Anupa Gardner: Carving Reflection – Jackson’s Artwork Weblog

Anupa Gardner received a Jackson’s Selection Award in Jackson’s Artwork Prize 2026 together with her work Keeper of Vegetation. On this interview, she discusses her love of the tactile nature of printmaking and the bodily connection she has with the method, how she makes an attempt to convey the free vitality of working with oil pastels into print, and the way every day begins with taking care of her cat.

Above picture: Anupa in her studio

Josephine: May you share the story of the way you turned an artist and inform us extra about your inventive background?

Anupa: I used to be launched to printmaking throughout my basis years, however went on to check Graphic Design for my diploma. Nonetheless, printmaking all the time stayed with me in a single type or one other.

I loved working as a designer and illustrator, however over time I started to really feel slightly caught. There’s something joyful in regards to the easy act of drawing. I discovered myself, consciously or unconsciously, transferring in direction of changing into an artist. It simply made sense! It has been a troublesome path, and one I’ve to decide to on daily basis. The making itself is the fulfilling half; it’s the exhibiting up regardless of rejection that’s troublesome.

I like the tactile nature of printmaking and the bodily connection I’ve with the method. For me, it’s a meditative follow that encourages me to decelerate, settle for errors, and turn out to be totally immersed within the work. The repetitive, labour-intensive act of carving feels cathartic and offers me time to replicate, suppose, and course of concepts.

Josephine: What does a typical working day within the studio appear to be for you? Do you will have any necessary routines or rituals?

Anupa: My day all the time begins with taking care of my cat. He’s the boss, and I’m his minion! That often takes greater than an hour earlier than I get into my routine.

I usually begin working within the late morning and infrequently end fairly late. Typically I work from my house studio, the place I do the pondering and planning, put together my blocks, finalise my drawings, and start the carving course of.

Different occasions, I am going to Edinburgh Printmakers, an open studio the place I print my blocks. I exploit a variety of printmaking strategies there, together with woodcut, display screen printing, and etching.

Josephine: Which supplies or instruments may you not reside with out?

Anupa: My pen, pencil, and pocket book are issues I can’t reside with out. Concepts come to you in all kinds of locations, so it’s helpful to have one thing to jot issues down.

Josephine: Do you’re employed from a reference? Inform us extra about your course of.

Anupa: I exploit completely different references in my work. Typically I exploit pictures, however more often than not I attempt to make sketches within the house itself. This helps me seize the temper and emotions I’m experiencing at that second.

My inspiration usually comes from being totally current in a specific place, or second, so drawing it’s a massive a part of memorising that feeling. I additionally take pictures so I can take a look at the small print later, however it’s the feeling of the second that I’m actually making an attempt to seize.

Typically I additionally make myself a color board to assist develop the temper and environment of the work. Lots of my works are self-portraits in some methods. I usually make my husband take pictures of me in numerous poses that I exploit as references.

Josephine: Do you commonly draw or preserve a sketchbook? In that case, how does this inform your work?

Anupa: I want I drew greater than I at present do. I’ve a pocket book that I take with me in every single place. It has some sketches, however principally bits of writing, concepts, and really tough drawings.

A few of these tough concepts and sketches finally turn into one thing extra concrete, in order that they undoubtedly inform my work. I even have sketchbooks that I exploit particularly for drawing. I like working with oil pastels as a result of they permit me to seize issues in a free and energetic approach. I then attempt to convey that very same vitality into my prints.

Josephine: Have you ever ever had a interval of stagnation in creativity? In that case, what helped you overcome it?

Anupa: I usually really feel a bit misplaced after ending a undertaking, or I typically battle to maintain the momentum going between initiatives. I’ve realized to hearken to my physique, although. Typically I don’t really feel like making something, and that’s okay. It’s necessary to offer your self time and house. Taking that break helps me recharge, discover issues once more, and finally really feel impressed to create. I additionally belief that even when I’m not bodily making, my thoughts continues to be working. Someplace within the background, it’s processing, observing, connecting issues, and figuring issues out. I’ve come to belief that course of. Not each second must be productive.

Josephine: Are there any particular artists or mentors who’ve impressed you?

Anupa: I’ve had many mentors who’ve impressed me through the years. Throughout my diploma, I had an excellent tutor who taught me color concept, amongst different issues. I owe numerous my confidence with color to Vikram Ajit Ram.

