Stephanie Rew | The Golden Magic | An Exclusive Interview

An Exclusive Interview With
Stephanie Rew
By Ariel SU

“I like to bring ancient mythology into my work in purely a visual way the narrative is not the most essential element to my work; I prefer for the viewer to decide on their story. To me, the most important thing is conveying an emotion. The women in my paintings are symbolic of different elements of femininity and the human condition. I take them out of the modern setting by dressing them in imagined crowns and robes, making them into Goddesses of our own time.”
-Stephanie Rew

Stephanie Rew (b 1971) is a Scottish painter based in Edinburgh, UK. Her highly detailed figurative paintings are in collections across the UK and Europe, and she is gaining considerable international interest in her work.
Stephanie won the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Bursary soon after graduating from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and since then has had numerous exhibitions in the UK. She curated the first Women Painting Women Exhibition in the UK
as part of the WPW (R) evolution movement in 2013. She recently won the ‘Best Nude’ Award in 2018, and the FWSD Award in 2019 in Art Renewal Center Salon is a finalist in the ModPortrait17 and ModPortrait19 Award held in Spain.
She was a finalist at the Scottish Portrait Award 2017 and has exhibited at MEAM Barcelona in ‘Women Painting’ exhibitions held in 2019/2020 to celebrate International Women’s Day. Since then, Rew has been represented by various respectable galleries worldwide, and her art gained enormous success through solo exhibitions and private collections. It’s a pleasure to interview such a sophisticated artist and feature her full of gold latest series.

Art Market Magazine: Hello Stephanie, We are very excited to interview you and feature your fabulous, unique figurative art.
Before discussing your extraordinarily detailed technique and the beautiful femininity in your work, please tell us about your background. Did you grow up in an artistic family? Where did the passion for art come from?

Stephanie Rew: Thank you. It’s a pleasure having this interview.
I was the only member of my family that had any artistic skills or aspirations. However, my mother had great taste, and although she never pursued a creative career (she worked in the social services sector), she always supported and encouraged me to paint and draw.

Art Market Magazine: Soon after graduating from the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, you have won the prestigious ‘Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Bursary’, which gave you a good start and opened your journey in the art field. Looking back at this period, how would you describe the feeling of winning and the ‘fast step’/ ‘Jumping into the water’ of the art field?

Stephanie Rew: The Greenshields Award was a massive boost to my confidence and artistic journey.
I had felt a bit lost at sea after graduating, not really knowing how to make a living at being an artist. The bursary allowed me to rent a studio to work in, take my painting to the next level, and approach galleries.
This organization, like Elizabeth Greenshields, saw potential in me, which was all that I needed to drive me forward.

Art Market Magazine: In your past series of works, you mainly focused on the background color and the fabric’s details. Why did you focus on one color background and the figure’s ‘Unlimited’ borders? Is there a philosophical idea behind your art?

Stephanie Rew: The whole surface matters to me in my work. Combining traditional representational oil painting with gilding allows me to explore the two very different planes of the painting. I love the balance between the depth and tone of the painted portrait and the flat textural patterned surface of the gold. I don’t want the backgrounds to look natural. That is the point; the real and unreal elements create a slightly uncomfortable but symbiotic relationship.

Art Market Magazine: In your latest series, you mainly focus on a golden female figurative; for me, it gives a sensation of an ancient mystical world, as if it was taken from old kingdoms in the first centuries.
The beautiful figure holds the golden crown, wearing gold jewelry pieces, and her clothes are full of golden details. A truly magical touch made by high detailed technique. Where did the idea for the series come from?

Stephanie Rew: My inspirations can come from everywhere, from a book, a piece of jewelry,
a costume, a song, a painting, and movies. Anywhere really.
I have always had a fascination with period costumes and the imagery of the fantasy world.
I have been inspired by the Early Renaissance frescoes of Giotto, Fabriano, and Crivelli and the Romantic Painters of the early 20th century. The decorative arts have always affected my aesthetic, which has become more pronounced as I explore the ancient craft of gilding. All of the art I love has the same sense of drama and humanity.

I like to bring ancient mythology into my work in purely a visual way the narrative is not the most essential element to my work; I prefer for the viewer to decide on their story. To me, the most important thing is conveying an emotion. The women in my paintings are symbolic of different elements of femininity and the human condition. I take them out of the modern setting by dressing them in imagined crowns and robes, making them into Goddesses of our own time.

Art Market Magazine: The high-quality technique of your work is being expressed not only by the unusual use of gold and details but also by a classic figurative artistic style; we can definitely see the strong influence of the Masters’ art. Would you say you have gained this high technique in your art studies at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art?

Stephanie Rew: My time at DJCA was important, but it didn’t teach me the classical painting skills I craved. In the early 1990s, art colleges in the UK were much more focused on their students creating a concept to their art, an idea, rather than teaching pure technique. I struggled with this as I definitely had not found my voice at that point.
All I wanted to do was paint the figure well. Figurative painting was not a popular choice for that art school.
I, because of this, learned a lot about who I was as a person and how determined I could be when I was steered away from representational painting. After four years of training, I also knew that this was all I ever wanted to do for a job.
This determination is what has made me succeed, over and above any technique I have learned since.
In the end, I taught myself how to paint with oils by copying old masters, and I worked hard every day to improve.
I am always hungry for knowledge, and thankfully there are many ways you can learn outside of the academic environment.

