Getting to know Nicole Revy
Having had a background in illustration, what’s lead to you focusing primarily on linocut printing as your preferred medium of choice?
“I absolutely love the immediacy of a linocut. You have to be so decisive in your mark making when creating your carved work- It’s not like a pen and ink drawing, where you can leave soft unfinished lines in a piece. I love seeing how my image develops from original sketch to finished print- it always ends up with a rustic charm that is created purely from the execution of the technique, and is a hard thing to fake in other mediums.”
MORNING RITUAL
What inspires the strong feminine themes and female figures of your work?
“This is just something I have always portrayed in my artworks, old childhood fridge drawings show a little girl as the central character in every piece- she’s grown with me and is now a women in the world around her. I suppose it’s slightly biographical, but mixed with magic, folklore and stimulus I find interesting and inspiring.”
MEET ME IN THE MORNING
What’s the decision process for choosing the colours for each print?
“I absolutely love natural earth tones. The classic colour for Lino and woodcut has always been black but I find that too harsh a colour for most of my subject matter. When I first started out my linocuts were very much inspired by the sea (hence the name!) and so were heavy on the blues and greens. As my work and style has evolved I’ve been drawn to the warmer hues- browns, rust, ochres.
Sometimes I pick the right shade for a print straight away, right from the test print stage. Other times it takes a bit of trial finding the one that feels right.”
Do your influences come more from environments or from people?
“Very much a mix of both! I find it hard to make a print without a person in it- I’m just fascinated with the human condition and love portraying it in every print. This is usually combined with scenes inspired by the natural world- my local Dorset landscape is a real inspiration.”
CELESTIAL BODIES
Are the sizes of your works a planned, conscious decision or more spur of the moment?
“I mainly create works a2 size or under mainly because that’s the maximum size that my press will print. Also, it’s more practical to ship smaller size works to customers so this is an aspect that influences me when creating new pieces.”
How long have you been a practicing artist?
“I’ve been doing this for 5 years now full time- and I absolutely love all of it”
What interests or practices to you enjoy other than printmaking?
“I really enjoy ceramics- for a while in 2023/24 I was having regular weekly classes at a local studio. I’d like to take this up again but there never seems to be time to fit anything else in at the moment!”
What’s next
“I’d like to make some really big works – mainly for future exhibitions – larger pieces look really striking on the wall. More new pieces in general, and I’m applying to quite a few open calls for events and exhibitions around the uk as I just love getting out there and connecting with audiences in person.”
FROM LITTLE SEEDS
