Show Notes
This week Flick joins me in Copenhagen for a chat with artist Arne Ohlsen.
Arne started his art practice in Australia while working as a carpenter, painting on wooden offcuts because canvas was out of reach. He gained momentum quickly, exhibited at several shows, and moved into a full-time creative practice before returning to Europe, where the work turned darker, leaning into identity, isolation, power and struggle.
We talk about the real differences between making art in Australia and Europe, whether struggle actually produces more emotionally powerful work, and what happens to a practice when the desire to sell starts shaping what gets made. We get into his decision to keep carpentry alongside his art career, the pull between experimentation and building a recognisable style, and why his version of success isn't commercial art stardom but a nice studio in a warm climate.
Arne also opens up about his discomfort with being seen, how comparison in the art world knocked his confidence, and the challenge every working artist faces: promoting your work without becoming a version of yourself that doesn't feel real.
Find Arne on Instagram here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Nitty Gritty
This week Flick and I are back in London with artist Alma Berrow. Self-taught, Alma calls herself an artist who works with clay rather than a ceramicist. Her sculptural installations turn everyday objects into something humorous, surreal and quietly loaded: ashtrays, oysters, Ritz crackers, pomegranates, a lone gherkin placed beside a bowl of them.
I’m back with illustrator, artist and curator Tabby Booth for round two! A year after her first Nitty Gritty episode, we caught up outside the Tate Modern for a chat I'm very excited to share.
Got a big following but no one's buying? I'm flying solo today to break down the difference between building an audience of peers and one of buyers, and why your approach to content makes all the difference when it comes to selling art online.
Should your work look like an extension of you? This week, I sit down in Lisbon with Ukrainian-born, Portugal-based textile artist Bombony. Best known for her geometric textile works, Bombony draws on her background in architecture to create intuitive compositions that balance structure and softness, allowing meaning to reveal itself over time.
This week we’re getting a crash course in Marketing 101 with the person who markets me — Felicity “Flick” Brown, my marketing and brand strategist, plus basically 55 other jobs in one.