Summer 2016 b

Stephen: When did you
first realize you were
Artistic Holly?
Stephen Yates catches
up with emerging artist
Holly Norris in her
studio.
I possibly do that alongside
being a Doctor!” As I thought
about it the more peaceful I
became, so I enrolled with the
Open College of the Arts and
I did begin to study and only
after five years of study did I
feel that I was in a position to
begin to show my work at an
exhibition, and get over the
‘imposter syndrome!’ of not
being a ‘proper’ Artist!
Stephen: Which Artists had
a profound influence on your
development?
Holly: Growing up surrounded
by designers, the influence
of the Bauhaus, pared back industrial
design and Emin and
other contemporary artists. I
am a massive fan of Grayson
Perry and his social, political
commentary, expressed in a
variety of media. I like construction
when doing my textiles
and have done a great
deal of research into designers
like Alexander McQueen, and
Zandra Rhodes.
Stephen: Where do you now
find your inspiration for these
amazing pieces of work?
Holly: I use first hand experience
and use the world
around me, and things that I
have seen. I tend to respond
directly to things and work directly
onto paper, then distil it.
That may be something that is
quite immediate. It might be
capturing a moment, which is
particularly poignant for me
to create a sense of place. At
the moment we are preparing
for an exhibition called
‘unknown Island’ which is
Portland based and I am influenced
by just being in the
environment, in my studio by
Portland Bill. My marks and
colour are helped by the slowness
of the process; in most
of my work there is evidence
of the time taken to develop
my art. Even in my prints it’s
about the burnishing and the
marks made by the hand and
really feeling and portraying
in that way.
Holly: I grew up in an artistic
family, and it wasn’t
something I was particularly
interested in, as I
wanted to be a Doctor as
long as I can remember.
It was only as an adult
working in an increasingly
stressful job, that I started
making and initially used
this to bring some balance
into my life. Increasingly
the balance tipped towards
making and expressing
myself. I realised that life
is too short and I decided
to take a leap and my
Mum picked up a leaflet to
go to University to study
Art, and I discounted it
and said, “It was a ridicu-
55 lous idea and how could
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