 DANIEL SHAW For our second interview with artists taking part in this year's Talented Art Fair, Valencia-based Australian artist Daniel Shaw talks about his work, creative process and influences. Who are you and what do you do? My name is Daniel Shaw and I have been painting for about 10 years. In 2015, I decided to return to full-time study to do a Masters in Art and that’s the best thing I ever did! I was studying in Sydney, Australia, and the art school offered me the opportunity to study in any university in the world that had a course with the same structure. So I came to Valencia, Spain. I finished the course in February last year, and decided to stay so this is where I happily live and work now. What is your background? I’ve been a language teacher and I have a degree in English Literature, a Masters in Creative Writing and a Masters in Art. Unsurprisingly, I use words a lot in my work! How would you describe your work? I investigate masculinity: how men particularly are equipped with the tools to fight, hunt, and pitch themselves against nature, yet in contemporary life none of those things are relevant. We live comfortable, coddled lives. Exploring what happens to all those - now obsolete - skills we have inherited from evolution, is a big source of inspiration in my work. Talk us through your creative process, I start with collage. I work with text and found images as well as my own images, and I spend time with the ones I like, then when I find some sort of dialogue between them, I make the image in my book. The text and images that work well are then blown up bigger, and I paint over the text in acrylic and oil. In that order.
Who and what are your biggest influences?
Life is one of my biggest influences. I think, when you are a creative person you find inspiration wherever you go, including the internet. In terms of other artists, Ashkan Honarvar, Lucy McKenzie, Lucian Freud, Egon Schiele, Marc Brandenburg, John Brack and Will Barnet. And although he’s not an artist, I’m influenced a lot by Ray Bradbury. Who would you say are your favourite contemporary artists? I’m interested in anyone who is making contemporary art, however my firm favourites are Luc Tuymans, Tracey Emin, Lucy McKEnzie, David Hockney, Marlene Dumas, Julian Opie, Michael Borremans, Yoko Ono, Genieve Figgis… the list is very long. What makes you get up and create art? When I do it well, I get a real buzz from completing something that looks good and has the desired effect. I I especially like it if it ‘smells’ contemporary. What will you be showing at Talented Art Fair? In the last few months I have been working solely with text and images together, so mostly it will be this body of work, but I will also show older work, also collage-based. Daniel Shaw will be exhibiting at the Talented Art Fair from 2 to 4 March, The Old Truman Brewery, Shoreditch, London E1 6QR www.talentedartfair.com
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