It’s an honour to introduce 5th Edition Juror and talented artist, Miriam Innes.

Who are you?

I am an Irish architectural artist who resides in Queensland Australia. 

What inspired your start in drawing?

Drawing offers and rewards me freedom - a freedom to create an individual language through mark-making and tonal range. It is a personal journey which continues to adapt and grow with each completed artwork. There is a depth of undiscovered and personal knowledge which I continue to seek and learn through the process of drawing and creating.

What inspired your entry into drawing buildings and cityscapes specifically?

From an early age, I had a fascination with the building environment, going to my local town in Ireland, having an awareness of simple two storey homes and those who dwelled within. Buildings for me offered so much in the way of imagination for my young mind and years later the cities of places familiar to many - cities that people could identify with, project themselves into, experience and imagine.

What do you hope to communicate with your work?

Communicating through my language of marks and tone, feelings of familiarity, escapism and experience, connecting and interlacing nostalgia, imagination and hope. 

What has been your most successful piece so far, and why?

New York Rambling, 2019 - present

New York Rambling is an adaptable, 360 degree installation drawing which currently stands at 27 meters in length. This artwork was created with one main objective in mind – Experience.  Bringing New York into galleries and spaces for regular people to experience for themselves. The 360 degree adaptability of this project through design and execution, offers viewers an authentic experience of place.

Can you walk us through how you created that piece?

Planning, applying for funding, sponsorship, hundreds of emails and communications enabled this project to come to life. Executing a drawing on this scale was a marathon event which initially, at 24 meters, took almost two years to complete. 

Looking back at your art career so far, what has been your most exciting opportunity/accomplishment? Why?

Creating New York Rambling and the response from the viewers who experience it never fails to reward. This project was displayed as individual panels and as a full installation in New York at the NYA Centre, Manhattan 2019, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sydney and Queensland Australia. While it continues to grow and adapt, the project takes on a different perspective at each location. Creating the internationally acclaimed New York Rambling, I feel was an exciting accomplishment, however the planning, design and response is something which I could have only imagined when the idea first took hold in 2017; it was beyond any previous projects both in scale and stamina. 

What projects are you currently working on?

Currently I am focusing on the overly decorated architecture of Europe with particular focus on the ornate detailing, forced grandeur and the lure to extend admiration, towards the Parisian’s impressive and sometimes exaggerated, flamboyant structures. This series offers an opportunity to advance on my mark-making and tonal ranges, to extend my drawing language further and offer new possibilities of experience for viewers. 

What advice would you give to an emerging artist?

Drawing, as I have previously mentioned, can be considered as a language. Invest time in your glossary of marks and create your stories, narratives and creations through your own individual style and skill.  This is only possible by investing time into creation. This process is not instant, immediate, or disposable. It requires patience and longevity.  However, the personal rewards are great; once you tune in to identifying your unique style, understand your language and your audience responding to it.  

To view more of Miriam Innes’s work

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