Ingrid Berthon-Moine
Ingrid Berthon-Moine is a French visual artist living and working in London. Here she speaks to our Curator of Interpretation, Nicola Waterman about lockdown, ‘lackers’, and the direction her practice is taking ...
NW: Hello, and thank you for agreeing to talk to us about all things Ingrid Berthon-Moine : ) I can't believe it's been a year since Holly and I came to your studio - and what a bloody year, eh?! Tell me, how was the lockdown for you? Were you able to get into the studio, or were you working from home?
IB-M: Yes, what a year! And it is not finished yet... A few milestones to go through... US elections, Brexit, certainly lockdown #2 ... Yuk!
Ingrid Berthon-Moine
The lockdown was a weird experience as it has been for everybody. We were not on the frontline, we were privileged to stay at home. Our studios were closed so I took a few things with me like watercolours, canvas, acrylic, paper and that was it. I took advantage of that time to look back and sort my website, some PDFs. I did a lot of drawings, paintings and I started using text which was an interesting experiment. It was a much quieter pace and I really enjoyed it TBH...
NW: True! God, the US election - and the possibility of having another conservative supreme court justice, too, now that we've lost RBG. Your experience of lockdown sounds quite familiar. I think that for many of us who weren't on the frontline and were able to keep doing what we do, lockdown WAS a time of reflection and reconnection. I wonder whether, if we're locked down again it will be quite the same ... Can you tell me a bit more about the work you've been doing with text?
IB-M: I have been collecting short sentences, assemblages of words for many years. Words which catch my ears, sonorities, play on words between French and English. As a foreigner, expressing myself in written English is scary so I go slowly and it is more like a cut and paste experience than proper text. I am not a writer, I just use text, that's how we could summarise it. Artists whose main medium is text would laugh at me and my wobbly words lol. Still, I would like to do a small book or pamphlet of these texts, maybe with drawings or photographs not sure yet...
NW: It sounds great! My first degree was in English, and I have an abiding love of words - I particularly like to do my bit to keep words and phrases at risk of disappearing, going. I used the expression 'get gussied up' the other day, and the person I was talking to laughed and said she hadn't heard that expression in years! You've also been providing a platform for women to share their words: lackitlikeit on Instagram. I've proudly got my 'I lack it I like it' sticker you gave me on my card case. What prompted you to start interviewing 'lackers' and share the results on Insta?
IB-M: I wanted to do something with the 'slogan' but I didn't know what, how, when, where etc. During the lockdown I thought that it would be a good way of building bridges and get in touch with people with this idea and see where it would take me/us. It is to be shared online, on Insta so there is a size restriction with the answers etc. I wanted something spontaneous where women would be in charge of their posts. The responses to Question 2 [‘To expand on the question of lack, have you suffered from some lack (of skills, experience, education, information, confidence, money, opportunity, awareness, support, sleep, etc?) in your life and career as a womxn?] are often the most personal and some women have gone quite deep in their responses which I'm grateful for. I was extremely nervous before publishing Huma Kabakci’s and Hettie Juddah's posts but after that, it felt better. I just want to interview as wide a range of women as possible in terms of age, ethnicity, medium, level of success... See how it goes...
NW: It's a really fascinating project - so many different interpretations of 'I lack it I like it' and some really blisteringly honest responses to Q2. Changing the subject slightly, has the pandemic changed your experience of the artist community?
IB-M: I think it has, yes. I am reserved as a person (less after 1 or 2 glasses of wine!) but some people have contacted me during the lockdown to have a chat, to discuss the work and I have found that quite nice, to be able to speak to a complete stranger! Also with Lackitlikeit, I have to push myself to write to women I do not know at all and it can be daunting at first but in general the whole thing is positive so yes the lockdown has had a + effect!
NW: And you've taken part in the Artist Support Pledge, as well. How have you found that?
IB-M: Yes it's been good for me. I sold a few things and I bought a few as well which is even better! It is a good system to create a small income during those troubled times.
NW: OK, final question from me... Now that you're able to work in your studio (and notwithstanding another lockdown), what's next for you and your practice?
IB-M: I am going to carry on doing the interviews for I lack it, I like it. My first milestone was 20 interviews but I have more than that now, so maybe 50? See how it goes. Working on that book of small texts, playing with layout. A few projects have been proposed to me, but at the moment everything is so uncertain that nothing concretises properly. I am not holding my breath for anything until next year, spring or summer. At the studio, I have started working on an installation piece by gathering all I have tried, made, experimented with. It is stepping up, being confident and playing around with display and layers, exciting. And last, apprehending the looming hivernal [winter] lockdown the best I can. It might not be part of the practice but i guess mental health will be more than ever prevalent this winter, it is anxiogene [stressful].
NW: Sounds like it's going to be a productive period for you, but yes, practising self-care is going to be critical over the coming months for everybody, I think. Thanks so much for your time today, Ingrid - it was good to 'talk' : )
IB-M: Thank you for the interview Nicola, and have a good weekend!
