I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Eileen Hogan, British painter, printmaker, book artist, and Professor in Fine Art in the C.C.W. (Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon art schools) Graduate School, University of the Arts London. It was fascinating to learn about the evolution of her career; the dominant themes that have threaded through her work; and her innovative arts practices.
Eileen discussed her interest in exploring the relationships between presence and absence, and people and places. She spoke about her love of green urban spaces and experimenting with perceiving a garden through different lenses, such as a sanctuary; a place to play; a neglected place; and a wilderness. Eileen explained how she uses oral history as a methodology for painting portraits which she developed with Cathy Courtenay, oral historian at National Life Stories, British Library. She described her lifelong appreciation of lettering and book art, and her vision for establishing Camberwell Press, and the first conferences and MA course in book art in this country.
Our conversation spanned many other subjects including Eileen’s role as Trustee of the Rootstein Hopkins Foundation; the research group she leads called ‘About Face’; her artistic choices and approaches to painting portraits of D-Day veterans Tony Leake and Alistair Urquhart for the Last of the Tide exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace; as well as her experience of painting the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. She is currently working on a solo exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art which will open in 2019. These were just a few highlights from Eileen’s interview. To view the entire interview recording, or to read a transcript or summary, contact the University of the Arts London Archives and Special Collections Centre.
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