What does your studio look like today?
Sparse . . . clear . . . peonies, foxgloves and blowsy overblown roses . . . I’ve been photographing these over weeks at different times of the day into the evening light. There’s also bags of plaster for casting objects . . . cameras . . . layers of photographic prints . . . Polaroids . . . collections of 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century gilded frames and a rail of vintage dresses and lace ready for shoots.
What are you most excited by right now?
The next photo shoot in my London apartment.
What are the first steps you take when starting a new piece of work?
Clearing spaces. I work from my London space and my French one, both indoors and outdoors. I need it to be clean and clear, then throw myself in . . . process is everything . . . it’s always about a fresh start that brings me back round to the beginning.
What is the best thing someone has ever said about your work?
It was said very early on when I was at the RCA by the late art critic, Stuart Morgan –
he said my work was always about the layer beneath the layer I was working on . . . he totally nailed it.
What is your dream commission?
Art throughout a chateau – or one of the great English country houses – or palazzo . . . with total control over all the elements of styling and entire art direction from start to finish (this is how I usually work anyway).
Where would you like to be this time next year?
… in that chateau . . . in a new country . . . a new studio space somewhere like Palermo would be extraordinary . . . or Tokyo . . .
View artworks by Carolyn Quartermaine exclusive to London Connoisseur in our Gallery.
