Today, on the Art Seeker Stories podcast 7th Episode  I’m delighted to chat with artist Evelyn Jean, a visual artist whose career began after 12 years in the music industry, where he became increasingly frustrated by the limits of the medium and began practicing visual art as a method for a new way of performance and true expression of his real feelings.​

In doing this Evelyn seeks to create art that speaks to the soul and to attract a different kind of audience to his work.​

His work covers many mediums including, painting; filmmaking; literature; music;  performance, and installation.​

Of his work  He says

"I am distracted by human behaviour and how we really feel about ourselves underneath the veil. 

I see life and art being played out like a film script with more control over it than we realise. The ability to rewrite every scene.

 I met Evelyn briefly in early 2020 just before our first Lockdown at a show we were both exhibiting in ironically called Fake News, and virtually more recently with The Shape of the New. 

​ Evelyn’s 3 Artworks for company on Art Seeker Island are :
( One by a woman another of cultural significance and a free choice)

The Juniper Tree by Joan Jonas

Street Scene Chicago Archibald Motley

Atlantic Civilization by Andre Fougeron

 Once again I’m cutting this episode in half, putting it out as a part 1 & 2. Wow, We had such great fun and our imaginations ran wild, if not a little bit crazy. This is a real journey weaving in and out of time, into a metropolis melting pot of culture, in and out of reality and the imaginary. 

Please come back next week where we continue with Evie’s art at the Royal Acadamy and Lufi’s book club. 

You can find more about Evelyn:
Website: www.evelynjean.com
Instagram: @evelynjean_art
Youtube: Evelyn Jean Europe

 Today, on the Art Seeker Stories podcast 6th Episode  I’m delighted to chat with artist Lucy Chapman, a London based artist whose primarily a print maker exploring themes within photography and recreated objects. Lucy is a teacher specialising in Inclusion and has recently founded  the Unity Art Project, raising money for the Trussel Trust.

 Lucy is such a great kind soul, I first met Lucy online when she asked me for an artist interview as I was one of the artists who were adding their own work on top of her print ‘Peace Unity Love and Having Fun’ for the Unity Art Project. 

 We connected so well that I ended up with almost 3 hours of recording. I have taken the liberty then, of cutting the episode in half as I felt everything she shares is so deep and meaningful, it wouldn’t be fair to select and cut bits out, where would I start? 

In this 6th episode, part 2,  on Lucy's Art Seeker Island art residency  we go straight into Lufi’s questions. Lucy talks about illness, a near death experience and the fragility of life and death. She shares with us her artwork that documents  and explores these themes. Books swapped in Lufi’s book club are  "Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire" by Akala and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. We also talk dyslexia.

If you missed it do check out  the Art Seeker Stories 5th Episode in part 1 of our chat, where we talk  about her Art Seeker Island, a blend of London and Wales, and her chosen artist artworks for company:  Rachel Whiteread’s House in London and Holocaust memorial, in Vienna. Mark Bradford’ 150 portrait tone and Wild Wild West : A Beautiful Rant  & Julie Cockburn’s Nirvana 1, featured in her book Sticky Beak. We also talk about dyslexia, Lucy's  discussions with her dad are featured in the Listening Project for Chanel 4.  

The Unity Art Project Lucy founded raised over £3,000 for The Trussell Trust 
@trusseltrust  | www.trusseltrust.org
Working to stop UK hunger and poverty. 
Auction and an online exhibition, with @gowithyomo 

You can find more on Lucy:
Website:   www.lucychapman.org  www.unityartproject.com
Instagram: @luceprints @unityartproject 
 

Today, on the Art Seeker Stories podcast 5th Episode  I’m delighted to chat with artist Lucy Chapman, a London based artist, who is  primarily a print maker whose themes explore avenues within photography and recreated objects. Lucy is a teacher specialising in Inclusion and has recently founded  the Unity Art Project, raising money for The Trussell Trust. 

 Lucy is such a great kind soul, I first met Lucy online when she asked me for an artist interview as I was one of the artists who were adding their own work on top of her print ‘Peace Unity Love and Having Fun’ for the Unity Art Project. 