Art Market Magazine: Let’s talk about the GOLD. You are using oil paint in a combination of an ample space covered by Gold Leaf. When and where did you start working with gold? Would you please describe the workflow and steps of your work from the idea stage to the final outcome?

Stephanie Rew: Gold has featured in my work for over twenty years, but I first used it more as an embellishment.
In the last five years, gold leaf has become the critical component of my paintings. The more I used it in my work, then the more I realized how many different ways it could be applied and manipulated to make these fantastic visual effects. Using traditional gesso and clay bole, water gilding is a painstaking but rewarding process. I paint wooden gesso panels with rabbit skin glue gesso at least 12-15 times (a white paint consisting of a binder mixed with chalk or gypsum) then sand the surface to a marble-like finish. The design is then engraved, and the raised gesso (Pastiglia) is added before painting it with clay bole and leafing the whole surface with 24ct gold leaf. The gold, when cured, can be burnished with an agate stone and decorated with punches (Granitto). Once the gilding is finished, I then paint in oil. It can only be painted after gilding as the leaf would stick to the paint. Working this way requires a lot of planning and patience; I must have the subject and design clear in my head before starting the work – as there can be no ‘happy accidents.

The gilding process is steeped in history, which greatly appeals to me.
I feel part of that timeline when I create works of art precisely the same way the Renaissance masters did in the 14thC.
It grounds me as an artist and allows me to get physically into the making aspect of the work. Painting on its own is a very flat 2D experience; I like to feel that I am not only painting something but also sculpting and building. I love how you can see yourself reflected in the gold when you stand in front of it and how the changing light of the day can dramatically alter the look and feel of the gold. The works are forever changing, depending on how and where they are viewed.

Art Market Magazine: Which artists have most influenced your work and artistic style?

Stephanie Rew: My influences are very varied. I’ll try and list some. The Japanese Uchiyo-e woodcut prints, artworks by Hiroshige and Utamaro, are beautiful in their design, pattern, and composition. In addition, the painters of the Italian Baroque periods, Caravaggio and Artemesia Gentileschi, have had a lasting impact on my work. My love of chiaroscuro (strong contrasting light) and dramatic drapery are directly linked to them. The fashion, color palette and mood of James Whistler have influenced me, as do the costumes and grandiosity of Holbein’s court portraits. The Art Nouveau period, Pre Raphaelites, and Secession artists are very inspiring, and my love of design and texture with gold comes from there. The Arts and Craft movement in Scotland, particularly the works of Margaret Macdonald and Phoebe Anna Traquair, are my favorites. I am also inspired by Neo-Classical Sculpture of Canova and Bartolini and 20thC American Tonalist photographers such as Weston And Steichen.

Art Market Magazine: Where did you exhibit your work in the past few years, and how did the COVID lockdowns’ period affect your creativity?

Stephanie Rew: I am lucky to have a very supportive gallery at Thompsons Gallery.
At the very beginning of the Covid lockdown, when everything seemed impossible and uncertain, they offered me a solo show the following year. This meant I could focus on nothing else for nearly eighteen months. This kind of time to work on one project alone is a rare thing. However, it also meant I could see through all the ideas in my head to their natural conclusion and make a body of work that was cohesive and thematic. I am not sure this would have happened without a lockdown, so it was a silver lining to an otherwise stressful and worrying time.

I have always found solace in art when things have become complex in life, and I felt, during the lockdown, the need to create bright, beautiful golden works that transported the viewer away from the everyday world. I believe this is why my paintings became much more decorative and poetic in theme at this time.

Art Market Magazine: You are very strong on all social media channels, with many followers who admire your work. Do you put a lot of effort into these media channels? Does it bring you many private sales? Which galleries represent your work?

Stephanie Rew: I enjoy sharing my new work on Social media. I think all artists like to get their work out there, and to have instant feedback is excellent. I don’t spend much time planning posts, but it has become essential to my business.
It helps promote upcoming exhibitions, and I have had some direct sales, although not enough to challenge the gallery sales in the end. In addition,
I get commissions this way and have had exciting collaborations in recent years, such as the ‘Tomb Raider -Angel of Darkness’ commission and winning the Beautiful Bizarre Magazines Peoples’ Choice Award for example, would never have happened without Instagram.
Thompsons Gallery, England, has represented me for the last ten years, and I regularly show with Lemond Gallery, Glasgow and Fotheringham Gallery, Scotland, and Ballater Gallery, Scotland. In addition, I have been lucky enough to be included in two group invitational exhibitions at Arcadia Contemporary in NYC, and I continue to pursue more representation in the US and beyond.

Read the full interview in Art Market Magazine Issue #76