Rhubarb

10 St Edward’s r h u b a r b

OSE exhibits at the NorthWall

Miranda Stewart (D, 2009-2011), recently hosted her first solo exhibition at The North Wall. Getting ready for her private viewing, Miranda, an Anthropology student at the University of Exeter, sat down with the editor of r h u b a r b to reveal her creative motives and future ambitions: I have been preparing for this exhibition for about a year now, and it’s something that I made a very deliberate decision about. I studied Fine Art Foundation for a year at Falmouth, and exhibited as part of group shows, but this is my first solo exhibition. My sister was very encouraging at the start as I had done a few commissions, and I missed being creative in this way.

How would you explain your relationship with Port Meadow andWythamWoods which recur throughout the exhibition? I grew up spending a lot of time in Wytham Woods; I am a real country girl! The atmosphere used to seep into my mind and create wonderful memories. I recreate this experience in my paintings. Painting landscapes has become my obsession, and they have become part of a family, whether they are blue, orange, or pink, they are all so important to me. The style of your landscapes is very abstract, has your work always been this way? It’s become more abstract over time, but I have always enjoyed landscape as a subject matter. I used to be far more realist, but found that it restricted my creativity. I enjoy how abstraction allows elements of the paintings to seem mysterious, and although I see something in the paint, I love how someone can see something totally different. My father also paints

How does painting fit in with your other creative ambitions? I enjoy acting, and recently played Abigail in The Crucible at University, but acting unlike painting is not about exposing who you are as a person. I really want to be a director, and have just written a play that I hope to take to Edinburgh after testing it out at University next term. I hope to paint always, whether anyone buys any or not. At School when learning how to produce portraits I wanted to focus on the landscape; it’s a part of me.

f e a t u r e s

landscapes, and although his style is more realist than mine, we spend a lot of time talking about art – he is like a tutor to me. You have worked on this project for a year and you’re now only a few hours away from your first private viewing, how do you feel? I used to feel quite fearless when it came to my work. I didn’t mind if someone didn’t like something, but now I think I’m a little less fearless! Art is a bit of you, your soul, it’s you on paper, an exposed expression of you which is very

Miranda Stewart

Miranda’s exhibition Expressions of the Oxford Landscape exhibited at The North Wall during February 2015. Further information about her work can be found at: www.mirandastewart.webs.com

revealing and intimate. When I’m painting it’s like meditating, but I’m very excited about the show.