Tell us about your creative process, what drives your practice?

Experimentation and scheduled projects are the fundamentals to maintaining my art practice. I am a keen learner and enjoy the discovery of new techniques and approaches to add to my toolkit. It is this curiosity that fuels my artistic drive, but I try to pair this with a meditative quality. I create parameters in my work to form moments of solace, whether that be the slow and repeated hatching in a drawing, or the building of an ink wash before rushing in to capture a scene. It is this balance that sustains my work.

How has your background in printmaking informed your drawing and textiles practices?

Printmaking invited the idea of repetition, and an almost endless opportunity for experimentation. This idea of wonder is what drew me to printmaking initially, the excitement of pulling back the first print from a plate is something I try to capture in all areas of my making process. It allowed me to approach other mediums with more freedom and play, while also honouring the meticulous traditions of technical skill. It also taught me to be patient and trust the process. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from the manual labour required to create prints, and it has translated into my drawing and textiles processes.

What is the significance of monochromatic colour and bold hues in your depictions of place?

I am in the process of exploring colour in my practice. I have focused on particular hues in the past year that fit within art conventions, mainly favouring primary colours. Warm yellow is used extensively in my drawings, and I have created an ongoing still life etching series that often utilises ultramarine blues and warm reds. I enjoy the way these colours seem simultaneously natural and artificial. I am interested in creating a sense of ambiguity, almost dystopian, in these suburban scenes; light could be a warm sunset, or from a street lamp. By limiting my palette, I allow colour to be a hero in the work. I tend to favour monochrome, usually as I can find my work overwhelming when dealing with too many colours. There is a sense of calm that working in such a limited palette allows.

Are there any female printmakers | artists that influence you?

There are many artists who inspire me, across all mediums and ideas. Some who I have been admiring lately include Molly Martin, a UK-based artist and maker. Her practice spans from etching, to the thoughtful and visible mending of clothing. Her delicate approach to image making and care for her possessions inspires me to look after my belongings and pay attention to the everyday. Another artist whose work impacted me is Milena Bonifacini. I was lucky to see an installation of hers in Copenhagen at the beginning of 2020, at the conclusion of my residency in Paris. Her playful use of colour and movement across painting, drawing and sculpture, was impressive to behold. There can be pressure as artists to choose a specific aesthetic or method of making, and I admired her freedom to express her ideas broadly. Finally an artist whose practice encourages me to slow down is Johanna Tagada. I found her work in 2020 and discovered that we worked in quite similar ways aesthetically, and she, like the previous artists mentioned, was multidisciplinary in her approach. I enjoy her quiet layering and focus on homely objects and environments, something that is particularly poignant and meaningful in the past few years.

Finally, what exciting projects are you working on at the moment?

Currently I am preparing for two upcoming exhibitions. Last year I completed a residency at Studio FF as part of the inaugural residency program with Orson Heidrich. We have created a body of work that is site specific to the studio and will be exhibiting early this year, dates to be confirmed.

“Site Work, brings together two artists, with widely varied practices, through the commonality of observation of the environment, documentation of spatial elements and material manipulation. Heidrich and Arnold have immersed themselves within the architectural elements of Studio FF. The artists subvert it’s fast-paced commercial purpose and transient occupancy with an extended fixation on the spatial and visual components that remain. Through this, there is new life breathed into their surroundings as subjects of artmaking.”

I am also participating in the Edition Three exhibition with More Than Reproduction. It is exciting to be welcomed into this community of female printmakers. The work I produce will honour the significance of International Womens Day, when the exhibition is planned to be held.

In terms of studio research, I have recently completed a course in analogue drawing animation at the National Art School, and am hoping to use this technique soon. This foray into technology has my mind whirring towards more installation work this year.