Melbourne Royalty Interview with Kate Stephenson

Kate Stephenson is an incredible writer. Kate reached out to me and asked if she could interview me for her new website “Melbourne Royalty”, and after reading some of her previous work I couldn’t say no!!

In all honesty, even if she was rubbish I probably would’ve done it. All press is good press right?
But it’s a major bonus that she happens to have a sick sense of humour and a Gonzo style of Doof journalism that I haven’t really encountered since reading Hunter S. Thompson himself.

The chat we had was super relaxed and turned into a great read.

I felt it necessary to at least add an excerpt to my blog posts, but go to her website for the full thing!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

And now

Here’s an excerpt of the beginning of it, but definitely go check it out in full:

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On 4 December last year, dark surrealist art goddess Ash Darq finally managed to launch her much anticipated Exuviae exhibition at Honey Bones Gallery in Brunswick, with fellow Melbourne artists Zoë Rayne, Dean Herlihy and H.E.L Waters. It had been delayed three times due to the spicy cough.

“I’m really good at getting shit done,” she says.

“But getting constantly postponed was quite deflating,” she says.

“I found it hard to get my momentum back. I was so emotionally invested, it blew my buzz. Two weeks before this one, I was still thinking are we going to get to do this; it was hard to get myself to believe it so I could advertise and operationalise it properly. But I did, and I went hard. It was a massive success.”

Exuviae is all about re-emerging and shedding a skin, something that resonates with all of us after what we’ve endured these last couple of years.

“Hamish [H.E.L Waters] had the word written on his studio wall for years. When we were spitballing what we were going to call the show, this came up and we were all like yes!”

“When I first saw Hamish’s paintings at Tanglewood, I thought, oh my god this person has painted the inside of my brain. Except they’re way more tech at painting than me!”

Ash attributes the success of the Exuviae exhibit to the fact that the artists she was working with had the same vision. They had been part of festival galleries and aligned with doof culture, but weren’t bringing the typical visionary paintings in the bright psychedelics you’d usually see. She has been building a community of fellow dark surrealists as she has developed her brand and identity.

“Innoxious Knows Not Life’s Darkness” 2021 (SOLD)

Pink bits

Exuviae was Ash’s favourite series she has ever worked on. Her relationship with one painting in particular really stood out to her.

“Innoxious Knows Not Life’s Darkness, AKA The Pink One, felt really out there for me, even though it’s maybe the most palatable in some ways. Initially I thought the pink one wouldn’t work. I thought a pink painting might feel out of place, but I was totally projecting my weird relationship with pink onto other people. It ended up being a surprise personal and audience favourite.”

“Growing up, there was a strict perception of girls. You were either a tomboy in blue or a girly girl in pink. I didn’t fit into either of those boxes. But as I worked with this painting, I’ve realised I’ve been closet pink fan my whole life. Bringing her to life healed my relationship to the colour pink.”

“To me this painting flips the script on the soft feminine. The protagonist is quietly powerful. I can equate my interpretation of pink with society’s antiquated relationship to women in general. As women, we always have to fight, endure, and be strong although we are expected to be the opposite. I’m trying to manifest my own power in softness and vulnerability. I’m learning I don’t need to be tough all the time, and that softness is not weakness.”

“Working on this piece I listened obsessively to the album Miss Anthropocene by Grimes and the soundtrack from the UK TV show Utopia. I don’t know what this means, but it really was what I needed at the time.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE