Nicola Atkinson Artist Beautiful Materials Design Studio
THE STUDIO
When I came up with the idea of a company called Beautiful Materials, it seemed to cover lots of things, and I felt that it could be paint, stone, sound and words because it all has a materiality. It could be all sorts of things.and, is a sort of a broad concept of what it means. So now I have been working on that recently with fabric and material as a traditional sense is fabric.
The reason I came to that, I suppose, was because I was interested in people experiencing the tactile nature of visualisations and I felt that that was a way of people embodying it in wearing materials or seeing materials.
Nicola Atkinson in her studio in Glasgow June 2024
Thank you to outerspaces.scotland
Photographer Harrison Reid
Interview Lorna Swinney ©2024
WAIT (FOR THE NEWS)
WAIT (FOR THE NEWS)
The collection is now available on my shop
My intention with this idea is that I created these artworks that are paintings originally, printed on fabric for people to wear them, then they would have this flexibility and fluidity in the world. And that was really intriguing to me. So that's one thought. Then you have the other thought, well, how am I going to produce these? And then you think, well, the environmental impact of this as well. And then also who can afford those things. So everything becomes quite a decision and becomes understandable and loaded.
As an artist who's experienced a toe in the water of the art world, which can be also hugely wasteful and limiting. I'm always trying to pull myself back and make things equalised in certain ways and that's what's great about being an artist is you're just confronted with all the problems of the world, and somehow maybe you should be responsible for all the dilemmas of sustainability, slow fashion and everything. So every idea that you think of is loaded and should be I think
There's no waste in making a scarf. So that's quite nice. It starts as just a piece of material. It was the first way of dressing and wearing clothing and also how to define rooms and separation of space, so sort it's the first architecture. So it's got a really sort of very basic quality to it. That is lovely.
The five paintings, they're called, WAIT (FOR THE NEWS). They were created during the hard time in my life when I was waiting for some not so great news. As an artist, you are actually lucky that you are able to channel these intense personal thoughts into making work and onto canvases. The work was good. They were really lovely paintings. Really were evocative and they could demonstrate that time of anxiety. I have now lived with the work for over a year. Which was also kind of an interesting part of the idea that we all have instant news. We all don't wait very well for anything. We don't wait for the news. We don't wait. We are constantly anxious about scrolling our phones and looking at things and the natural beauty that this happened naturally is I waited. These paintings existed. they were in my home, I lived with them and it then took me a whole year to think, Oh, maybe this would be good to create with them. That's actually the wonder of them, the slowness. and natural, like the idea is kind of naturally percolated.
This work I thought of, I want it to be really tactile. And I wanted to think when you were looking at the actual photograph of the model, that you'd think about your own skin and you'd think about the intimacy, not necessarily nakedness, but almost like just the feeling of it. And I just got this idea that I wanted Thomas, who is an architect and a friend who I've known for 12 years. He's modeled on several other projects for me before. I wanted his torso to be naked, and I wanted it to be beautiful. But I also wanted to be intense. And I did a little bit of research. Of course, I looked to see. I looked at all the scarves, that people would advertise, and they were like people wearing them and looking chic and all this stuff. And there was none of a man naked, because maybe scarves are kind of more feminine. And I thought, that's interesting. So maybe what I'm doing is unique.
I feel like the photographs should actually be artworks in themselves, and they do make you feel the intensity, so they kind of add another layer to the idea. I wanted it to have this sort of quite high end, seemingly like a fashion shoot, that beautiful fashion shoot metaphor. So they're really exquisite and very beautiful. But that would inspire you to think in depth about the idea.
So when someone wears a georgette scarf, I hope they will think about it in all their relationships. So you'd, even though you might be wearing it with your clothes, you would have that feeling that when you've viewed the photograph of the model, that it has actually the nakedness of emotion, naked flesh upon material, that sensation of the wind that's on your skin. It might be kind of risque, of course, because I don't know if it's going to come across, but the photographs are turning out really beautiful.
The one other thing I'd like people to think about is the slowness of art creation, things take time to percolate, to consider the relationship to how you get them out there. I also have to think that too, when I'm doing a project.
Artist, Art Director & Stylist Nicola Atkinson© - Model Thomas Hamilton - Photographer Harrison Reid - Music Ben Fletcher - Interview Lorna Swinney ©2024
Memory Tree© for Aberdeen Union Terrace Gardens
It is wonderful to return to Aberdeen as I am not a stranger to the park; my public artwork Mosaic Gardens, 2016 was a celebrated heritage of Aberdeen Union Terrace Gardens. Two hundred flags of bold coloured images that depicted parts of the Union Terrace were hidden throughout the Gardens. This participatory installation created the opportunity to visualise a reimagining of a much-loved city centre space and introduced ideas of change and renewal. The public were then invited to take one flag creating a parade as they carried them home.
It is an honour to be invited back to create the public artwork MEMORY TREE for Aberdeen Union Terrace Gardens. A memory tree has a strong tradition, creating a focal point for people to visit and spend time reflecting on thoughts of their loved ones.
My design was inspired by the Rowan Tree, which is found high in the mountains of Scotland. It is often known as the Tree of Life, symbolising courage, wisdom and protection.
The design process started with a beautiful ink drawing, which was then crafted in Scotland using high-grade stainless steel, chosen because of its longevity and strength.
The MEMORY TREE is intimate and approachable public art, providing stimulating and brilliant viewing from many angles. The magic can be witnessed during the day, acting as a sundial, as the sun slowly casts shadows across the lush landscape of the park. more info