SCV: And this community inspired you to become more involved with artistry of your time?
A.C: It’s actually what inspired me to do this book project – I kept coming across these incredibly talented young artists and I just wanted some way for their work to be seen in a non commercial setting. You know, the galleries are making money off the artists and that’s really the only professional venue that emerging artists can be seen in. So I wanted to do something where I could bring to the attention of the current audience the art that’s actually being made right now, in a different way.
SCV: How would you say your individual work plays a role in this innovate pendulum swing? You referenced them as ‘very labor intensive.’
A.C: My work is definitely about the love of paint. It’s so meticulous and detail oriented.
SCV: How long on average does it take to complete a single work?
A.C: A painting of mine can be in the studio for anywhere between – and when I say ‘in the studio’ it doesn’t mean I’m always actively working on it – three months to a year. A lot of time the work I’m doing is just sitting, looking at it, deciding what to do next, because with watercolor you can’t really make significant changes. My bedroom is actually the smallest room in the apartment and the walls are covered in all my unfinished paintings. So when I can’t fall asleep or I don’t feel like waking up, I look around and feel like I’m sort of getting work done.
SCV: How often do you produced finished work?
A.C: Every three months I come out with three or four new paintings. On average, I would say I do maybe fifteen good paintings a year if I’m working really hard, painting sixteen hours a day, sleeping while the paint dries and waking back up to work.
SCV: Would you say that’s an adult version of getting lost in your imagination? I know you often compare your paintings to daydreams.
A.C: Absolutely. I think my paintings represent a sense of loving and longing. So having something that’s not there creates that. Daydreaming is building on what you want, you’re remembering that kiss you had last night over and over again until that guy you had a crush on has become this amazing man in your imagination.
SCV: It sounds like your work is the meeting point between reality and our created fantasies.
A.C: Absolutely my paintings are not photo-realistic or representational, but it definitely is based in a sense of reality and there’s a feminine bend, too. I mean I’m a girly girl. I needed to design a fundraiser party and I planned a ball!
She swings the martini glass to her glossed lips and the darling BONDST waiter smiles admiringly. Annika Connor is a woman of force, great ease and feminine bliss. Whether it be her book, her ball, her homeware line currently mid-design or a fabulous painting, Annika Connor works tirelessly. She is a well oiled machine feasting on the scraps of modern artistic reverie, a well polished lady taking a leading position in a revolution of hardworking artists. She’s brilliant. And she knows how to have a ball.
Perhaps she’s only forever daydreaming, but it certainly does her real life justice.
TICKETS FOR POINT SUITE ART BALL AVAILABLE AT:
Go to Scallywag’s Photo Gallery.
http://pointsuiteartball.eventbrite.com/
yawwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn……
You called her a cum genius. Bravo.