Tahlia McCuskey is a Bendigo and Melbourne based artist currently in her second year of a BFA at Victorian College of the Arts. Using her preferred medium of oil paint, Tahlia works from photographs and explores ways to subtly manipulate imagery to depict eerie scenery.
Tell us a bit about what a day may look like for you as an artist. Where are you based and what are some of the things that you do in your daily routine? Tell us about your morning rituals, your cup of tea/coffee, plants, etc!
I work without strict routine because I believe I work my best without a schedule, so every day as an artist looks different for me. A big part of my practice is collecting imagery, whether it be from family albums or articles and every moment of my life I am looking around me for inspiration. I take photographs on my phone of anything that I see that I might be able to paint. When it comes to making artworks I will go into my studio and spend several hours working on a piece whilst looking back on the imagery I have taken and found, and I usually work on multiple pieces at once. I am based between Bendigo, where I am from, and Melbourne, where I study. When I am in Bendigo my day is always split up by walking my dog and going for drives to find beautiful shots of nature and in Melbourne I spend most of my time visiting galleries for inspiration.
How did you start your creative practice and why? Are you self-taught, an art student, a full-time artist, etc?
I have always been drawing and painting. Both of my parents are creative in their hobbies so it came naturally for me to make art. I am a second year Bachelor of Fine Art student at Victorian College of the Arts, and I intend to become a full time artist.
Have you got a studio/creative workplace? Tell us a bit about where you create and some of the significant things that support and inspire your practice.
When school is open I have a studio space that I am able to work in amongst all the other students studying art with everything available to experiment and think big. When I am not there I travel back to Bendigo, where I have a studio space at my family house as well as a large yard that is lovely to work in when the weather is nice. Both my school studio and studio in Bendigo are always a mess as I enjoy having all of my supplies around me in arms reach for anytime I have an idea. When I need a break from my messy studio I walk through the bush or down the Birrarung/Yarra river and I love the different environments of the city and the country because I get so much inspiration from both the peaceful nature and the grey bustle of Melbourne. I always take a notebook with me so that when I get ideas I can go back to my studio and revisit them in a place I can turn them into art.
What are some of the ideas that you explore in your work and the mediums that you have chosen to work with?
My favourite medium to work with is oil paint because of its versatility and the endless ways you can mix and manipulate the paint. A big part of my work is about working from photographs yet attempting to make more than just a recreation of an image. I like to distort the subject matter and blur the shapes and colours. When I paint faces they are usually obscured because I believe it draws attention from what the viewer expects to see but doesn’t and I enjoy taking the familiarity of imagery and shaping the paintings until they are just slightly eerie.
In an increasingly digitized world, how important is your online presence? And what are some of the things that you consider when marketing your work?
My online presence is becoming a more important part of being an artist every day. Especially recently when the world is in isolation, staying in touch with the art world online has allowed me to continue looking at what other artists are making as well as bounce my own ideas off peers for feedback. Most of the opportunities I have been exposed too have been sent to me via a digital platform and of course my art is being exposed to others on a digital platform, so I place a lot of respect on the wide reach the internet provides for me. When it comes to putting myself out there on the internet I just make sure that I avoid making art to fit online constraints and instead find a way to mould the internet to a way that works for me.
Let us know about any current/future projects – Have you got anything planned in the near future?
Currently I am working on a series of painting with the hopes of holding my very first solo exhibition in the coming year.
Visit our Stockroom to view artworks by Tahlia McCuskey