After I got here to Edinburgh to do my Grasp’s in Illustration, I used to be impressed by my tutor Jonathan Gibbs, who continues to be a giant affect on my work. In the intervening time, I’m wanting on the work of Andrew Cranston. I’ve additionally all the time been impressed by the woodcuts of Naoko Matsubara and Shiko Munakata.

Josephine: What had been you occupied with or exploring on the time you made Keeper of Vegetation? What impressed it, and the way did it come to be?

Anupa: One thing I all the time come again to in my work is discovering the magic and wonder within the easy, on a regular basis issues. We get so absorbed in our routines, and distracted by worldly occasions, that typically it’s laborious to note the wonder that exists within the peculiar. For me, there’s something stunning about caring for and nurturing one thing. It’s a quiet exercise that asks me to decelerate and be current in an in any other case busy life. That sense of quiet slowness grounds me. It offers me house to pause, to note, and to understand the small moments that may in any other case cross me by.

Josephine: What made you submit this piece to Jackson’s Artwork Prize?

Anupa: My submission to Jackson’s was final minute. I don’t often enter issues like this as a result of I all the time surprise: what are the possibilities of truly getting chosen? It could possibly really feel a bit like a lottery, or so I assumed.

I’m so glad I adopted my impulse and submitted one thing. I ought to actually thank the universe that I did! I’ve!

Josephine: There are numerous stunning flickering colors throughout this print, solely appreciated if the viewer appears fastidiously. May you clarify your course of in attaining such variation and frequency of marks and colors for this piece?

Anupa: I wish to be extra painterly in my method to printmaking. I suppose that’s the place my fashion comes from. Earlier in my follow, I targeted rather a lot on composition and construction. Over time, I’ve turn out to be extra relaxed and intuitive, giving myself house to make errors and welcome surprising outcomes. This alteration has additionally given me the boldness to work on a bigger scale.

Color has all the time been necessary in my work, however I’ve solely not too long ago began exploring its full potential in my printmaking. As my course of has turn out to be looser, I’ve turn out to be extra assured in utilizing color and layering. I’ve realized to belief my instincts and take extra dangers.
One in every of my favorite elements of the method is the surprising surprises alongside the best way. Typically they work, and typically they don’t, however I’ve come to just accept that as a part of making artwork and easily preserve going.

Josephine: What was the origin or supply supplies you used to create this piece? Who’s the Keeper of the Vegetation?

Anupa: Keeper of Vegetation is basically a self-portrait. It displays my function as the one that takes care of the crops within the house I share with my accomplice and our cat. I’ve all the time wished a Monstera plant, however our flat is just too small for one!

My father-in -law has an enormous Monstera plant that takes up half their front room. Each time we go to, I take pictures or sketch it. I additionally actually worth that quiet time I’m tending to my crops. It’s a aware house. I wished to make a print to seize that second.

Josephine: Are there any new strategies or concepts you’re excited to discover utilizing the supplies out of your prize?

Anupa: I’ve not too long ago purchased myself some woodcutting instruments, which I’m actually excited to start out working with as I’m beginning a brand new undertaking. My intention has all the time been to maneuver away from being too managed and exact and permit extra spontaneity and motion into the method. I’m inquisitive about seeing how the marks made by the instruments can turn out to be extra seen inside the completed print, slightly than merely serving as a way to create a picture.

I even have my eye on some Japanese paper that I would like to experiment with. The delicacy and high quality of the paper really feel prefer it may work fantastically with the woodcut course of, significantly as I discover a extra rapid and expressive method to mark-making.

Josephine: How did it really feel to maneuver by way of the levels of the competitors and win a Jackson’s Selection Award?

Anupa: I attempted to not give it an excessive amount of consideration at first, partly as a result of I didn’t wish to get my hopes up after which really feel upset if it didn’t occur. After all, I couldn’t utterly resist, so I had a number of little sneaky peeks alongside the best way.

I needed to look a number of occasions earlier than it actually sank in, and I may see that it was true. It was such a beautiful shock and a kind of moments the place you nearly don’t wish to get too excited till you realize for sure.

Josephine: What’s developing subsequent for you?

Anupa: I’m at present working in direction of a two-person present at Edinburgh Printmakers, which is able to open in autumn 2027. The exhibition is giving me the chance to develop my follow in new instructions and to experiment with a a lot bigger scale than I’ve labored with earlier than. I’m significantly excited by the probabilities this shift in scale creates, each bodily and visually, and by the problem of adapting my method to a bigger format.

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