By Patrick Clarke, Second Year, Spanish and Politics
Neve Husaini is a young and exciting artist and student whose art has been growing over recent years. Her visually delectable pieces focus on nature, highlighting her passion for the environment and all semantics of beauty. I spoke to Neve from her home in Southwest London where she was spending the Christmas holidays, halting one of her many painting sessions so I can ask her a few questions.
P: I suppose we should start with the most obvious, could you tell us a bit about yourself and your art?
N: Hey! I’m Neve, I’m a 20 year old Spanish and French student at the University of Bristol from South West London. I’ve been painting for about 10 years now and mainly focus on landscapes with oils.
P: What first got you into this type of art?
N: I started painting primarily in oils in lockdown when we were sent home from school, the days felt really long, and it was also 30 degrees here in London which was quite oppressive and difficult for people who didn’t have gardens. I started to really get obsessed with the parks and enclosed spaces in London which we were allowed to go out and exercise in, which became really important for Londoners. A particular one I just loved was Isabella Plantations inside Richmond Park, which in April and May has the most amazing pink and purple azaleas and rhododendrons. When the rules loosened a little, I would spend hours day every day which inspired a lot of my oil landscapes and pushed me into this type of art.
P: I know you’ve had several exhibitions now, could you tell us a bit about them?
N: When I was in year thirteen, I was still painting all of the landscapes from lockdown and my art teacher was trying to push me away from it, she thought they were basic and boring and didn’t show enough creativity or innovation and I basically said no, I was just so obsessed with beauty within art and at that point in my life, post lockdown, only wanted to focus on beautiful things. Then one day,
the art technician, who was an artist outside of school, saw my final pieces all of which were landscapes from Isabella Plantations and thought they were lovely. She showed them to the woman where her art is exhibited and was introduced to Elizabeth, who runs the Prince and Pilgrim in Richmond, whom I have been painting for ever since.
P: What was your most recent exhibition about and what inspired you to paint this?
N: It’s the winter collection at the Prince and Pilgrim in Richmond (which is ongoing), the pieces are mainly inspired by wild swimming. I’m a member of the society at university and I’ve been painting scenes from our many escapades which has been nice as it’s been a much more personal relationship with my painting as they’re scenes which are in my memory. For me, painting a memory treats the memory with much more care and love than just having it in my mind, it solidifies the memories.
P: Aside from all things beautiful, any inspirations in your art in general?
N: I am very much ‘art for art’s sake’, sometimes I feel like the only person my age I know who will paint a landscape for its beauty and call it a day. I think as modern artists you’re really pushed away from just painting beauty because it’s seen as shallow, superficial and maybe even a bit kitsch, but I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of painting nature and beautiful things.
P: If someone wanted to understand your art in one piece, which would you suggest they look at?
N: The piece which solidified my style and seemed to grab a lot of attention on a commercial level would be the scene of the pink and purple flowers in Richmond Park. I guess I’d just call it ‘Isabella Plantations’.
P:And finally, could you offer some advice for if someone were to read this wanted to follow in your footsteps and start growing their art.
N: I think social media is obviously really important nowadays, but I’d say if you’re intrigued by something or enjoy doing something [artistically] you should explore it, you don’t have to know why but with art if you like the look of something, however superficial some people might claim it to be, that’s reason enough to pursue it.
Featured Images: Patrick Clarke
You can see more of Neve’s art @neve.husaini.art on Instagram and her recent exhibitions at www.princeandpilgrim.com or in person at Prince and Pilgrim in Richmond, London.
