Sarah Kate Wilson Sprinkle Uber Fudgemeister, 2007 34 x 41 cm Acrylic, glitter, metallic acrylic, iridescent powder on canvas

Women artists are joining forces to conquer the London art scene; more and more all-female shows are popping up around the city. Artist, Sarah Kate Wilson reckons that women need to join forces and work together to make their mark on the art world. As curator and participating artist in the exhibition, Rapunzel Rapunzel, (Shoreditch Town Hall, 29-31 August) she reveals her motivation for coordinating an all-female show as well as her ideas to keep them coming.

SC: What inspired you to coordinate Rapunzel Rapunzel?

SKW: I noticed that all female shows were lacking, there is a hole in the market, and not very many all female shows are happening on a consistent basis.

SC: How did you get from idea to event?

SKW: With the exception of one of the women in the show, I did not know any of the others. I admired their work for some time and conducted a fair bit of research, then I simply sent them an email and we got started.

SC: Why is it important to have all-female shows?

SKW: I think it is important to build networks of women artists. Working with a group of artists is inspiriting because there is a constant exchange of ideas and the opportunity to work things out within your own work by bouncing off other artists’ work, processes, and ideas. Many benefits come from sharing studio space.

SC: Why do you think there is a hole in the market and what can be done to fix that?

SKW: I think that one reason might be that some women choose to interrupt their careers to raise a family; you don’t see very many artists actively working who are mothers.
I think a good way to promote networking among artists is crossover in graduate school programs. University shows should combine their shows with other schools to enable students to get to know and work with artists/students who are engaged in other programs. I think graduate school shows should feature more than one university.

SC: Getting back to Rapunzel Rapunzel – will you continue to arrange group shows?

SKW: Each of the women in the show plan to organise a group show of their own and I am thinking of possibly organising a panel discussion to follow the exhibition sometime in the future, to capture a wider audience and appeal to funders who look for educational and community building benefits of exhibitions. I am also planning a solo show, which will probably open in 2009.

SC: Tell me a little bit about your work.

SKW: In my work, I explore and redefine the contrasts between what is considered “High Art” versus what is considered “Low Art”. I am challenging the perceptions that people have regarding the hierarchies of art because I don’t agree with that way of thinking. I don’t think that value should be attached to work in that way. There is a hierarchy in everything from the paint itself, the image depicted and the materials used. For example, a painting that is in a frame is assigned a different meaning than an image that is directly painted onto a wall.

SC: What is the theme of your work and the work that is the show? What is the connection between all the artists’ in the show?

SKW: My work is playful with an air of mischievousness and rebelliousness, it’s almost as if my paintings have personalities of their own, just like my favourite movie Alice in Wonderland, and the characters Tweedledee and Tweedledum, they are mischievous characters, always whispering and doing things behind the backs of the other characters.
The common theme for the show is the joy in materials, playfulness, by applying traditional methods for example, painting, drawing, and sculpture, to express fanciful themes such as fairytales, dreams, mythology, and imaginary worlds to explore issues of reality and investigate psychological states and experiences.

SC: You have called your work “unruly girl work”, what do you mean by that?

SKW: My work is decorative and to me, decorative is not a dirty word nor a bad thing in art. Pink is a colour that hits you and demands attention, my work is overt and gripping. I use materials such as glitter and colours like pink that are stereotypically associated with craft making and femininity.

SC: Where do you get your inspiration?

SKW: My palette is influenced by a fusion of different colours that reflect the diverse cultures in which I’ve lived, such as Saudi Arabia, London and Grand Cayman, where I was born.

SC: Which artists inspire you or just tickle your fancy?

SKW: I like Fiona Ray and Peter Doig. I recently saw the Klmit exhibition in Liverpool and I really like that. I also admire De Kooning and Frida Kahlo – mostly for her colour schemes.

SC: Any future ideas that you can share with us?

SKW: I want to paint on the floors of airports, I like the idea of having fine art on the floor in such a large public space.