SHAUNA ROCHELLE
Our amazing logo artist, Shaunna is a Melbourne-based artist painting as an ode to nature
Who are you, what do you do and why do you do it?
My name is Shaunna, I am a visual artist who mostly paints. I paint and create because it brings me joy to create beauty, and mostly because I feel kind of out of touch with myself if I don’t create.
How would you describe your style?
My paintings are abstract, atmospheric, organic and subtle. My craftwork and print based work is a lot more pattern based and folky.
What is it like being an artist in Melbourne?
It’s wonderful. It really is a city bursting with creativity and all that activity and the other creative people that you meet here are really inspiring.
I think that living somewhere with such strong contrasts between the seasons is important to my creative process, as it feels like with each turning of the season something wraps up and then births anew inside my subconscious.
What is your earliest art memory?
I remember colouring in these fairy colour-in books but rather than colour in each section one colour I would fill them with gradients and patterns and make them really fancy.
What difficulties have you experienced, personally, as a young woman in the art world?
I haven’t experienced anything specific to being a woman, but I guess in terms of being young, you are still trying to figure out your own style and you can be susceptible to multiple influences trying to pull your style in a certain set of directions. When I was younger, I struggled to see where my work sat in a contemporary setting, and how I could straddle the line between wanting to work as both a contemporary and commercial artist. I felt like most of my mentors at the time were trying to pull me into a place that wasn’t me and I felt really overwhelmed and I had to leave art school for a few years just to create and figure out what I was about, without that pressure. When I returned when I was older, I was much surer about my direction and had a great time.
What do you hope people feel when they view your art?
I think of my art as an ode to the natural world and try to exemplify the unity of all life through fluid, integrated spaces, so I hope that people can tap into that, which will hopefully make them feel kind of lofty and grounded at the same time.
What do you do when you're feeling unmotivated? Do you have any rituals or practices that help keep you focused, inspired, creating?
When I need inspiration, I usually head off for a little day trip or outing in nature with my sketchbook and camera. If I’m feeling unmotivated in the studio I put on some music and sometimes I even like to dance while I’m painting. If I can get myself into that calm, energized and focused state, then the motivation often comes naturally.
Which other great woman artists inspire you and why?
I love Kiki Smith because her work is timeless and it seems like creating has always come from a genuinely inspired place for her, like she epitomizes art as creation rather than production. She seems like a sensitive woman and that comes through in her work.
What can we do to help female artists?
I like to think when we’re supporting any kind of small business, it’s good to share the love around! It sometimes seems like certain artists get all the work and a lot of the time it’s because they’re good, but often it’s because they’re fashionable, too. Choosing to support or collaborate with a smaller artist could really help them move forward.
