Rachel Lumsden

Rachel Lumsden studied painting at the Royal Academy Schools. She lives in Liechtenstein and works in her studio in Arbon in Switzerland.

INTERVIEW / Anna Walser

Where are you exhibiting this year?

Many people talk about 2022 as a hyper year, because everything that was cancelled or postponed during the pandemic will now take place. This year, some of my works will be shown at the Kunsthaus Glarus, the Kunsthalle Schaffhausen and the Kunsthaus Pasquart in Biel, as well as at the Galerie Bernard Jordan in Paris and the Coleman Project Space in London, where I will also be moving into a residency studio this summer.

What are your connections to London?

I think if London were not currently so dominated by Boris Johnson, COVID-19 and the aftermath of Brexit, you might find me regularly in the Barbican canteen. I studied painting in London at the Royal Academy Schools. London was a great city until the three plagues I mentioned before. It’s still a large, if decent, city now.

You now live in Schaan, Liechtenstein. Why Schaan of all places?

I live on a street called “Im Malarsch”. Quite funny for a painter. Why did I end up there? Ask my husband. Fortunately for me, there are a lot of crows there.

You also painted crows for your “Les jeux sont fait”. Coincidence?

In fact, I did two paintings with crows – before I got interested in and close to crows. Crows are just as playful and destructive as people. I suspect that both of us are very similar.

I don’t wait for inspiration. I want a picture to emerge on the canvas, not in my head. It’s always an adventure because you never know exactly where you will end up.

Where do you find your inspiration?

I’m not picky or fussy about that. But before I can paint something, I must have seen it first. Something that triggers a response in me without me having to know why. I then try to explore that in the painting.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge in many respects. How do you experience this moment in time?

A really big hole opened up for me when everything was cancelled in the art world. As an artist, I want my paintings to interact with the audience. And when that doesn’t happen, it’s a problem. So, I sat down and wrote a book on figurative painting in the meantime. It is a manifesto, ironic and narrative, and yet also a serious statement.

Which is your own favourite work?

I do not have a favourite. I love all my paintings. One is cheeky, another is thoughtful, and a third is a drama queen. I stand by all the paintings that come out of my studio.

What were your thoughts when you learned that your art was to be displayed in a bank?

I thought it was fantastic. Visibility is very important for artists, whether in a museum or in a bank.

What happens in your work “Armchair Thriller”?

That’s a mystery. I painted an armchair, and the viewer’s imagination is supposed to sit in it. It can be assumed that not only chocolates were eaten in that room, but that something happened. But what? It’s a thriller!