Studio visit with Fleur Stevenson, The Corner Store Gallery, photograph by Madeline Young.

Studio Visit and Interview with Fleur Stevenson

Fleur Stevenson has been exhibiting with The Corner Store Gallery since being selected as a finalist in our Landscapes Group Exhibition back in 2019. Fleur’s work has developed and progressed over the years and her practice is heading in really interesting directions.

Fleur’s process is slow and sophisticated, with many techniques, mediums and layers being utilised. Spray paint and stencils feature often, revealing the detailed layers beneath, creating a rich history and story.

This recent body of work was created for our new group exhibition FLORA, on display from September 14th to 24th. The brief was “abstract botanicals” and Fleur has risen to the challenge with a magnificent series of five soft, feminine, mixed media paintings.

I visited Fleur in her Rozelle home studio to see the new work, some final touches and a good overdue catchup!

FLORA is on display from September 14th to 24th with pre-sales launching online at 8pm September 13th.

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

My earliest memory of making art was sitting on the floor in our next-door neighbours house in New Zealand, drawing scenes of all the animal trinkets that were displayed everywhere. The house was a constant source of inspiration, with every possible wall space taken up with artwork and the garden was like something out of Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree.

I learnt the building blocks of making from my parents: woodworking in Dad’s workshop and textiles with Mum and there was always something to do when living in the country with little TV. I was art-mad all the way through school, followed by painting commissions over the years, until 2018 when I turned my practise into a profession.

In 2019, I was a finalist in both the Landscape Group Show and the Mini Series Art Prize at the Corner Store Gallery, which was an encouraging start to my career.

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

Painting landscapes is a constant source of attraction in my practice, and with the paintings for FLORA, I investigated my personal history, which occurred within particular landscapes of my childhood in New Zealand.

This year I visited the small country town where I spent my youth and this was the perfect opportunity and inspiration for the series of works.

I arrived in New Zealand with a roll of paper and un-stretched canvasses and a list of locations, with the memories playing on my mind.

At each location I worked on drawings and paintings that responded to the physical environment and also the ideas and feelings, emotions, and memories.

I developed the reference works in my studio in Sydney, before building the final paintings on board.

The different forms, textures, and surfaces are unique to the rediscovery of each site and the colour palette and marks also signify the character of each place – tranquil, calm, frenetic, playful – and these qualities also respond to the age of the memory.

Can you describe your fabulous studio to our readers?

I have a studio at home and often spills out into our backyard, under the canopy of a large tree. I’ve set up a wall inside which I’ve found is where I prefer to paint and my studio has a couple of great sources of natural light, with a skylight overhead and double doors and windows leading into the backyard.

It’s fantastic to have an additional space outside to work from, not only for the natural light factor when working with colour, but also important for the small amounts of spray paint and mixed media I use in my practise.

The extended studio also helps reduce drying time and means I can work across multiple works at varying stages.

What inspired this body of work you created for FLORA?

A recent trip to New Zealand was the inspiration for this series of works for FLORA.

In the country town where I grew up, a number of the main streets were named after native trees in Māori language. The Totara, Kowhai, Rata and Rimu trees each have an important significance to New Zealanders. Flowers are symbols that form part of the nation’s cultural and historical identity, and the trees themselves Māori see as being rich in meaning. Some examples being: life, growth, independence, romance, chieftainship and social solidarity.

The natives came to be a visual reference of where I spent my most of childhood years and they also featured in my early drawings and journals.

What's next for Fleur Stevenson?

The remainder of the year is already in full swing as I’m working on entries for art prizes, a group show and preparing for a couple of painting trips in Australia.

The works for the FLORA exhibition sparked an idea and I’m currently developing a series of works for an exciting solo show next year, which is yet to be publicly announced!

Studio Visit with Fleur Stevenson

Studio Visit and Interview with Fleur Stevenson