Bella Vernon ©

Bella is a highly experimental artist who finds beauty and possibility in the forms of mundane and forgotten objects. Often taking items which already have a rich history, she breathes new life into these artefacts by hand-embellishing the surface using candle smoke and materials such as ink, spray paint and gold leaf. In this way she adds a new layer and purpose to the salvaged material, creating eco-friendly artworks which play with light and reflection - dancing between the forms of drawing, painting and sculpture.

Also a gatherer and collector, Bella spends a lot of time finding raw materials to incorporate into her studio practice. Whilst she works in an East London studio, she also lives on a houseboat with her family. Travelling the waterways of London and beyond allows her to be continually gathering materials, objects and inspiration for her contemporary artworks.

How did your art practice begin?

I have always been drawn to found objects, initially due to necessity, the process of appropriation has become an integral part of my practise and has evolved into a strong aesthetic style and approach. I get great satisfaction through gathering objects, which are already imbued with their own sense of history and transforming them into something else is truly magical. The ethos of using ready-mades makes sense in our current global context and it enables me to continue making work consciously.

 During my degree, at Camberwell College of Art I was drawn to found windows, the quality of warped glass and the peeling paint really appealed to me. I created large scale installations including towers and a window house covered overgrown ivy and lace (Broken Home, 2002). Think similar to Chiharu Shiota’s window pieces A Room of Memory, 2009 for example, albeit on a slightly smaller art college friendly scale. Eventually I moved into working on the surface of the glass, etching and sandblasting images onto these alternative canvases, and mirrors were simply a natural progression.

Tell us about your studio practice. How do you create your artworks?

My practice is a combination of being in the studio making and in the world gathering inspiration and imagery through photographic documentation and found materials.  I think similarly to Grayson Perry many of my hours are spent pottering around the studio, playing with materials and pondering and the actual making process can be very quick and focused. 

What do you hope that your work communicates to the world?

I hope the work conveys a sense of something beyond. I see my mirror works as portals to other visual and physical realms.  The everyday is readily visible in my work. The intervention on these everyday objects is there to remind us not to always take things at face value. 

Which art movements, artists or art works have influenced you?

Well, there have been so many it’s hard to choose. Richard Wilson’s playful inversion of the everyday has always appealed to me and 20:50 opened my eyes at a key stage in my art education. Rachel Whiteread’s work with it’s uncanny domestic element and sculptural techniques have had a strong influence on my practise. I also love the work of Cornelia Parker, Susan Collis and Sarah Sze for their innovative and unique appropriation of everyday objects. 

 I’ve also got to give my partner Ed Burnand a nod for his creative influence on my practise and being my studio comrad for over the last decade. We studied at Camberwell together and when we re-met in our late 20’s it was a fear for both us of that we might not like the others work and could impact on our new found romance...luckily it didn’t have that effect and we have a shared inspiration and approach to making art, collaborating when we can. 

When is your favourite time to create? What conditions do you need to do what you do?  

I love working in the dark and late at night, as a lot of my work is about exploring the relationship between materials and the light play. However since having a young family and living along the towpath I don’t manage it as much these days. I really enjoy my studio when the sun is pouring in and one of my favourite things to do is move materials around the space (that essential pottering I mentioned), layering glass and windows, propping them against the wall and playing with the tension between light and shadow. It’s a meditative process and even if I’m working on something else this time allows me to focus.

My studio approach has always been pretty low-fi and I like things to be simple and to have materials at hand. I often work on a table to draw into the reserve of the mirrors with a scalpel and soot them over a set of trestles. Occasionally I set out with the purpose of gathering imagery, but often find the most satisfying images are taken when least expected. 

How has lockdown, artistically, been for you? Have you found it a challenge, or has it been a refreshing change? Have you created any lockdown-inspired art?

Prior to lockdown I was moving studio and knew I wouldn’t be able to create for a short period of time, which was extended by the pandemic. I think as many artist parents will empathise, it can be hard to get the right balance between parenthood and artistic practice at the best of times. 

If you could choose 3 pieces of Artsnug artwork to ‘snuggle up’ with, which would they be?

Ooh I really enjoyed this… everyone needs a bit of art therapy from their sofa! I personally love Andrew J Millar’s work and would like to take home Rise from the Dust and Splitting of the Light…. is there such thing as too much gold leaf?!  I’m also very taken with Elina Ruka’s photographic collages, they are so sensitive and haunting at the same time. I could get lost in Descent for hours.

There’s a zombie apocalypse!  You can only take one piece of art to the bunker, but it can be anything in the world.  What do you take? 

 It would have to be a Rachel Whiteread. Maybe we could shelter under the stairs in Untitled (Domestic), 2002 although I’d be happy to have any of them… they just float my boat. 

You have the chance to hop into a time machine and join any historical art movement.  Which do you go back to?  

This is a tough one….I’m such a FOMO! Maybe go back to the early 70’s for a smidge of Postmodernism and to hang out in New York with Gordon Matta-Clark. 

Is there anything else you would like admirers of your work to know?

I’m currently working on a film of a performance piece based around the drudgery of domestic labour and the impact of this often invisible work. It depicts myself washing clothes in plaster and the act of incarceration, as the worker and clothing simultaneously become entombed.

SHOP BELLA’S ARTWORK