Words by Tiff

Interview held by Tiff

Osato Emumwen unfolded so beautifully recently and let me in on a few of her favorite conditions to paint under. As a young artist, she's learning to experiment on different topics, such as: the nude, minimalistic painting, etc. Osato isn't shy to use color, for all of her paintings are vividly dipped in hue which makes her work so distinguishably unique. Come on, I know you want to know more about her too:

How did you get started doing your art?

I had an interstitial house project in my second year at The Glasgow School of Art and my concept was about navigation through the three levels of the house. I needed a way to communicate the artistic nature of my project so I did my first illustration. I did a series of four A3 drawings showing various aspects of the house. I really enjoyed creating interiors using illustrations and how much fun I had doing it. And I suppose the rest is history.

How would you describe your artwork to someone who's never seen it before?

Erm I would say it's pretty simple. Intense polychrome. Appreciation of colour. Wit/humour (well my idea of humour at least) .

What inspires you to keep producing your artwork?

The fact that I want to be better. I want to improve my skill and produce better quality art and explore graphics and illustrations- finding different ways to express myself, that keeps me going.

I'm really interested in the idea of form and distilling it down to the bare minimum using colour as the medium and it creates a richness to the drawings which I strive to achieve with every piece.

Living in Paris for the last three months has been a huge inspiration. It's such a romantic city, so I've tapped into a 'sexier side' of myself and I've drawn a few illustrations of women in the nude and more crudely a couple having sex. It's been nice to explore that side of myself and express that through artwork without it being pornographic. A desire to celebrate the female form rather than: here's some tits and ass.

Is there anything you want your audience to know about you that you don't think your art says?

I'm not sure my art says a lot. I spoke to my friend last night about my artwork and he said he would sit there trying to decipher the meanings behind the titles in relation to the drawing. But sometimes there really isn't one. Some have a narrative and sometimes I've just wanted to draw a pretty woman or try out a new technique or put certain colours together that I like. So to my audience I would say: 'don't think too hard'.

What kind of environment do you set for yourself when you're working on a piece?

It's mostly after a long day at uni, so to relax myself I make an illustration.

Most of the time, if not always I have music on. I work better during late nights/early A.M. Between 11pm-3am as the creativity seems to flow better for me. It feels like downtime so I listen to piano music or really sad ballads and it gets me in the mood.

Oh and I always need to have snacks. No one can work without snacks.