Emma Grayson in Conversation with Artist, Bella McGoldrick
Bella McGoldrick with Downtown and Dirty (left) & Pleasure to Serve You (right), 52 x 58 in., pencil and marker on paper, 2020
Artsy recently published an article about art trends to watch in 2021, one of which was the “colored pencil revival.” With this medium only becoming accessible in the 19th century and typically used for sketches rather than an artist’s preferred material, we are seeing how its resurgence is becoming more commonplace in 2021 and why. The accessibility of colored pencils and their gratifying addition to detail has made one such artist choose to work almost exclusively with them.
Bella McGoldrick’s photorealist works invite us to reconsider the possibilities of this humble medium and awe viewers with the obvious patience needed to do what she does. Her Instagram features time-lapses of the greatest satisfaction as you see her creations come to life. She is exclusively represented by Tappan Collective, an online gallery supporting emerging artists, and originally hails from Australia. Sotheby’s Institute alumna, Emma Grayson, interviews McGoldrick about her process, how she keeps her cool, and what we can expect from her in the future. From personal commissions to intricate still life-esque settings, her work does not disappoint.
Bella McGoldrick working on Lifestyle Come Undone, 22 x 21 in., pencil on paper, 2019
Emma Grayson: Your work features objects from pomegranates to condom wrappers to Air Jordan 1 sneakers. What subject matter inspires you and how do you find new material for your works?
Bella McGoldrick: Nothing, in particular, unites the subjects that I choose and draw. It started off with designs that I loved, like the lottery tickets and the Athena NY coffee cup, but it’s more so the stories that these subjects tell. I love to see the human use and marks on objects. They’re often vessels that lead to more important events; the forgotten items that enable us to live everyday lives or hint at habits or addictions or vices. I like to look at things that are often tied to a certain place or time but more importantly, [things that are] used by people I have no connection to other than these items. Of course, textures and colours play a part when creating a composition and the way they’ll play with light, but the most attractive things to me are items that are overused and overlooked.
Single Serving, 29 x 37 in., pencil on paper, 2020
EG: Any good stories about sourcing a certain object that you’d like to share?
BM: Absolutely! Pieces tend to be a snapshot not only of someone else’s life with the pre-owned objects I’ve found, but of my life from where I was when I came across them. I bought an RV in 2019 and drove around Mexico and the US for 4 months, collecting items from Las Vegas pawn shops, beach vendors in Baja California and yard sales in the middle of Idaho. I’ve produced some of my favourite pieces from that trip, which was also the best time of my life. Downtown and Dirty is a personal fav - that used slots cup came from my first time in Vegas, a place that blew my mind. The objects [I use] are inherently connected to where I am or where I was. I’ve found things in the attic of grandparents' homes or friends' apartments. I’ll never just be admiring someone’s home; I’m also looking for material.
Bella McGoldrick with Miss, 28 x 32 in., pencil on paper, 2020
EG: That trip sounds unbelievable! So then, how do you put together a composition and how long does that process usually take you from the initial idea to completion of a piece?
BM: The idea part is hard, as it has to come to me and in COVID that’s been difficult as I usually spend days in antique or thrift stores. I’ll start off with a certain direction and one object, then slowly add to it. It all comes together when I’m photographing the piece, playing around with compositions and lighting, usually working outside with direct sunlight, which I find gives the best results. The photo-taking step is the most important of the whole process as being a photorealistic artist, I'm going to get what the photo dictates. I’m at my best when I’m in the middle of a piece, I know what I’m doing and I feel in the zone. The idea stage to drawing stage can take up to 6 months to get right. Then, depending on the size of the artwork it can take up to 100 hours for a piece 6 x 6 ft.
Bella McGoldrick with 001, 72 x 40 in., pencil on paper, 2020
EG: 100 hours to create!?! Would you say your art is a form of therapy or do you ever reach a point where it makes you feel like you’re going crazy? Where do you think this patience and determination comes from?
BM: It’s weird because I know that the type of work I do is hyper-perfectionist, but I am so not a perfectionist in my life or personality. I’m lucky because it’s quite formulaic; I can digest audio whilst I work, so I fly through audiobooks and podcasts the entire time I draw. I don’t know if it’s meditative in the true sense as I’m very in my head but it’s definitely a flow state. I work inch by inch, unlike in painting where [an artist] does the whole canvas layer by layer; my process is much more satisfying as I can see it come to life area by area. It’s 100% patience-driven, and I’ve learnt that as I’ve progressed. I’ve gotten better as I’ve become more patient. The slower and more detail-oriented I work the better the outcome is. At the start, I used to feel like I was going crazy because a lot of the time I would have no idea what I was looking at when I blew the proportions up so much. Sometimes, I’m drawing fibers of paper, but I’ve learnt it’s not about knowing what you see but just depicting whatever it is you do see.
Girl, 26 x 26 in., pencil on paper, 2020
EG: In “depicting whatever it is you do see,” what is the intention behind some of your works? Do they seek to ask any larger questions or get people thinking about certain things?
BM: The pieces are nothing without the viewer. I like to draw connections for the viewer, be it to a certain place, memory or time in their life. Often, [the works] have larger ideas behind them that look at consumerism, waste, gluttony, addiction, indulgence and the human footprint. But I like this to be felt by the viewer rather than said in writing.
EG: Do you ever think about how your art influences your worldview, and are there any art historical movements that may have impacted you throughout the process of getting to where you are now?
BM: For sure, especially the amount of time I spend looking at these subjects I choose. It’s happened on a number of accounts where I think I’m just attracted to things because of their texture or something but then in hindsight, I can see there was actually something deeper going on in my life that drew me to those objects. The condom wrapper, Lifestyles Come Undone, was absolutely one of these examples. I’m a little bit of a nomad - not so much by choice but by situation - so this leads me to be relocated quite a bit, which can be followed in my work. I don’t like to be too on the nose and react too quickly to social or political movements, but they probably can be seen in one way or another. Every decision we make is dictated by events we’ve lived in or seen anyway, so there’s no way I can avoid it!
Lifestyle Come Undone, 22 x 21 in., pencil on paper, 2019
EG: So true! And finally, you allude to wanting to use paints in some of your other interviews – is this a medium you have begun working with yet? And if not, what do you have coming up in the future?
BM: Yes! I started playing with oils, and my goodness I love it. It’s an entirely different way to work and I feel I can express myself so much better. It makes me feel like an actual artist, which I know sounds silly but sometimes the high realism work can feel a little more like a trade or something; it’s a certain skill I have where I can execute exactly what I set out to do, but when painting, I never know how it’s going to turn out and when it comes to a place I feel pleased with, the gratification is huge.
Thank you, Bella!
Discover Bella McGoldrick’s work on her website and Instagram. Imagery courtesy of Bella McGoldrick.
Emma Grayson,
Contributor, MADE IN BED