An Interview with Inka Member Felicity Edwards

How long have you been a member of Inka and what attracted you to the gallery in the first place?

I first joined the gallery in 2002 and was a member up to 2006 then I took a couple of years off and rejoined again in 2009.

Inka has a good reputation and I like that the gallery is run by the artists whose works are exhibited.

What is your background and how did you get started?

I have always been interested in artistic pursuits and so I naturally ended up going to Art School many years ago. After graduating, I worked as a Graphic Designer for a few years but then ended up stuck in a job that did not give me much artistic inspiration. In 2002 I escaped from the rat race and decided to concentrate on my artwork. Inka gave me the confidence to exhibit my drawings in their group shows. So, with the encouragement of the other Inka members and good feedback from customers, I eventually had my first solo exhibition, “Metaphor – A body of work”, in 2003.

How would you describe your style of work?
That is a very hard question to answer as it really depends on what the subject matter is and what medium I am using. 

What or who inspires your artwork?

Ideas come from looking at life with an artist’s eye and being able to tune in and filter out the mundane. Sometimes it is the shape of a hill that looks like a female torso or it might be just the feeling I get from a piece of music. I have been inspired by just listening to a conversation, and the phrase that someone used has sparked my imagination. Books also have that effect on me. The subject of the book usually bears no resemblance to the image in my drawing however it made me think of the end result.

Artists that inspire me are usually the Impressionists, Edgar Degas, Amedeo Modigliani, Egan Schiele. Auguste Renoir, Gustav Klimt, and Norman Lindsay.

I also produce mosaic works that are purely for my own pleasure and they decorate my house and garden. The inspiration for these was Antoni Gaudi’s works and his love of the organic shapes in nature. I even went to Spain just to see his work!

At the moment my cat has inspired me and I am working towards an exhibition of feline drawings.  

What is your favourite subject matter and medium?

Usually I draw nude torsos in pastel, although I have been trying out some different themes for the past year or so and have been doing some abstract paintings.

I have been a Raqs Sharqi student for about seven years now, so my Belly Dance series eventuated from my love of the dance. This theme relates well to my nude torsos but now I have the lovely brightly coloured costumes to experiment with.

I have dabbled a bit with landscape and in February 2010 I had an exhibition at The Red Wall Gallery in North Hobart. “Ashes to Ashes” was an exhibition of abstract artworks that were inspired by viewing the landscape that was created by the Black Saturday Victorian bushfires on February 7, 2009.

This was an overwhelmingly emotional encounter and the imagery was, and still is haunting.

The landscape, completely devoid of wild life and foliage is eerie yet somehow mystical. The black burnt tree trunks stand as sentinels amongst the ash grey blanket that covers the earth. 

What do you enjoy most about being a member of Inka Gallery?

Being able to bounce ideas off the other artists and also getting positive feedback from customers. It’s a great feeling when some one likes your work enough to actually buy it.

Felicity's exhibition will be on later in the year but in the meantime, you can see more examples of Felicity's work on our website http://www.inkagallery.org.au/ or call into the gallery and view her pastel artworks on display.