 We connected so well that I ended up with almost 3 hours of recording. I have taken the liberty then, of cutting the episode in half as I felt everything she shares is so deep and meaningful, it wouldn’t be fair to select and cut bits out, where would I start? 

 In this 5th episode, part 1,  we chat about her Art Seeker Island, a blend of London and Wales, and her chosen artist artworks for company:  Rachel Whiteread’s House in London and Holocaust memorial, in Vienna. Mark Bradford’ 150 portrait tone and Wild Wild West : A Beautiful Rant  & Julie Cockburn’s Nirvana 1, featured in her book Sticky Beak. We also talk about dyslexia, Lucy's  discussions with her dad are featured in the Listening Project for Chanel 4.  

The Unity Art Project Lucy founded raised over £3,000 for The Trussell Trust 
@trusseltrust  | www.trusseltrust.org
Working to stop UK hunger and poverty. 
Auction and an online exhibition, with @gowithyomo 

You can find more on Lucy:
Website:   www.lucychapman.org  www.unityartproject.com
Instagram: @luceprints @unityartproject 
 

Part two will be released Wednesday  next week

Including: Answers to Lufi’s questions, Lucy’s concept for her Shape of Hope and her dream collaboration. Not forgetting her book for Lufi and  Quote of Hope. 

Today, on the Art Seeker Stories podcast 4th Episode  I’m delighted to chat with artist KV Duong. KV is a London based multi-disciplinary artist who paints and performs. In his work KV explores themes of war migration and cultural assimilation through a re-examination of his parents’ experience of the Vietnam war and his own experience of growing up in Canada in a minority immigrant family. War trauma and integration are correlated with the artist’s coming out as a gay Asian man.

 I first came to know KV soon after he curated and produced a group online show, Transient for ArtCan, who we are both members of. Since then we have had many chats on Instagram, discussing each other’s paintings and what we see in them. KV  has been amazing introducing me to so many new ideas, its hardly surprising he has his own Instagram IGTV series, Art and Ideas. 

In this show we talk loft spaces and performances, melting pots of cultural  influences between Asia and Europe. We discuss the importance of mindset in relation to tennis. KV talks of War, expression  and his experiences. He also takes us on an incredible journey  on his artist vision of a  perfect collaboration that hits all your senses all at once. 

 KV’s Three Artists Artworks for Company on Art Seeker Island are:

1. By a woman : Marina Abramovic – The Artist is Present @maria_abramovic
2. Of cultural significance : Haigia Sophia in Istanbal
3. A free choice: Giant wall pieces by Anselm Kiefer @anselm_kiefer

Lufi’s Library Book Swap:

Borrowing: Conflict Time Photography by Simon Baker Tate publication 
Swapping with:  The Girl in The Picture by Denise Chong 

Dream Collaboration :Team Lab @teamlab
https:www.teamlab.art/

You can find KV 
Website : www.kvduong.com
Instagram: @kvduongart @create4charity @artcanorg 
Instagram IGTV Lives : Art and Ideas, every Saturday at 10am @kvduongart 

Today I have the pleasure of talking to Jeremy Morgan who I met online through ArtCan. We both exhibited in a group show,  @shapeofthenew_exhibition and we featured together in an IGTV LIVE by the curator, Sukai  Eccleston of Casild Art, African Art Finder. 

After that LIVE, something clicked and all of a sudden the format and idea of this podcast changed. Therefore it seemed perfect for Jeremy to be my  second guest to Art Seeker Island. 

Jeremy is a painter and graphic designer, living and working in Oxford, UK. Dividing his creative output between design and an evolving contemporary artist practice. His design background has influenced the development of his visual language, which seeks to marry dynamism and friction with the beauty and imperfection of the contemporary world. 

Of his work, Jeremy says: 

“I’m interested in the potential contradiction of responding to the fast-paced contemporary world with an older, slower technology – paint. But the marks left by my brush on the work's surface which are discernible on close inspection are important signifiers of the possibilities which painting still holds to respond to our present times.”

