Annie Wildey
Maker Monday - June 2023
About the Artist
Name: Annie WIldey
Medium: painting, printmaking
SCAA member: Since 2022
Based in: Clinton, CT
website anniewildey.com
Instagram: @anniewildey
Click an image to view portfolio slideshow
Where are you from, and what do you make?
I was born in Wolverhampton in the UK, but moved to the US in my early 20’s. After many years living in New York city, I gradually moved further east, living in Mystic ,CT, Westerly RI and now Clinton CT.
I consider myself a painter first, and a printmaker second. I’m a lover of the coastal landscape, with a soft spot for the urban sublime.
How long have you been seriously pursuing art?
Since as early as I can remember. But at 40, I decided to leave a career working at the British Consulate in New York City to study an MFA at the New York Academy of Art and was awarded a post graduate fellowship. It was a figurative program which I was really interested in at the time. But funnily enough there wasn’t a figure to be found in my thesis exhibition – it was all landscape!
What inspires you to create?
I’m inspired by my immediate surroundings, exploring moments of beauty, wonder and awe. When I was living in NYC, I was interested in Industrial landscapes. But spending two years as an artist in residence on the North Fork of Long Island , it was hard to ignore the beauty of the coastal landscape and its ever-changing moods. With water all around me I became enthralled with capturing a subject constantly in motion.
I also find curating to be a deeply satisfying creative act. At AIR, a studio gallery I ran with my partner for two years, what began as a space to make and show our own work quickly grew into a place for showcasing the work of other artists as well. Finding connections between the pieces and creating and story and a journey for the view became a much welcomed challenge.
Which artist outside of your chosen medium has had the most impact on your art? What do they do and in what way do they influence you?
Well, I can’t possibly pick one! There are many artists, for as many different reasons. So… My high school art teacher who encouraged me to go to art school. Dan Welden, a master printmaker I met after grad school. Working alongside him on and off for several years gave me an opportunity to experience what a professional studio practice could look like. In terms of art itself, early on I was I blown away by figurative artists Lucien Freud and Jenny Saville for their observation and use of medium. Their paintings have such seductive surfaces. I’d also have to include Gerhard Richter and Anslem Keefer for the same reasons. In terms of printmaking Kathe Kollwitz is someone who can capture such raw human emotion without sentimentality, and the British artist Norman Ackroyd, creates such poetic and dramatic landscape etchings. Oh, and I have to include Richard Serra. Seeing his sculptures in person for the first time was incredibly powerful.
Is there a work of art that has changed your life or how you view the world in some way?
There isn’t one work of art that has changed my life, but I think art itself has taught me to be a better human being. To have empathy and compassion. To be an observer of my inner and outer world, be still, look, listen, feel. Embrace the process, welcome little accidents, let go of expectations and go with the flow.
As a member of SCAA, what do you like most about us?
The community is really supportive of one another. A wide range of creatives come together through a shared love of creativity.
Tell us a joke.
What is Earth without “art” in it?
“Eh…”