Q + A: Erin Knight

When did you first fall in love with art?

I remember as a very small child visiting an artist studio with my mother. The intoxicating smell of oil paint and pure gum turps, the cacophony of jars of beautiful paint brushes, rags and easels seemed exotic and other worldly to me. I felt strongly drawn to this environment.

What does a day in the studio look like for you?

Each day is different. When I am developing a body of work it can, to the untrained eye, look like a bomb has just gone off in my studio!

I tend to leave things everywhere as I move from one idea to the next in a fluid way, back and forward between ideas and processes, leaving goat tracks to move through the mess. I will then do a massive cathartic clean up to signify the end of the creative journey.

Tell us about your process?

I will often draft up ideas, complete some drawings and then begin the work. I will normally let the process take over and work quite intuitively throughout. I use acrylic paints as a base, to build up colour and surface and then I work mainly with oils.