Meet Anna Lyle

We were lucky to catch up with Anna Lyle recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Creativity burnout and creative blocks are inevitable. They happen to everyone, but they’re still very uncomfortable. I have found that when I lean even further into the discomfort, really bizarre and wonderful ideas blossom. So I try to put myself in new environments or experiences that I’ve never been in, even if they’re not art related. Some of the experiences that have brought about my favorite paintings have been traveling to a new place, reading books on various topics (outside of art), listening to music, studying a new subject, listening to other people’s stories and ideas, and even remaining actively observant in local and national politics and news. And then I record all these thoughts and observations in some way.

Art isn’t made in a void and neither are ideas. Immersing myself in new experiences, being present, and staying super observant is how I begin to formulate ideas. An observation can beget an interesting thought which begets an inquiry which begets even further ideas which can then beget a painting composition and concept. Keeping a sketchbook helps too.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a full-time artist and painter with a background as an architect. Through my painting and 2D mixed media work, I explore the physical, psychological, and social context of my body, how both I and others perceive my body, and, eventually, how I perceive others in their perceptions of me. This thought process is rooted in larger external systems, such as sexism and hyper-religiosity, and how they affect our perceptions of our bodies. My conceptual inspiration draws on my place and purpose in the world outside of my experiences and memories in the Southern Baptist Christian religion in which I grew up, and in the years since leaving.

My attention to detail and the overall compositions in my work are sourced from my bodily hyper-fixations and the ways in which I feel the inner workings of my body perform. My compositional choices ride the fine line between comfort and discomfort, using fabric as a metaphor for human anatomy, inside and out.

I work with both figurative and spatial perceptions, creating ambiguity and tension between the various elements in each painting. While the compositions themselves may not read as humorous to some, I see the absurd and bizarre nature with how my work exhibits the body. The complexity and range of emotions in my work are all critical to how I approach my studio practice as a full-blooded person.

This year I graduated from Minneapolis College of Art and Design with my Master of Fine Arts degree, concentrating on painting and drawing. Now that I am back in Birmingham, AL after living in Minnesota for two years, I am looking forward to begin hosting painting and drawing workshops and classes locally very soon. I also continue to show my work in various galleries around the country, including upcoming exhibitions in Minneapolis, MN and in New York, NY.

I update my website with upcoming exhibitions regularly and notify newsletter subscribers of upcoming events and new bodies of work: www.annalyle.com.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Great question! The first learned skill or quality that I find has been most beneficial has been my innate tenacity and grit. To be a working artist, you have to be tough. It’s tough working for yourself in any case, but I believe that working as an artist takes a very specific mindset to make it work. You can rely on no one but yourself. This means you have to implement a strong work ethic and desire to push your work to it’s absolute best.

The second quality that has been absolutely vital to my studio practice is the desire to learn new things or the desire to better my skills and knowledge even further. As a realism painter, this is crucial to pushing the work from a place of “interesting painting” to “amazing painting.”

And the third, but certainly not the last, is the skill to be open and honest with how I talk about my work. I am absolutely still working on this one. I have not mastered this skill at all, but it is one that I am actively practicing. It is so important to be able to be honest about your work because that honesty will create stronger work and then will lead to even deeper and further authentic ideas. And art lovers, curators, collectors, and the general public are interested in hearing the concepts and ideas behind the work from the artist themselves.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I haven’t done many collaborations with other artists, but I have really enjoyed them when I have collaborated. I’m definitely open to collaborating with other artists (of any medium) in possible future projects. I also of course am always open to working with galleries, curators, art collectors, and art lovers for custom/commissioned works.

I can be contacted at annalyleart@gmail.com for all inquiries related to my current work, future collaboration projects, and possible commissioned works. There is also a space on my website for direct inquiry: www.annalyle.com/connect.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
All images photographs of artwork created by Anna Lyle.

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