A chat with artist Annette Fernando... 

London-based artist Annette Fernando will showcase her work ‘Girls Like Us’ at the Rv8y Stvdio Gvll3ry in Colombo from the 14th to the 28th August 2015. Born and raised in London, UK, Annette’s father is Sri Lankan and her mother half Italian, half French. Having initially completing a foundation diploma in Art & Design at the Camberwell College of Art & Design, Annette moved on to the BA Fine Art course at the Central Saint Martins’ College of Art & Design. Annette has exhibited work across the United Kingdom, France and Spain and in 2014 won the Student Award for the prestigious Jerwood Drawing Prize - one of the biggest draughtsmanship exhibitions in the UK. Annette is the granddaughter of Panthiyage Henry Quintus Fernando, one of the members of Sri Lanka’s legendary 43 Group. She is currently visiting Sri Lanka, as she travels across Asia to get in touch with her roots.

Tell me about your childhood, what were your interests?

I was born and raised in London and I was an only child for 8 years and then my baby brother came into this world. He ultimately made me a better person, although I’m sure I didn’t see it that way at the time. Haha! Drawing has always been my biggest passion; computers and the Internet were still uncommon when I was younger so I spent a lot of time being very focused on what was initially, a hobby. I often wonder if I was born into this technology focused generation, whether I would have spent as much time drawing.  I am also passionate about music and I played the recorder and clarinet for several years, performing in the school assemblies and plays.

You wanted to be a cartoonist when you were young, could you tell me why you chose it?

I saw a documentary about the Pixar Studios on the Disney Channel and the studio looked so fun where adults were encouraged to play and be creative to be able get into the mindset of a child and create stories that a child can identify with. I knew from that point on I had to have a career in the arts. I think I moved away from the idea of working in animation because of the growing digital requirements to make an animated film; I don’t have much patience with computers. Drawing by hand is very important to me and so I then started thinking about being a children’s book illustrator but it was finally when I went to university that I decided to study Fine Arts, which was a course geared towards you being a professional artist, exhibiting in galleries. Story telling is still however a very important part of my work today and is a major driving force.

Could you, in brief, describe your 3 series of work from “Girls Like Us”?

I have a series called ‘It’s Changed from Something Comfortable, to Something Else Instead’ which are 18 ink drawings in a grid, depicting different aspects of a relationship, all drawn from stills I have taken in film. It’s actually rather a voyeuristic series as there is a focus on girls lying in beds or looking into mirrors. The title came from a song called ‘Live Bed Show’, by the British band ‘Pulp’. It was when listening to the lyrics of this song that Ifelt it had similar themes with my work.

The Wallflower series are ink drawings of people I’ve captured in film, particularly woman, leaning against walls (a reoccurring cliché depicted in many films). I chose the title because theterm Wallflower refers to a person with an introverted personality who chooses to blend in or remain silent. It was first used to describe women at dances, who due to unpopularity or lack of partner remained on the sidelines.

The rest of the works are etchings I made between 2012-2014. They are surreal images I created with a mixture of fantasy, folk tales, my own life experiences and my imagination.

You mentioned that the “Wallflower” series was inspired by scenes of movies which seemed cliché and unreal in the actual world. Could you mention some of the clichés that inspired you?

I started noticing almost identical scenes in films of women leaning against walls. They were so striking as I feel it’s not something we really do in our everyday lives and it seemed to portray the woman as vulnerable or fainthearted and so overwhelmed that they have to lean on the wall for support. I also keep finding recurring scenes of women lying in beds or looking at their reflection in mirrors. The female body on beds and mirrors have repeatedly featured in visual art over the centuries but often with the male gaze, the woman have often been drawn for the appreciation of the man. Woman, then watch themselves being looked at and as a result may see herself as an object and this not only determines most relationships between man and woman, but also effects woman’s relationship with her own self. Visual culture has a tendency to depict the world and women from a masculine point of view and in terms of men’s attitudes. I am interested in making drawings of woman from a female perspective, giving a more up to date and honest portrayal of woman.