 Jeremy’s Three Artists Artworks for Company on Art Seeker Island are:

1. By a woman : Fiona Rae @fionarae_studio
2. Of cultural significance : Utagawa Hiroshige
3. A free choice: Christo Claude

Lufi’s Library Book Swap:

Borrowing: Insects of the Worldly Walter Linsenmaier (bright in. By @eviantonioart ) Swapping with: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchel 

You can find Jeremy
Website:  fizogdesign.co.uk
Instagram : @jeremy_r_morgan

In the time since recording this episode Jeremy has also founded Epox : @epox_contemporary An Artist led group fostering discussion, collaboration and appreciation around contemporary painting.  Jeremy is also a member of ArtCan @artcanorg 

Welcome to the Art Seeker Stories podcast.

Today I have the pleasure of talking to my dear friend Evi Antonio who has been right beside me through lockdown and she's been an incredible support  creating all of this, helping me to make it in to a reality. Evi has given me the confidence to go for it and has put herself forward to be my first guest and for that, I'm forever grateful.

Evi Antonio is Greek Cypriot, she was born and grew up in North London, surrounded by an urban landscape.  She dreamt of the countryside and nature, fascinated and immersed in the images of natural history books. After raising two children , Evi's discovered a new direction in her art, inspired by her love for street art and graffiti, surrounding  her East London home .

"Evi Antonio’s art is a celebration of the intricate details of the natural world. From the wing structure of a five horned rhinoceros beetle to the tentacles of a common lobster, she is driven by the desire to reveal and pinpoint details that might otherwise go unnoticed."

Evi's Three Artist Artworks for Company on Art Seeker Island.
1. Woman Artist : Rachel Ruysch
2. Culturally Significant: Greek Icons
3. Free Choice: Mantra @mantrarea The Ode of Collapse

Lufi's Library Book Swap

Borrowing:
The Goldfinch by Donna Tarte
Swapping with:
Insects of The World by Walter  Linsenmaier

You can find Evi, on her websites :
Fine art wwwhttp://www.eviantonio.co.uk  @
Cards https://eviscards.com   @evicards
She represented by Runway Gallery @runwaygallery

More about Evi. recent collaborations include:
Background Bob @backgroundbob
Furniture, soft furnishings  @stedans
Fashion and ceramics @anatomy_boutique

For now, sit back and enjoy Evi Antonio's voyage of discovery as she shares with us her vision of ART SEEKER ISLAND & her vision for THE SHAPE OF HOPE. 

Welcome to the new Art Seeker Stories Podcast. I’m your host Emma Hill, I seek stories of art and creativity, of inspiration and hope, of cultural differences and diversity, welcoming inclusivity within art. 

On this very first episode I take you on my artist journey where I share my stories behind,  Art Seeker Stories and take you to my Art residency on Art Seeker Island, an imaginary voyage into my imagination, sharing with you my concept and vision for The Shape of Hope . 

I take with me three artists artworks to keep me company on Art Seeker Island. 
1. Woman Artist: Jessica Zoob  @jessicazoobart 
2. Culturally Significant : Aboriginal Art @papunyatulaartists
3. Free Choice : Dan Baldwin  @danbaldwinart  

Lufi’s book club in review 
1 .The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera  @millan_kundera1929 
2. The Goldfinch by Donna Tarte 
3. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert  @elizabeth_gilbert_writer  
4. the Art of Creativity Susie Pearl  @susiepearlx  
5. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig @mattzhaig 
6 . The Secret By Rhonda Byrne  @rhondabryne_thesecret @thesecret365  

A shout out to the artists art ArtCan, @artcanorg who I'm a proud member of, who have given me the opportunity to get my artwork seen and who have introduced me to a community of amazing artists worldwide.

I'd also like to thank the artists and the team at Arthouse Unlimited who for ten years continue to inspire me everyday!!  @arthouse_unlimited  

Dedicated with so many thanks to: 
My dearest friend Evi,  @evianonioart  who has been by my rock, beside me through thick and thin, & our mate Gary! - 

(Gary who’s our mate but doesn’t know it yet) Who is an incredible inspiration and influence that has given me the guts to give all this a try. Check out his brilliant 100th episode that gave me that push to finally get my act together. I can’t wait for Gary to visit Art Seeker Island himself! 
Gary Mansfield: @mizogart @ministryofartsorg