Naomi Munuo

Naomi is a fine art painter from a fashion design background. She studied at Central St Martins College London and later studied post grad in art teaching at Goldsmiths London.

What inspires your work as an artist? My home and studio interiors inspire me. I grew up surrounded by my father’s sculptures and my mother’s collections of vintage ceramic ornaments, fabrics and colourful abstract paintings. Since leaving the family home I set out to establish collections in my own home, much has come from my parents’ home before they relocated to France. These collections and my trips to my parents’ home and studios in France are a constant source of inspiration. The figures within a still life setting that I draw have a sculptural element to them achieved through a lifetimes observation of my father’s sculptures.

Who are your biggest influences? My work is of a mid-century modern style inspired by the sophisticated compositions and values of the modern masters such as Matisse, Modigliani, Braque and Picasso to name a few. Colour, composition, combined view points, tonal counter change, pattern and spontaneous mark making are very important to me. I take an interest in those masters of the twentieth century who explored these possibilities in their work.

What does your work mean to you? I feel privileged to have such a strong desire to create. I enjoy the flow of energy I feel when I translate what I see and imagine onto a surface. My work is representational – still life and figure mainly. I aim to bring elements of the unexpected and accidental to give the work, life and freedom. My artistic intention is to create an element of excitement brought about by spontaneous, expressive gesture, joyful colour harmonies and compositional structure whilst narrating the drama which exists in the relationship between the object and its environment. I am keen to capture form using richly textured and tonal surfaces, juxtaposed with flat patterned areas. My work brings me a huge sense of satisfaction and joy and I hope the viewer feels the same way when they look at my work.

What techniques do you use? I work with a range of media. I am currently focusing on acrylic paintings but love to work with collage and a whole variety of mixed media. I love the intensity of the colour that can be achieved with acrylics and the potential for mark making and scratching back through the surface of the paint to reveal the foundation layers. I enjoy the freedom of drawing materials such as oil crayons, soft pastel and oil bar and like to combine them with an underlay of ink wash to create different planes and dimensions within the image. I hate waste and so use sections of discarded work with a potential for collage. Sometimes a section just needs a chance to breathe so I will cut it away or paint / collage over an area to allow that to happen.