SHE WANTS IT ALL TO GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT PIPPA HEALY
I am a photographic artist based in London. My practice is primarily diaristic –and is concerned with themes around loss, longing, violence and grief.
I work with both analogue and digital photography as well as printmaking techniques such as screen-printing and photopolymer. My handmade ‘Zines’, which are often raw, abject and diaristic in style are central to my practice. My zines are held in the Tate Gallery collection, The Martin Parr Foundation and the Self Publish Be Happy archive which is housed in the MEP in Paris.
My work has been exhibited internationally and is part of a number of private collections. A career highlight was showing my series ‘Sick’ at Festival Circulation(s) in Paris in 2019 – It was a fantastic experience! My work has been published in numerous publications including GUP’s Fresh Eyes Photo, Photomonitor, Shutterhub Editions and Sluice magazine. In 2021 and 2022 my work was selected by PH Museum to be published in their new books – ‘in the Sun on the moon,...’ and ‘Inside’.
I studied photography at UAL Central St Martins and graduated with a distinction from Westminster University in MA Photographic Studies in 2016. In 2020 I graduated from UAL Camberwell with a distinction in MA Printmaking. I was the recipient of the 2020 Bainbridge Studio Prize and was a finalist for The Signature Art Prize 2021. I am currently studying at UEL for a Professional Doctorate in Fine Art.
Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences please.
From an early age I was obsessed with magazines. I loved the juxtaposition of image and text. My grandmother would buy me ID Magazine and Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine and I would spend hours designing my own magazines with Letraset and collaging magazine pages.
As a teenager I was drawn to Hip Hop Culture and the art of Keith Haring. I also loved the 1980s’s Fly Girl and B boy street images of Janette Beckman. 1970s New York is somewhere I would have liked to have lived.
Artists such as Barbara Kruger, Nan Goldin, Jo Spence, Marina Abramovic, Wolfgang Tillman’s and Rinko Kawauchi are very influential in my practice. I am influenced by the world around me from Tik Tok to Susan Sontag. I consume both high and ‘low’ culture. This is important.
I have many inspirational female friends who are photographers and writers – these people help me to keep on pushing my practice. They are very supportive.
How are the current trends in technology and innovation affecting your work as a creative?
I am excited by technology, by new ways of making work. In my own practice I have recently been pushing photographic images further by using digital apps.
We live our lives jumping between the virtual and ‘real’ world. In my new series ‘I want it all to go back to the way it was before’ I used a Glitch app to edit my images whilst walking. I enjoy playing with images, to create new outcomes from a photographic image.
We’d love to hear more about your creative process
My work often starts with images and text I make on my iphone. My phone is a visual diary. I take many images, often snapshots, and save them in albums. I write text and save this in my notes. I never know what may start a series but by ‘banking’ these images and text I have a library which I can draw on for inspiration.
I will then start a series and join my thoughts together. The series then will often take on a life of its own. I can feel the images coming together through making photobooks or zines. Then I feel an immediacy to share with the world.
What do you think of the art world and how it works in general?
The art world is fascinating. I have spent many years in education and the difference between making work and showing it within an institution versus the art world is huge. Once you start to show work professionally you realise quickly that you can start to break the rules.
I enjoy showing work on alternative platforms, making zines rather than expensive photobooks. I want my work to be seen so I take opportunities to show it from guerrilla flyposting exhibitions to once showing work in someone’s apartment which turned into a gallery for the night!
The art world is what you make of it.
Anything coming up that we should know about?
I have just had a solo show in London of my series ‘The Lake’. I will be launching the zine of this work at ‘Books on Photography’ in October which is held in The Royal Photographic Society and The Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol .
What does wellbeing mean to you and anything in particular that you practice?
Wellbeing is incredibly important. As an artist you spend many hours alone thinking and making work which can be very isolating. It is important for me to get outside and walk and talk with friends. My favourite walk is around the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park.
I enjoy cycling and running but I am probably happiest dressed in a wetsuit body boarding in Cornwall. I like to be taken by the elements and thrown around in the sea!
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Don’t compete or compare! Supporting your peers’ work is the best way of developing your own.
From the series “ I want it all to go back to the way it was before” Courtesy of the artist
From the series “ The Lake”
Nearly There from the series “ The Lake” Courtesy of the artist
Portrait of the artist, by Lara Capelli
