How did your artistic journey start, Meig?
From a young age I have always been creative. Having an artistic mum and a supportive family definitely helped to develop my interest in creating. I think my journey really begun when I was first rejected from University when applying for film and TV. It made me realise where my real passions lied and I took a year at college to build a portfolio. Being able to make art full-time was exciting and I began to see a future in painting that I hadn’t seen before.

How did you arrive at the theme of your work?
Through life drawing I gained an interest in drawing the human form. I love abstract work but never knew how to approach it. Developing my work over time I found that overlapping the figures helped to give the work something more to look at; warping the perspectives and creating a sense movement through the gestural mark making. It reveals only a few elements from the original pose, aiming to get the viewer to seek out these more natural and familiar shapes such as hands, feet and faces.

Can you walk us through your creative process?
I take a lot of influence from drawings and images taken from life drawing sessions. I surround myself with them and play around with colour palettes before beginning a large work. I try not to plan too much as I enjoy making decisions in the moment rather than following a mockup meticulously.

How has your practice changed over time?
I have always had a focus on drawing people and faces. I think it’s just gradually begun to develop into more abstracted works, rather than focusing on more accurate representations of the human figure. My aim over time has been to get looser with my mark making and not be so careful about what I paint – allowing my subconscious do most of the work as I trust it more than myself!

How do you overcome creative blocks?
I find that just keeping creative helps, even when you aren’t feeling it – doing small sketches and drawings that don’t mean anything. Using smaller and cheaper materials like sketchbooks and printer paper helps me as I feel relieves the pressure of wasting money or having to make something look ‘good’. Another huge help for me is Pinterest, I love to see what other makers are doing and can gain inspiration from other artists or imagery that I find on there.

Who influences you? Which other artists work do you love? 
There are many artists I love and take inspiration from. I am constantly finding new ones everyday thanks to social media. My main inspiration when growing up was definitely Picasso, but now I have access to so many more artists I am loving Faye Wei Wei and Maja Ruznic at the moment.

What advice would you give to artists who are just starting out?
I am no expert and have a long way to go myself but I’d say to keep developing work – I feel that personal style can be found from being inspired by your own art. Look at what you’re making and decide why you like it, what’s working and what’s not – try something new and don’t overwork it! 

See Meig’s work at our Summer Show, running at Six Foot Gallery until 6th July 2023.