Studio Visit with Ana Anderson

Studio Visit and Interview with Ana Anderson

Ana Anderson was the winner of our 2021 Mini Series Art Prize, and as a result is having her first solo exhibition with us this September. I’ve loved Ana’s work ever since I first laid eyes on it in early 2021 when she submitted an artwork to our Inside This Box Group Exhibition. Ana became part of The Corner Store Gallery family and has sold out every time we’ve had her work through the gallery.

This highly anticipated body of work includes a series of abstracted landscapes in Ana’s distinct style. The exhibition is titled Exhale and is on display from September 28th until October 8th with pre-sales launching online at 8pm September 27th. We’d love you to join us for Opening Drinks on Thursday September 29th from 6pm to celebrate!

View the Exhibition Catalogue here.

Tell us a little about your background. How long have you been making art?

I was born in Poland and migrated to Sydney with my parents when I was four. I was always encouraged to be creative and make things. I completed studies in photography then decided I wanted to learn how to paint so I applied to National Art School and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with honours in painting. I have been painting for 16 years with breaks in between.

You have a very unique style, can you talk us through your process?

I usually work from photographs, as I like to make work in private. I draw the composition in the studio, just to put down a basic structure to work from. I then paint patches of colour to fill the space. I also work in 2 to 3 hour blocks, working in layers and I making the palette up as I go. I find I can’t listen to music when I paint as it stops me from tuning into the work, it’s an intuitive process of pushing and pulling colour and shape, music distracts me from that process.

Where do you find inspiration?

For the last couple of years my inspiration has come from nature and the surrounding

national parks, the beaches or overgrown gardens. I am always on the lookout for a composition to photograph and paint.

This solo show is a result of winning our Mini Series Art Prize in 2021, how has this affected your practice?

It’s been amazing at keeping me disciplined, when things get hectic in the real world this body of work has kept me on the same track with that one focus. It has become like a meditation practice, bring you back to myself but out of my head.

What inspired this body of work you created for Exhale?

The works are made up of places I to escape and just breathe, feeling connected to something larger, allowing everything else to just melts away. It’s the space between the trees that holds you.

What's next for Ana Anderson?

I am involved in a group show called ‘Pattern’ in March at the Brunswick Art Gallery and then I am working on my next project which is about nature encroaching on the built environment.

studio visit, q and aMadeline Young25 September 2022studio tour, stusio visit, studio, painting, painter, anan anderson, exhibition, solo exhibitionComment