This week, we hung out with the amazing Eva Merendes while watching the sunset from a rooftop in South London. Eva Merendes is a Greek self-taught mixed-media artist who moved to London in 2016 to pursue her artistic aspirations. Influenced by her studies in Psychology, Eva offers an unconventional perspective where art becomes a tool for scientific study of the mind and behaviours to unveil what lies beneath the surface. Keep scrolling to find out more about Eva’s curious experimentations.
What are the three things you take with you on a desert island?
Pizza, paintbrush, watercolours
What is your favourite shape?
Circle
What are your favourite studio clothes?
Baggy jeans + old t-shirt
What is your one tip from artist to artist?
Find your call and make it reality.
Where is your safe place to create?
My studio but it can be anywhere where there is a table. I love working in the garden as well especially when I visit my home in Greece I love painting outdoors.
The one tool you can’t live without?
My favourite tool is a very old Rembrandt paintbrush that I can’t even remember when I bought it; the glue coming off and the hairs are a little bit weird now but it is the one thing that travels with me wherever I go.
What is the most challenging part of being an artist?
We constantly work with ourselves, with our art practice and there are no guidelines on how to do it – we always need to find our own way through it.
What is your most beautiful accidental creation?
Because I work with very fluid materials like watercolours or inks, I would say 60% of my pieces have been created from an accident. There are drippings that you didn’t expect or blobs of colours that you didn’t want there but you work through them and you find a way to make it part of what you are creating.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
I think it is my drive to create, all these little ideas in my head that I want to make reality.
How do you deal with negativity?
I think the important thing to bear in mind is that we wouldn’t have positivity if we didn’t have negativity. I always listen to my negative thoughts but I don’t let them get a hold on me and I focus on what I can do rather than what I can’t do. That’s something that I admire in other people as well, that I find inspiring.
How do you get into the zone?
The way I get into the zone is by having all my materials around – my brushes and paints, by wearing comfortable clothes and usually I also have a cup of coffee that I always end up mistakenly dipping my paintbrushes in!
What is the best advice you have been given?
Search deeper, get my hands dirty and explore and practice more.
