Lou Smith

Little Piece of Heaven ii
2020
Acrylic on Canvas
25cm x 30 cm

How long have you had a studio at APT?
I've had a studio at APT since its inception in 1995.

I was one of the first artists to use their studios, as the top floor artists moved in whilst APT continued to develop the studios on the 1st and ground floor.

Which female artists inspired you growing up?
During my time at Art College, women artists were rarely mentioned.  When mentioned, there was an overtone of not being as good (heavyweight) as their male counterparts.

Contextual studies/lectures mainly focused on male artists who altered the course of art history.  Women artists were perceived to a certain degree in a stereotypical way and their work considered decorative.

So, in a world of no internet it was more challenging to explore the work of women artists, unless they were currently exhibiting in London and advertised/featured in Time Out.

Helen Frankenthaler stained her canvases with paint, which was in contrast to the male norm of loaded surfaces. I guess that some of these early investigations did feed into my work, but in my formative years I did not feel directly influenced by her.  She did open up the emotional resonance of abstraction through staining surfaces, which I use now.  But it is the deep darks and still quality of Rothko who has influenced me the most when it comes to emotional resonance within a painting.

What is the most important piece of advice you have been given?
To not worry about how a painting looks.  Sometimes a piece of work is ahead of my conscious process/reasoning and time enables me to see the painting and its significance in my body of work.

(this is my own advice and has not been given)

My mother said to me that as a woman growing up she never wanted me to rely on a “man's wage.” She viewed education as a route to financial independence and autonomy of self. This is my mother's influence and the most important piece of advice ever given to me.

Why did you choose this piece of work today?
This work was created in response to lockdown.  Global events about what was happening during the Covid pandemic was a stressful and scary time, as we wondered how to avoid catching Covid and passing it on to others.  We were bombarded with information about the importance of not touching anything, washing our hands and eventually in wearing masks to minimise risk.  We socially distanced ourselves from others and took wide berths when passing people on the street.

The studio was a sanctuary where I could take time out from the news and break away from everyday stresses. Little Piece of Heaven was created as an acknowledgement of that time and as a notion of survival and moving forward.

Little Piece of Heaven is a series comprised of 4 paintings of the same size and colouration.  Here I am showing no. ii.