q+a: florine imo
Tchotchke Gallery: What is currently inspiring you?
Florine Imo: Over the last year, I’ve been focusing on developing my figures into more complex characters. With time, this attempt transformed them into one entity. I see them as imperfect goddesses - often showing themselves together like a tribe, completely doing their own thing, if I decide to paint them or not. At the moment, my inspirations come from these characters. I have endless ideas of places and circumstances to put them in and play with their long necks, strong shoulders, smiles, stares, and so on. They have the power to turn, a first seemingly normal situation, into a complex mystery. Additionally, I’m inspired to search for more ways to give them this attitude that they carry, while recently gravitating to painting Sirens. Their story, or mythos, is in a way similar to the imperfect goddess. It’s about the male gaze, luring, along with the unexpected, unpredictable actions that can follow.
TG: What is your favorite thing about working in pastels?
FI: Using pastels allows me to access and contribute each color so fast and intuitively. There is an extremely close connection between the medium and my hand - where the paint and my fingers become one. When I glide the brush across the canvas, I feel totally free and unrestricted. I changed my technique quite a bit over the last year, but using pastels is still part of my process.
TG: Tell us a little more about your favorite piece in our current exhibition, Lost the Plot!
FI: I think my favorite painting in Lost the Plot is‚ filer á l’anglaise; the painting with “the green lady.” It was so much fun making this painting even though it started out to be something completely different. This piece should have actually been kept overall in green tones but midway through the painting, I figured, that only she being green is exactly what will give her the attitude I’ve described above. I also like that it’s unclear if she’s leaving a space, or entering one if she’s looking out the window and looking at what? I like this painting to be so open and mysterious. Fun fact: the tattoos were drawn at the very end with a marker and I only had one shot to make them look good, I was slightly nervous to f*ck it up, but gladly didn’t. If you take a closer look, you can see a tiny Siren tattoo foreshadowing what comes next.
TG: What goes through your head when you start a new piece?
FI: When working on canvas, I start out with a plan - paper, however, is mostly completely random. Every now and then, I’ll have a more specific idea for a painting, while other times, I just mindlessly draw in my sketchbook and see what happens. But I never decide everything beforehand - I decide in steps. It starts with a position of a body or bodies. First, what are they doing? What story do they tell? Where are they? Are they acknowledging the viewer or are they watching? From there, I choose a color palette - after that, it’s time for battle. When I start a new piece, I’m extremely excited to see how this vague idea will come to an end. I go with my intuition, which always works best.
TG: Have you had any especially proud moments so far in your career as an artist?
FI: I catch myself feeling a sense of pride whenever I’m on the verge of an amazing painting/ idea. There is nothing more satisfying than watching your idea come to life. Not only do I have pride in my own work, but I’m also very proud of my artist friends. I love watching them grow and take steps forward in their career. The same goes for me - while being approached by fellow artists, galleries, as well as collectors. I’m so thankful to have reached the number of people that I have over the last year with my work, and even more excited for what’s to come!