Inventive Futures Revisited: Marion Deuchars
For almost 30 years, Creative Review ran a program called Creative Futures, which celebrated the best and brightest new talent in the industry. Here we talk to Alumna Marion Deuchars from 1990 about the development of her career
In 1990 Marion Deuchars painted moody pictures about circus performers after she was fascinated by the “pretty strange places” she describes. The work is a far cry from Deuchar's & # 39; current work, without looking at the handwriting or the bright splashes of color that we now associate with the illustrator. "At this age, you're trying to be pretty serious about your work," she explains. "I think I wanted this seriousness. And yet I wasn't very worldly at the time, I was just trying to find my own voice and I was definitely drawn to this moody, atmospheric painting. I was influenced by a certain period of Picasso that was quite dark and rather melancholy underneath. "
The illustrator had moved to London from Dundee after realizing that a career as an artist and illustrator in her hometown would be difficult. She describes herself as surprisingly confident about the big move and her prospects, although she admits that he was born out of a degree of naivety.
When she arrived in London, she got a job in a Knightsbridge pub before she could secure a place at the Royal College of Art. "I remember getting this letter, opening it and thinking," My life will change forever, "she says." It was like Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket. It was my chance to become an artist as an artist. "
Above: From the Street Games series, 1989; Above: Night at the Circus series, 1989
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