Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your work:
Sitting comfortably? Good well I shall begin…so a long time ago in the 80s when spam was tinned meat and phones were attached to the wall I was raised in the countryside of North Yorkshire, UK. Fast forward a few years…I trundled off to St Andrews in Scotland to study History, they didn’t do art & design so I put it on hold. After graduating and in search of adventure I packed some books, clothes and paintbrushes in a bag and ended up in the most Polish of groves…Warsaw. It was in Warsaw that I reignited my passion for art and started painting again. When I moved into a smaller flat..due to space constraints I found myself doing more college-based work and mixed media. During the day I work as a primary school teacher (pays the bills) and I try to use the rest of my time to create collages. So essentially I'm self-taught and therefore continually learning.
My work is inspired by many things and different styles - I recently did a whole series of Warsaw & Jazz inspired collages, based around Warsaw in the 1950s-70s and Jazz music. Jazz albums always had the best cover designs and these graphics greatly inspired me, that and the cutouts of Henri Matisse. Additionally, I take a lot of inspiration from the famous Polish poster school and thier graphics, Wildlife, birds and lots of different amazing artists on instagram.
Tell us about the themes you pursue in your work:
I don’t know if I pursue themes per say. Inspiration comes from many places…it could be from something I’ve seen, or music, it could be from images I might find at a flea market (such as the images of safari animals). I like to use geometric shapes and colour but also to make it look like a scrapbook image. It all depends on what I’m going for and sometimes images just evolve themselves. Sometimes a significant event/protest that I feel passionate about might be something that makes me look to make an image-based around that. I have so many boxes and tins of different paper at home, I really need a separate studio just for them.
What art do you most identify with? any specific influences or research areas?
Well as a youngster Cezanne, Picasso and local artist Mackenzie Thorpe were all strong influences but nowadays I would say Matisse, must be the biggest and strongest art I identify with and there are lots of great collage artists out there and have discovered so many fantastic artists on instagram that I would never have been aware of. Marianna Oklejak is a polish illustrator, her work is great as is Joanna Grochowska, Dawid Ryski and my good friend photographer Graham Vasey.
Is there something you couldn't live without in your studio ? What is your most essential tool ?
Ummm scissors! Glue! And all the copious boxes of paper and ink.
Tell us how you organise, plan, and prioritise your work:
I don’t. I do what I want or fancy unless of course, it is a commission or an assigned project in which case it takes precedence. Planning…is just me sketching ideas out in my sketchbook.
How do you navigate the art world?
Honestly, I don’t. It’s mostly on Instagram.
Professionally, what is your goal?
Well, I would love to give up the day job and do this full time, but I’m realistic. I would love to do more printing and learn more technical skills as I see a lot of things need to be done online now and I’m very old school. Self-taught essentially. I would love to go back and learn the skills I want, properly but with real-life commitments, and living abroad…finding courses (that I could understand) is tricky. I would love to illustrate kids' books.
Are there any upcoming exhibitions or projects in the works?
Well 2 years of covid put any exhibits on hold but now restrictions have loosened maybe its time to organise something again?!
Instagram @stewartcogle
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