or a person, or a place that seems to resonate with me very deeply. That will often result in a period of painting and, often, the results refer to the memories and the emotions and the feelings. However, the painting obviously takes on a life of its own ultimately.
How does it make you feel looking back at paintings?
Sometimes, my paintings will evoke very profound feelings and emotions and memories; I find that incredibly interesting. It's something that often I can't quite put my finger on, it's an emotion, it's a feeling that can't necessarily be put into words. I'm very open to the fact that can happen and that's one of the reasons why I paint.
When I start a painting, the starting point will be a memory, a photograph, a drawing, a sketch, a fleeting experience or even something more profound and that will be the initial driving force. I think ultimately when the painting is finished there will be potentially some identifiable elements and motifs within the paintings but I'm very open to the fact that interpretation will happen from the people that are looking at the painting. That's absolutely fine with me, I welcome that interpretation.
Are there any pivotal moments, people or places that you find yourself revisiting throughout your work?
Often, when I am painting, I am inspired by memories of childhood and the area in which I grew up in, Kingston Upon Hull. It was very built up, very urban with blocks of flats but also incredibly interesting, incredibly exciting and very inspirational even from a very young age. Also, holidays with my grandparents that have a real feeling to them still to this day. In 1994 I moved to Liverpool which had a huge impact on myself and my work and still does to this day. My paintings are very emotive, I think that's important to say. My family now, my wife and my children are all inspirations in one way or another, sometimes I can't quite put my finger on it but that's very interesting to me.
The piece you submitted, titled Window/Door Painting Number 9, you said in a statement about the piece that it was about your life in lockdown. How has being in lockdown influenced your art?
Last year when lockdown happened, I came to the decision to rethink what I was painting and why I was painting. Not being allowed to leave leave my house, it just seemed very obvious that I would look directly at what was around, that I would literally explore looking out of my studio window and studio door, mixed with my thoughts and feelings and emotions at that time. The paintings that resulted I feel are a relatively successful result from the starting point.
If you had to guess, how do you think your work will change once we go back to some kind of normality?
I've been thinking very long and hard recently about the direction of my painting and, ultimately, like a lot of painters, I'm looking for some clarity. A greater level of understanding. I may be slightly more expressive with my paintings and not take as many elements away. The way I work is that I will fill the surface of paper with many elements, many colours and many layers of paint and then I will slowly remove elements until I'm left with something that I feel is communicating what I'd like to communicate, hopefully with a certain degree of clarity. I've been thinking about how my paintings may change and I may take less elements away so my painting's might be more gestural and maybe more abstract.
I've been interested in materiality and one thing that I think about and explore a lot is the "isness" of the paint and the materials that I use, the paper on which I paint. Painting at the moment, and I can see this being the case moving forward to a degree, is becoming as much about the material as it is the emotive or the auto-biographical or the self-reflective content. I'm finding that particularly interesting at the moment, exploring different materials to which to try and find a clarity in my work.
Are you optimistic for the future?
That's a really interesting question. With regards to the future, I have mixed feelings. I have some optimism but I don't think it's unreasonable that we are affected profoundly by what we have experienced over the past year and then throughout life, existence itself. I personally would like to have a degree of optimism, which I do believe I have and I will work with myself and with others to realise that degree of optimism both for myself and for the people around me and the wider community.