Interview: Chrissie Abbott
If you like cats and rainbows, chances are you will love Chrissie Abbott as she combines these two important life elements with aplomb. Although there’s no shortage of the aforementioned elements of felines and hyper-colour in the East London illustrator’s work, there’s also something deeper brewing beneath the neon surfaces – an exploration into the universe. Aptly called ‘Casual Cosmology’, Abbott’s upcoming Sydney exhibition at China Heights this Friday delves into deeper questions with a cut-and-paste, collage approach which could be described as new media psychedelia. The new pieces on display are inspired by vinyls, photos and typography from the 60′s and early 70′s and also the natural world of now, projections of the future and predictions of apocalypse. We spoke to the artist before her show.
Melissa Kenny: On your blog you cite “colour, typography, old photographs, skipping and adventures” as things that make you happy. Good job keeping that inner-child alive! Can you tell us a favourite childhood memory?
Chrissie Abbott: Playing in the street where I grew up in the summer when it was so hot that the pavement burnt the soles of my bare feet.
Your love for colour is obvious as I look through your creations. Have you always been partial to such a kaleidoscopic approach?
I’ve always loved colourful things and it’s definitely a consistent theme throughout my work. I like that it sort of conveys a bit of joy.
You fuse psychedelic vibes and whimsy really beautifully. There is something super dreamy captured in all your work, whilst still being incredibly rich in, like, every colour imaginable. Is it perhaps possible that you dabble – every day – in LSD? Wait, am I being offensive?
I guess there is a sort of drug-like aesthetic to what I do but it’s based on dreams and alternate realities rather than LSD trips!
Your style is quite distinctly yours. Along with the lustrously exploding colour palettes, I see a lot of merging of unlikely, almost arbitrary objects. Can you tell us a bit about the typical design process behind your personal works?
I tend to include themes of what I’m interested in or happenings in my life at the time of making the work. I quite like the mix of the every day and dream time hyper reality.
And cats! You seem to like those… I really want a cat but my allergies won’t permit it. Do you have a cat?
Cats were a bit of an obsession of mine as a child, every year for my birthday a kitten would be top of my list of things I wanted but I never got one because my dad was allergic. Now I’m grown up I don’t know if I am responsible enough to look after one.
You did the album art for Patrick Wolf’s release last year, Lupercalia, which looks incredible. How did that come about for you, and more to the point, how did you enjoy it?
I was recommended to do the design by my friend Fred Butler who makes accessories and has worked with Patrick for years. It was a great project to be involved with.
So you’re showing at China Heights this Friday! Is this your debut trip to Sydney?
Yes, this is my first time in australia! I’ve been here for just over a week and have been sun burned and rained on already. It’s exciting to not be in freezing old London at the moment though.
Was it always art for you? What would you be doing every day, if not this?
Yep. I haven’t really had any other career plans; I feel lucky that my life worked out this way. I don’t know what I would be doing right now if it wasn’t for this, I don’t have many other skills.
Introduction: Ingrid Kesa
Interview: Melissa Kenny
www.chrissieabbott.co.uk
www.chinaheights.com
