Meet the artist: Serena Caulfield
Philip Carton
Business Post
19 March 2023
Wexford-based artist Serena Caulfield makes paintings in which memories morph into tall tales, invented imagery invites novel narratives. Transforming old to new, past to present, absence to presence, here to there, she likes to paint quickly and think slowly.
Caulfield's recent group shows include Wide Open Space, at Wexford Co Council Buildings; BEEP Painting Biennial, Wales; and GENERATION2022: New Irish Paint-ing, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny.
Recent solo exhibitions include Not somewhere else but here at Wexford Arts Centre (until Thursday, March 23) and Convergences at Ballina Arts Centre, which runs until April 29.
How did your artistic journey begin?
I was lucky in primary school to have a head teacher, Michael Kennedy, who was very encouraging. I remember a clunky TV being wheeled into our class regularly, and we got to paint along to Frank Clarke's Simply Painting. I loved it so much, and it was my favourite lesson of the week.
I was always sneaking off to draw my pony when there were jobs to do in the yard. My parents ran a successful riding school with a lot of horses, so there was always work to be done (I sometimes escaped) and it instilled a strong work ethic in my sister and I from a very young age, which has stood to us both. She happens to be a clothing designer now, so the combination of a hard work attitude and creativity obviously makes good bed-fellows.
Artists who have influenced me.
So many. My most formative was Angus Fairhurst, who I met by chance when I was in art school. I'm influenced heavily by a painting that I remember as a child by Jan Brueghel the Elder, as well as being enthralled by the inner workings of artists prevalent today, like Amy Sillman.
What do you want your audience to feel when looking at your work?
My paintings are deeply personal, and sort of pour out of me when they need to. I feel deeply, and hope that the work evokes a visceral reaction from the viewer too. I try to make work that can ask questions and give answers at the same time, without having to say too much literally or directly. Maybe then, I hope they can serve as a mediator in a sense, or a sounding board, or a window to some - where else if necessary.
What is your favourite piece of music when you need inspiration?
O Superman by Laurie Anderson.
I have a collection of ...
Random animal figurines
(hideous, kitsch ones from the 1980s) that I painted on for a project, photographed them large-scale and didn't have the heart to throw out.
An artist whose work I would collect if I could
Hieronymus Bosch (ambitious); or, maybe more realistically, Peter Burns's large scale Noah's Ark painting that is currently hanging in the foyer of the RHA.
In another life I would have been...
I thought I would become an architect or an interior designer. I nearly had a career in the army, and just before trials for the equitation school I had a bad accident from a horse, was laid up for almost two years, and art kept me sane and occupied. The universe intervened.
A place that means a lot o me
My family home beside sea in south Co Wexford. Much of my work is based on stories about the house and its surrounding landscape. My parents lovingly restored it from dereliction when I was about 10, and I've spent the past two years reclaiming the old garden, which hadn't been accessible for 80 years. I love the place with my bones, and it feeds my life and my practice.
A place I'd like to visit
Japan.
The best piece of advice I ever received
"If you can't handle 99 per cent rejection as an artist, then don't become one. If you can, you'll have the most rewarding and lifelong career imaginable."
See: serenacaulfield.com
