Portrait by Ben Pyke

In the fifth instalment of our new series Natalie Walton, creator of the recently relaunched Daily Imprint, revisits Miranda Skoczek, pictured above, to find out where her creative journey has taken her since the original interview.

It’s been eight years since Daily Imprint was launched. During that time I have published more than one thousand posts on people in the creative arts – from artists to designers, photographers to writers, and architects to florists. After re-launching the site recently, I thought it would be interesting to revisit some of the interviews from the early days and learn how these people have progressed on their creative journey.

Meet artist Miranda Skoczek. She was originally featured on 10 September 2009.



When you were featured on Daily Imprint, you were an emerging artist who had recently completed eight years of study to practice your art full-time. What have been the highlights since then?

There have been many, the most significant being having my son Harper, almost five years ago, and juggling motherhood with a career that has slowly continued to bubble away. When I say many, I consider each year that passes where I am able to support myself and my son from my practice to be a “highlight”. Having my work acquired by Artbank gave me a huge thrill, also having sold several works, which have been placed in public collections/spaces. Most recently a large collaboration with Australian women's fashion label Gorman - I worked with Gorman to produce a 56 item collection. It's been fun to see my work in a different context, and for it to be experienced by a different, and much wider audience.

At the time you said your proudest achievement was to choose a path that wouldn't necessarily make you rich, but it would fulfil you - now that you are more of an established artist, what are you proud of now about your art life, and what fulfils you now?

I'm proud that there are people out there who respond positively to what I do. My practice is a very self-indulgent one - I paint because it really is the only way I know how to navigate through daily life, and I am fulfilled (and amazed) by those who choose to share in my recording of it. I am most proud that with each new year, I am able to look back and see improvements in my work. I am fulfilled by a painting that was better than my last, and that essentially is what drives me - to always be bettering and pushing myself.



What changes or pressures come with being a more established artist? And how does this inform your art practice?

The pressures that come with being more established are simple - it’s knowing that more people shall be seeing/judging my work and expecting more of me. Which is perfectly reasonable as your latest show should always be better than the last. I feel pressure every time my prices increase, which I've always done very slowly, worrying whether the market will accept it. Perhaps the most profound pressure is the challenge of staying relevant in the art world, whilst I juggle motherhood, and the need to be as present as possible for my son. Motherhood is, of course, the priority, and career a close second, and naturally my social life has taken a huge backseat.



You also spoke about your love of travel, and how it informs your art. What was the last place you visited that had this effect, and why?

Japan was probably the last place I visited that had an impact on my image-making. I was so taken by the order and attention to detail. Also, the beauty of the natural world, and the reverence the Japanese people hold for it was amazing to see and experience. My son and I were there for the end of Sakura (cherry blossom season) and even though we missed the blossom in all their abundance and glory, just seeing glimmers of it (one or two trees, instead of every tree) was a sight to behold. I love all of the rituals and ceremonies that surround the cherry blossom, and it being a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life. I found myself back in the studio trying to find that tension between order and chaos - coupling subtle and delicate marks with more of a hard-edged geometry and considered gesture.



You have managed to gain quite a following on Instagram. Why do you think this is, and how important is it to you as an artist?

Instagram - ohhhh, it’s such a love/hate relationship for me. Love because being a visual person, I am so taken with its immediacy, and one’s ability to take a peek into the person’s travels, thoughts, environment, fashion choices, etc. Hate because I have spent way too much time being a voyeur and getting lost in a world that isn’t real, but is bloody pretty! I think the reason I have managed to gain a number of “followers” is for the simple fact I am addicted to beauty, in all of its forms, and there are many more people out there who are too. I only post images which I feel are visually interesting, or offer insight into who I am as an artist and person. It is important to me because it’s the only form of social media I seem capable of doing, ie I think my website has been “under construction” for more than a year, and it’s the one way I can show people, near and far what I have been up to.

Images courtesy of Miranda Skoczek - follow her on Instagram @mirandaskoczek. 

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