Kate Fagin was born in London in 1948, but she was brought up in Malvern, Worcestershire. She recalls to have painted since attending school, although she did not take painting seriously until 25 years ago. Kate started her career as an artist graduating with Honours in fine Arts at University College Falmouth (2007).
Before she finished her degree, Kate’s work, Sea of Ice, was selected by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The painting has been exhibited in Nairobi ever since as part of the organisation’s collection. The same picture was also part of a global exhibition in 2008.
The UNEP’s aim was to raise people awareness of climate change. Fagin’s painting, Sea of Ice, depicted the dramatic image of a glacier melting, what made it ideal for an exhibition's context.
Kate quickly consolidated her style and artistic critical identity, although as most artist she keeps trying new methods and approaches to her work.
“Like all artists I constantly experiment with a number of different styles. My work ranges from figurative to abstract and at the moment I would say that it is landscape-based and semi-abstract. I can't really say why, except that it is a journey and this is where the journey has brought me,” said Fagin to Suite101.
Subversive
Undoubtedly, Fagin has always been a critical artist, an artist who uses her skill, ethics and compromising vision of the current state of nature to communicate the values of a true romantic and environmental painter.
“I draw from nature for inspiration when I paint and I have a tendency to paint what I see to be overwhelming or dramatic. I do paint what I see to be beautiful, but particularly what I see to be fearful - and I try to convey a feeling of drama together with the intensity of the moment to the viewer.
“I hope to influence the viewer, to raise awareness and to reinforce the message of the fragility of our planet, of climate change and other environmental issues that will ultimately affect us all,” Kate said.
When Kate was asked if she knew any painters whose work carried environmental messages she only mentioned Kurt Jackson, another Cornwall based artist who she mentioned to have met on several occasions.
“There are many artists whose work is concerned with environmental issues, but they are not painters.” Kate said disappointed, “Many are photographers or land artists like Andy Goldsworthy and Richard Long; also sculptors like Mark Coreth.
“I think this is a sad fact, because traditionally painters throughout the 19th and 20th centuries often used their work to address issues and change public thinking. Picasso's 'Guernica' is still considered to be one of the most political paintings of the 20th century.”
Chimerical
Fagin’s work is subversive: her thought provoking and the frightening environmental messages found in her paintings like Forest Fire and After the Fire leave their viewers with a feeling of a somehow urgency and frusttaion; and with the feeling of being asked for an immediate response.
But there is another facet to this landscape painter’s work. This artist’s work also shares some of the most enigmatic and arcane landscapes seen in contemporary painting.
Fagin makes a majestic and somehow abstruse use of the light in her paintings giving them a unique furtive and inscrutable touch. “Turner has been a huge influence on me with his constant pursuit of the sublime and his monumental semi-abstract landscapes - he was ahead of his time and is regarded by many as being the first impressionist.
“Other more contemporary painters whose work I admire are Anselm Kiefer, John Virtue and Gillian Carnegie,” said Kate.
The World’s Exhibition
At present Kate is working on a series of paintings for a joint exhibition next year with her husband, photographer and ceramist, Anthony Fagin. The show, held at Falmouth Art Gallery, is entitled, The World, and will run for approximately 2 months, starting in April 2012.
Fagin said, “The work has been inspired by travelling around the world together and experiencing natural phenomena in both popular and remote places. For example: the migration of wildebeests in Kenya; the desert flowering in Namaqualand; forest fires in Australia; the Fox Glacier in New Zealand etc.
“Just as the world is in a constant state of change and people themselves grow and change, so my painting evolves, partly as an attempt to reflect the process of change. My concern for the environment however continues to be an important theme for my work.”
Cornwall
Kate Fagin has already joined the list of those landscape mythical artists whose paintings throughout history really got to capture and transmit the allure, fascination and endless magic which flows in this recondite region of England.
“The Cornish coast is one of the most exciting, dramatic and sublime places for any landscape/seascape artist to be, especially in winter. Witnessing the furies of a storm at say Loe Bar or the Devil's Frying Pan, for example, could not be a more awe-inspiring experience.
“There are few coastlines that compare with what we have here. Of course I am not alone in finding Cornwall so inspiring, witness the high concentration of creative artists who are attracted by its light and other unique qualities and have been for over 100 years,” Fagin said.
Miriam Moreno Perez - Miriam Moreno Perez is an author, a journalist and a teacher. She has written several collections of contemporary and historical fiction ...
