Interview with Benconservato (Emma Kidd) – 'Beasts Unhinged'

Exhibition runs from 26th May - 10th July

What's the concept behind your exhibition and what can people expect to find in your show?
I wanted to put all my articulated creatures / people in one place at one time. There will be pieces from my mild obsession with "The Magic Flute" and all the reading I have done about it (who knows if it is true?), characters from my mind, that always seem to be a blend of human and animal, if not completely animal. I seem to like chimeras.

What are the mediums and processes you use to create your works? 

Always ink, gouache and a sturdy paper will get me by. I tend to use the ink like a base medium. I always wondered why old masters wanted to paint their canvases black or a colour first, without putting myself in such a high category, I found out why. Gouache goes on top of that... spray with varnish, cut, repeat.

How would you describe your artistic style?

I have had people tell me it is very outsider art, art brut. No idea. Make up your own mind.

Where do you find inspiration for your beastie characters? What do you enjoy about creating them?

To make myself a contradiction, slightly, I do like a lot of art brut, outsider art, so perhaps the inspiration comes from there slightly. When creating them, because I paint all the pieces separately, sometimes,  when I put them together, I find they need more or less, or different legs or something, it is always an evolving thing, even if you thought you had a set idea to begin with.