Artist | Elle-Louise Burguez
Artist and all round creative Elle-Louise Burguez is not only a good friend but also the creator of some of our most treasured artworks. Elle’s work alternates between medians of visual arts, music and creative writing; although her practice is diverse there is a strong sense of intimacy, which flows between them all. We sat down with Elle to get a very personal insight into her creative process and inspirations behind her work.
How did you first get into painting, when and how did you start?I’d always loved to draw as a child and make little things. I lost my awareness of my creativity in my teens because I was so insecure and foggy-brained! Something was missing in my life and I slowly started to create again. I realised (and am still constantly reminding myself) that to design and originate in any way makes me feel so much more fulfilled. I started drawing with connector pens and that lead to a more refined drawing with black fine pen and colouring it in and then I moved onto watercolours in the same style. About 3 years ago I started to merge into painting to change things up and create a more elegant and beautiful look.
Tell us a little bit about your creative process; what gets you inspired to start a new piece of work?I am constantly eating up what’s around me with my eyes. Whether it be nature, everyday objects and moments, a beautiful passage from a book or a pretty picture from Instagram. So with all of that playing around in my head I sometimes have random bursts of inspiration and I know what colours I want to put together or that I want to paint a bowl of cherries or a yellow and white striped jug etc. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what happens but I do get a certain feeling in the morning and I’ll know there and then if it’s a day for creating. A calmness and an excitement.
Who would you most like to own a piece of your work?Oh wow, ok…. Someone who can benefit from seeing my work in their home everday. Where my work can give them hope in their own creative persuits or just lift their mood.
And I’d love for the men and women who inspire me to own my work: Maryam Nadir Zadeh, Zadie Smith, Devendra Barnhart, Shishi Yamazaki, Hayao Miyazaki…
It’s strange because when I am working on art and writing I find it’s harder to naturally create songs! I find it hard to balance all of my mediums at once which I get down about sometimes but it’s a good lesson for me to just go with what intuitively feels good and real.
I feel that over the past few years I have set up a strong internal belief in my work and what I do. It isn’t based of success or compliments, I truely just love what I do because it really does come from my heart. I make what I want and I don’t let the ever changing trends of today affect my process. Flowing from writing to music and to painting does allow for constant inspiration as well. I wrote a song a while ago and the lyrics have inspired different paintings and poems. Sometimes the reverse will happen and the colours and objects and mood of a painting I make will inspire a poem or story.
And one more thing haha- through allowing myself to delve off into different mediums I can be kind to myself and accept when things don’t work out or look beautiful enough to share with others. It is so necessary to just play for the sake of play and not for the outcome to be bought by someone or displayed in a gallery.
If you could paint from anywhere in the world where would it be?I am dreaming of Italy at the moment. I imagine being on a boat and sitting outside with deep blue ocean below me and maybe some mountains in the distance. Or from my street window looking down at the fresh markets and all the pretty dresses and flowers.
What kind of feelings do you hope your work evokes?Firstly a sense of peace, where the viewers personal anxieties and stresses can just rest for a minute or two. Feelings of love, nostalgia, excitement, lust, desire, power… feelings that create a new story or remind them of their own stories.
What does the future hold for you? Anything exciting in the works?My life is a bit all over the place right now so I am not sure which country I’ll be in, but I have a series all in red that I am going to release soon and I have been working on some new paintings for a show later in the year.
I am yet to realise what it is that is just right for me at the moment but I have an instinct telling me to share my writing this year. So many people everyday feel a sense of isolation, fear or lack of love in their life and I truely think that through reading someone else’s honest words, we can start to feel more connected and not so alone after all. Art can definitely do this too but for me personally, when someone’s words resonate with my heart, a whole world lifts off my chest and for a fleeting moment or sometimes longer I am at peace and all is ok.
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