Aoibhin Maguire

Tell us about yourself. What is your background and where did you grow up? How have your life experiences shaped your work?

I am Aoibhin Maguire, an artist born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I moved to England aged 18 to study art at Lancaster University, before making the decision to save up and move to London to do my MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art. I loved many different subjects at school such as sociology, geography and religious studies but art was always my favourite. I spent a lot of time doing various arts as a child, including Irish Dancing, playing the fiddle and attending different arts and crafts groups. From a young age I've kept sketchbooks/scrapbooks for drawings, photos and poems. I love to look back on these anytime I visit home.

Why did you become an artist and what has been your journey up to this point?

Making the decision to become an artist was not a hard one for me to make. Although it is a very difficult path, it is what I've always wanted to do. I do think that since I didn't grow up in London, and choose to do my undergrad in a more rural area due to London living costs, I had to learn a lot, and fast, when moving to London. I really had no idea how the whole art ecosystem works here, and honestly I'm still learning each day. I love learning new things. I'm happiest when I have a full day of no other work, no emails, just a full day of painting for 12 hours if I want. I want to be able to always give myself enough time to do what I love and this is something I'm currently aiming for. I have a lot of ideas and I'm always thinking a mile a minute and I feel it is important to put this on canvas. It makes me happy to hear when other people can relate to my work in some way.

What is an average day in your studio like and what is your routine?

I go to the studio as much as I can and. I try to get my admin done in the mornings, and then switch off and paint. It is important to me that I put my phone on do not disturb and remove myself from the outside world. While painting I listen to podcasts and music. Some of my favourite ones to listen to are The White Pube, Talk Art and The Great Women Artists and when I really need to concentrate I'll paint in silence. I am a very messy painter, I adore the physicality of paint. I use brushes, palette knives, clothes, random tools and my fingers. Anytime I have a thought about a painting or an idea for a title I scribble this down on a post-it note and put it on my studio wall. 

What is your creative process?

Messy and physical - I love to be covered in paint.  I work in layers, sometimes drawing first. I then go in with inks and acrylics, often followed by oil on top. I spend a lot of time on trains and I make sketches and writings while travelling. I incorporate text in my work quite a bit, often painting over parts of this. Recently, I am becoming more confident with what text I show. Most things I want to get across are best through paint, however certain more tongue in cheek things work really well with text. I normally paint for quite long stretches of time, working on multiple paintings at once.

How do you choose a medium for your work? Do you prepare and plan or do you improvise and experiment?

Both! I spend a lot of time researching colour and materiality, trying different pigments and techniques. I have recently begun to work with oil paint again. However I am also really interested in ideas of chance. This started when I first moved to England to study art and could not afford many of the materials recommended to me. I came up with my own formulas to replicate these mediums as best as I could and also became interested in combining what is considered tacky with what is considered classy. I love learning about all the weird and wonderful techniques other artists use.

Are your works conveying a message? Is there a narrative or a story to your work?

I view my painting process as worldbuilding, creating a universe inspired by reality but also my vivid imagination. The beauty of a particular situation is that everyone's realities and how they interpret it will be different. I  enjoy when people relate to my work, and see certain emotions in it, even if they see something completely different than I would have thought. What some people find anxiety inducing might make other people feel happy. I paint ideas of memory, home and nostalgia and you can find landmarks throughout my work of local shops back in Belfast and street names. Munch really inspires me, somehow I feel like I can somewhat relate to him on a more personal level. I would have loved to have met him.

Who and what are some of your greatest influences in both your life and as an artist?

In terms of artists I love Munch and Emin for the way they work through thoughts on canvas and in terms of materiality I am inspired by Katherine Bernhardt, Andi Fischer and Rose Wylie. I also like to read and go to smaller exhibitions, being inspired by the work of other emerging artists and having conversations with them. I attend multiple shows a week and make it a priority to give myself time for this. I am inspired by daily life and the humour in it, and l am always making notes on my phone as I go about my day and see or hear something which I would like to work into a painting.

Do you consider your work of art a creation or a discovery?

Both. I like to make mistakes on the canvas and then work through these, scraping back and removing paint, adding more marks on top of this. I often turn my paintings around for a few weeks when they are almost finished and then return to make my final marks. It is important I give myself space from my work. I'm not afraid of failure on the canvas as this is a key part of the process. Often the bits of a painting where you can see the frustration are very interesting.