Youth is not Wasted on the Young with Isaac Andrews
Words by Ashley Scott | Photography by Paul Phung
Age is only one lens to view the world through, youth is equally envied and chased yet derided as too naive, lacking wisdom and experience. Taking to the canvas with an intelligence that belies his youth, at only 20, Isaac Andrews’ pieces initiate deeper, emotionally adept conversations. In his words, the works focus “on the human experience, these shared human emotions, moments of loneliness and suffering, as well as moments of intimacy and depictions of family.”
His pieces project a clear direction in colour that evokes stark feelings and ideas with yet still such genuine warmth. “Colours are such an intrinsic part of my work, a lot featuring block colours, which I always mix myself. I’m not a huge fan of premixed colours, I find them a bit soulless. I’ve worked exclusively in oils for the past two years now, because of the love of the material and the sheer versatility of them.”
Andrews’ pieces feature so many human shapes and figures, such that the question arises of how he obtains these forms to create these canvases. “I don’t enjoy shooting or having people sit for me, I want the figures in my work to be vehicles and not identifiable people. Staging shoots to work from could lead me to lose the universality of the figures in my paintings.” Instead, he takes cues from the world around him and conjures up these images somewhat a la carte “Cycling to and from my studio every day through Hackney plays a huge part in my work. I’ll see scenes and stories playing out and make mental notes of it. But I never photograph this stuff, I just like working from the memory.”
With his recent self-curated solo show “Faith”; Andrews’ work continues to prove his wisdom beyond the years he’s inhabited. “Being so young, I’m very aware that the work I'm doing now won’t be the work I make for the rest of my life, but I think all you can do is focus on the present, making work for yourself in that moment.” Touching on spirituality and evoking thoughts of faith in its multitude of forms, Andrews draws from an emotionally mature well deeper than what most in his age range will attain for many years. “It took a while to find my ‘style’, but this process was very useful in retrospect, it taught me a lot about my intentions, and what I was trying to say. I don’t think this is something you can rush, and is still an ongoing debate in my practice.”
His unwavering confidence truly comes through in conversation as well as his work, leaving no doubt that he sees in clear focus how his work should come into the world. “I’ve learned to really trust my gut and my instincts, I think that critical faculty around your own work is really important.” Being of a generation that has grown up in the social space, being both a part of that realm and benefiting from its reach, Andrews remains tethered to the world he inhabits physically. “One thing that has always been at the heart of my work is this element of human connection, something I find increasingly important as society becomes so disconnected, with the push towards a digital world, so I guess I’m fighting for this human connection, and this awareness, of others and the self.”