Genieve Figgis tells Aidan Dunne she likes to work in a way that leaves room for the unexpected to happen
Aidan Dunne: You’re in an amazing location here, right on the sea. Is that distracting for you?
Genieve Figgis: In a way. But I love the whole sense of the seaside, and it’s extraordinary at night just to look out. For practical reasons, I think my ideal summer here is mild and cloudy. Comfortable, but not too hot, and the light not glaring too much.
AD: Your studio is like a gallery in that you can see a lot of work. It strikes me that you’ve worked on it as you would on a painting?
GF: Well, I leave the paintings on the wall and see how I get on with them. I didn’t see the studio in the same way as working on a painting, I must say, but it’s true it creates an atmosphere for me… and I did try to do that.
To read this article in full, subscribe or buy this edition of the Irish Arts Review
Anne Stewart selects The Nativity by Baldassarre Peruzzi from the Ulster Museum collection
Kenneth McConkey recounts the story of how two great Irish painters, John Lavery and William Orpen, recorded the greatest ballerina of her generation, Anna Pavlova
Marie Lynch celebrates the life and work of illustrator and watercolour artist Naomi Heather