Morag Caister
Please could you tell us a little about yourself and your background
I was born in London and grew up and went to school in Brighton, my mum is really creative and passionate about all kinds of art and crafts, she made her own clothes, spent time acting and directing, trained in floristry and takes painting and ceramic classes. She has always been really encouraging with the things we showed interest in growing up, and would take us to see all kinds of shows, films and exhibitions.
Did you have an interest in the arts as a child?
Yes, I loved making things, imagining stories, and engaging with the different forms of art my mum would introduce us to, especially books and music. The Greek myths were my all time favourite, and I liked the way I could see people around me in my life behaving like they did in the stories.
Did you have a formal art education or are you self-taught
I studied fine art at uni in Bath and Brighton.
Was there a moment or a person or a place in your past that influenced you or you feel set you on the journey to where you are now?
Growing up I always got a lot of satisfaction from making the thing I was seeing in my head appear on the paper, but when I was doing my foundation my tutors, who were amazing, encouraged me personally to pursue video and moving image and I found I could be so expressive and poetic with that medium. Then, when I went back to painting, I had the same exhilarating feeling from a set of portrait based works I made. In retrospect, they really weren't that great, but at the time I felt so excited and charged by the potential there suddenly was in painting and set me off.
What’s the best thing about being an artist?
Being fully engaged with the work is an amazing, light feeling. Connecting with People. The luxury of making art full time.
And the worst..!?
The highs and lows are extreme. The 'painting energy' is quite antisocial, it comes and goes as it pleases and so finding a routine for your life is quite hard, it affects everything.
What has inspired or influenced you?
The thing that has motivated me to make work has been a general desire to understand things more and to understand myself.
What art destination do you most want to visit?
Madrid and Barcelona are places I'm hoping to get to this year.
What work of art would you most like to own?
I would love to have any work by Maggi Hambling.
Please tell us about your working environment…
I like it to be warm, bright and comfortable with some nice music or a podcast playing. Also need to have a comfy chair or sofa in the space too for all the time spent sitting and thinking mysteriously (cough, watching reels).
Please tell us a little about the process involved in making your art?
It feels a lot like I'm wanting to uncover hidden information when I'm making work, not about the particular person I'm painting but about the world in general. I'm always wanting to paint portraits; they seem to be the most natural channel for me. Genti will be sitting at home in a way that would feel great to paint, or I'll ask some of the other people that I'm spending lots of time with to come and sit for a portrait. I make lots of small sketches before starting the portrait itself and use the thing that feels right for the occasion, pastels, oils or pencil, paper or canvas. I usually understand lots about things and what I'm doing when the painting is happening and going well and then afterwards it gets all mysterious again, so the process never really ends and carries on from painting to painting.
Genti
What's the most indispensable item in your studio?
I work from images from my phone, so that's really important, in the sense that if I forget my charger and my phone runs out then I have to go home.
Where are you finding ideas and inspiration for your work currently?
At the moment I'm thinking about time and stories, I'm wanting to communicate a sense of today in the work, both in the parts that are unique to this particular moment, but also in the ways that are familiar and reminiscent of cycles that you can pick up on throughout history.
If you weren’t an artist what would you be?
Maybe building a dog and cat charity shelter in Albania.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to make a living out of art?
It's a hard one...because everyone's situation is different. I think just give it what you feel you can, apply to all the open calls, try to find time to do non-art things too, and celebrate your wins when you get them.
What is the most important thing to know about you?
Hard one! Maybe that I really value all of the really good people I've met in my life and think about them quite often even if I haven't seen them in years.
Please tell us one unexpected thing about yourself.
I find the reels of people tripping over and slipping on snow etc almost too funny.