Rising Talent - Josephine Richardson

Rising Talent: Young and emerging artists at the Hastings Arts Forum 2017 

25 Jul – 6 Aug
Private View: 28 Jul, 6.30 - 8.30pm  

Rising Talent is an initiative with the specific aim of giving young and emerging artists an opportunity they would not necessarily get elsewhere.  That is, the opportunity to show their work in a commercial gallery and the experience that goes along with that. Artists can exhibit at no charge and the work is for sale.

In order to help publicise the show and give the selected artists a greater profile, each has been asked do a mini-interview. All of these interviews will be published here over the course of the exhibition which starts next week. Our first interviewee is Josephine Richardson. 

Please tell us something about yourself and your art?

Photography has always been of interest to me, ever since I was a young girl. It wasn't until my foundation year at college that I realised how much I loved it as a medium. My early art background was very much focused on life drawing, observational sketches and botanical drawings and that is where my love of art originally stemmed from. It means I work in a very detailed way and become very focused on a project. I believe that is why I have a good eye when it comes to taking photographs. 

My photographic work is very personal and I pride myself on taking photographs full of honesty and truth. I often create work in relation to negative events that happen either to me or a loved one and turn it into a positive experience by creating a project or series. I find it not only helps me to understand my work as it develops, but it also acts as a form of therapy. I find it helps me to grieve and gives me time to reflect on the situation, allowing me a form of unconventional expression. I am a firm believer in theory of Sol LeWitt that the idea is more important than the outcome and often refer back to that notion within my own work.

Which other artists do you like or find particularly interesting?
My interest in other photographers changes frequently, but most recently I would say that I am a huge fan of Wolfgang Tillmans; his work is so varied and he really inspired me on a personal level to show my personal life through my photographs. I also like the work of Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Richard Billingham, Tracey Emin, Walker Evans and Gregory Crewdson, just to name a few!

Why is making art important to you?
Making art is important to me because the personal aspect of my work seems to resonate with a lot of people. Everyone goes through hardships and struggle, everyone has their own lives to lead and everyone is an artist in some form - I like to make work that people can relate to. I want to show that negative events don't have to have negative outcomes. My photographs represent an awareness of my changing situation and surroundings, that is inevitable - art is adaptive, that is why it is so important.

What would help you to develop your art further in the future?
I think my work will develop naturally as my situations change as my work is reactive. However, what would help would be looking for more and more opportunities to be creative, whether its independently or by collaborating with others. I have an ideas book that I am hoping to start working on, particularly a project on Irrational Childhood Fears which I am hoping to have a slightly humorous feel to it. I would also like to tell the stories of others through a photographic narrative, perhaps concentrating on health issues such as Cancer in order to help raise awareness of the disease further.


To see more of Jo's work please see: Josephine Richardson Website 

Rising Talent at the Hastings Arts Forum
July 25th - August 6th
Private View: 28 Jul, 6.30 - 8.30pm