Juliette Losq's Overlooked Places Make For a Riveting Viewing Experience

This autumn Waterhouse & Dodd will be showing Juliette Losq's work for the first time. Losq is a landscape artist, but one for whom the landscape is almost a backdrop for man-made structures. Losq’s paintings can initially look like bucolic visions of the English countryside until the viewer notices abandoned buildings strewn with graffiti for example.

The curator of the exhibition, Jamie Anderson, first came into contact with Losq’s work after seeing her painting at the Royal Academy Summer exhibition in 2006 and subsequently attended both her interim and final degree show at Wimbledon.

Anderson comments that, “In a sense, Juliette’s work is the perfect fit with our contemporary programme at Waterhouse & Dodd. Collectors of earlier paintings will find much to admire in her technique, particularly her handling of light and water. Contemporary collectors will, we hope, enjoy the edgier nature of the subject matter and the ambition displayed in the larger multi-layered works. It is particularly satisfying to work with Juliette having admired her work for so long.”

After Nyne's Editor Claire Meadows spent time with the artist exploring how her inner landscapes make for such a fascinating exhibition

I’m drawn to your work because you circumvent orthodox images of beauty. What is it that fascinates you about London’s borderlands?

I'm always looking for places that are overlooked by most people. I think it's possible to see beauty in the mundane, so that is part of the fascination for me. It's almost a continuation of the aesthetics of the Picturesque, in terms of those artists delighting in ruins and decay. On the other hand I think these places can be charged with an imagine threat - they have the potential to make the viewer uneasy on the basis that they can be the settings for crimes. Often these kinds of places are the backdrop to films, be they Horror or Science Fiction, so all of these associations come to bear when we find ourselves looking at them.

How do you choose your locations?

I start by researching areas on a map, or exploring them on google earth. I sometimes hear about them via local contacts, but it is also possible to second guess where you might find these kinds of edgelands: by the sides of motorways, old canal systems, sewage beds etc.

Can you give us some insight into your creative process?

Walking, exploring and taking photographs for research are the starting points of making work for me. I then return to the studio and make composite scenes, either physically or digitally. I live with these on the walls for some time, it may be years, before they are turned into paintings, drawing or installations. Sometimes multiple geographical locations are combined. In other works I combine a scene with a found image that seems to work well within it.

Technically I am interesting in discovering new ways to work with traditional media and to push them to their limits. I have developed a technique which is based on traditional watercolour media. It's inspired by the etching process and involves working in multiple layers, which suits the way in which the images are often multi-layered in their composition and conception.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I seem to read your work partly as a rebellion against the creeping sprawl of urbanisation. Would you like to comment on that?

Urbanisation is about ebb and flow - if an area is developed it may later "fail" and fall back to nature. Some of the places that I am recording are examples of failed urbanisation - sites that are being reclaimed not only by nature but by graffiti artists. Very likely these sites will later be redeveloped, meaning that they, like the graffiti artists' work, are transient. I am more interested in capturing impermanent sites and in-between spaces than in the idea of rebelling against urbanisation. Without that constant flux these kinds of spaces would not exist. Having said that it becomes more and more difficult in London to find them, as places are not allowed to remain farrow for long.

You’re showing with Waterhouse & Dodd for the first time. Tell us about your experience with them thus far.

Although it's my first show with them I have known the gallery for ten years, having met them whilst on my BA course. I've had an informal relationship with them over the years so am confident that they have an understanding of my work and how it should be presented.

You have a solid arts/academic background. In you opinion what is the importance of arts education for today’s rising creatives?

It's vital - arts education gives students the ability to express themselves. It's about having the bravery to produce things that are unique but come from an awareness of what's preceded them. By the time you study at art school, you are left to work independently - that in itself is an invaluable preparation for how it works for artists after they leave art school. More than that I think creative education from a young age is essential. I devote two days a week to teaching, and can see the benefit and pleasure that young people derive from learning about and making art. As a teacher it is my responsibility to convey knowledge but to allow them to develop independently as creative thinkers. It's rewarding to see this happen, and for two of my students to have gone on to art schools this year.

What is the single most important thing that the viewer can take away from this show?

That the throwaway can be intriguing and beautiful - that these kinds of places are the suburban equivalent of the forests of the countryside, and should be explored.

What was the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Perseverance is the most important thing for an artist. The percentage of people who are still making art four years after graduation drops sharply so the most important thing for an artist is to continue making and to find ways of making that possible.