Artists

PAGE AFTER PAGEOne of the Italiansketchbooks that will formthe basis for a new RoyalAcademy publication``````ABOUT TIMEAn antique clock withcollage inside – the workhad just been finished``````Has this childhood experience affected your workin other ways?I worked on a small scale because that’s all I could doin a hospital bed, and working in intense detail was agreat way of occupying my time.``````Did the arrival of your own children make a differenceto your work?The act of collecting unusual materials for use incollage arose from having children.My husband and I used to spend our holidayssketching. With children you can’t really do that. So wedid much more of what you do with children: the beachholiday. You immediately notice what’s all around you.So I accumulated collections of razor and oyster shellsand pebbles. Back in London I started to acquireceramic tile and pot fragments, convex clock glass,mirror shards and other ephemera with potential asbases for collage.``````Which artists are the main influenceson your work?Before Rome, all my work wasabout metamorphosis in oneform or another. At school andbeyond, Ovid [the Romanpoet] and hisMetamorphoses and alsoEscher were hugeinfluences. But, during myRome Scholarship, I came to``````know and love the architectural etchings of [18th-century Italian artist] Piranesi and the earlyRenaissance frescoes of Giotto, Piero della Francescaand Fra Angelico.``````Prints on seashells and other materials have nowbecome part of your work...I only ever print on paper but I choose particularprinting papers, often Japanese, which will glue mostsuccessfully on a particular surface. I use very thin yetstrong paper that I can mould around the curve of arazor shell or into the crevices of a piece of slate, sothat the paper collage ends up looking like it is part ofthe shell or stone, rather than something glued on.``````Can you see a future for the art of printmaking?One doesn’t have to regard each print as ‘the finalthing that the block can do’. There are so many thingsyou can make. Many contemporary artists work withmixed media, so printing often plays a part.I think for a long time printmaking was apoor relation at the feast of artforms but now it’s enjoying astrong creative renaissance.Anne Desmet RA is in anexhibition with Ann ChristopherRA and Barbara Rae RA atGustavo Bacarisas Gallery,Casement Barracks, Gibraltar,from 22 June to 15 July.http://www.annedesmet.comIN THE STUDIOFOR A LONG TIMEPRINTMAKING WASA POOR RELATIONAT THE FEAST OFART FORMS``````Artists & Illustrators 2726 In the Studio.indd 27 08/06/2016 17:32