Where do you find your inspiration?

I am inspired by events that happen within my own life and people around me. As previously mentioned I’m inspired by film, novels, comics books, writers, artists and also strangers I see on the street performing their every day tasks. Even conversations with friends could trigger an idea. In a nutshell, I get inspiration from the world around me. For me personally, find art is a way of documenting and processing things that I am thinking or experiencing. It often starts with me just exploring an idea without really knowing why I am making it, it’s usually only later when I’ve finished making the art work that I can start to see why I’ve made it or what the story behind it was.

Who is your favourite artist and what is your favourite work of art? Why?

I have so many that I find it too difficult to just name one. I love all the drawings and etchings of the artist Paula Rego, especially her ‘snow white’ series. She takes folk and fairy tales and draws the dark side of them. I love Rembrandts etching, ‘Jupiter and Antiope’I even had the chance to see it in real life at the British Museum and I thought to myself “I could stare at this everyday for the rest of my life”.

I like Frida Kahlo’s self portraits, particularly ‘The Broken Column’ and the ‘Henry Ford Hospital’ painting. Frida Kahlo was in a bus accident which damaged her spinal column, pelvis and leg and she couldn’t have children after this catastrophic incident. ‘The Broken Column’ is depicting her pain after the accident and “Henry Ford Hospital’ is about a miscarriage she had due to not being able to have children after the accident. Her work is so powerful because she puts all her true emotions into all her paintings.

What could you say about the art scene here in Sri Lanka?

I am very happy to see the Sri Lankan contemporary artscene growing and I am so glad there are venues like the Ruby Studio Gallery emerging to give space for local artists to have their work seen. It is very encouraging to hear that there is an increasing international interest in Sri Lankan contemporary and modern art and that Sri Lanka is making it’s mark on the international art map. There are many artists using art as an expression to help discover themselves, and showcase their thoughts and ideas. I find this really inspiring and I am excited at the immense potential that Sri Lanka has in terms of contemporary art. I am very positive about the art scene in Sri Lanka because I think the country is still healing from all the turmoil and art is facilitating people with a talent and an interest to express themselves and leaving it open to connect with other people.

What is the story behind the title “Girls Like Us”?

I often get the titles of my work from songs in which I think the lyrics tie up with the themes of the work. This show I named after the song ‘Girls Like Us’ by a band called The Julie Ruin. The lead singer of the group is Kathleen Hanna who is a very inspirational musician, feminist/activist and punk zine writer. In the song she sings lyrics like ‘Girls like us pick up the hot handles, And burn our hands and we get over it…Girls like us are maybe most perfect, when we’re biting off all our fingernails’.The whole song is paradoxical and shows there are no two girls alike, but I liked how she was singing a very true down to earth portrayal of girls. Much like the ones I have chosen to draw, I relate to them in the same way and I think others can as well. So the title ‘Girls Like Us’ is effectively talking about how girls can relate to the feelings and emotions of other women, be it someone even in film or the media, which helps us to understand and process our own emotions.

Any advice for young artists who want to make it big in the world?

Never give up. Not everyone will like your work, there will always be people who love and hate it and that’s ok. Criticism is hard to handle especially as art is so personal it can often feel like a personal attack but remember that you can’t please everyone and you have to focus on the positive feedback. Art is powerful and has the potential to change peoples perceptions, don’t be scared to let your thoughts and feelings out through art and be persistent! There may be hard times where you have to work another job to finance yourself, but try and find a job that compliments your work or allows you the time and energy to keep creating for yourself. Be true to yourself and do not be afraid to dream bigger and explore yourself.

What are your plans for the future?

I will be in a group exhibition in Madrid in December, so over the next few months I will be making new work especially for the show. I also plan to make drawings inspired by my time in Sri Lanka and I hope to continue to build my relationship with country itself and the art scene. I hope to have more exhibitions in Sri Lanka in the near future.

Interviewed by Mariam Sadique