Quick Fire Questions with Abi Hampsey, Mark Bletcher and Oliver Hoffmeister

This blog post is to find out more about the artists in Three’s a Crowd, a current exhibition of new work by Mark Bletcher, Abi Hampsey and Oliver Hoffmeister. They are artists and friends who met at Newcastle University on the Fine Art course and graduated in 2018/2019. In 2020 the group founded a project called Minutes on Painting in response to the pandemic, as a platform to create conversations between artists about painting and to raise funds for charity. They have also shown work together at Safe House 1 in London. This group exhibition at Gallagher and Turner continues to explore their joint interest into figurative painting from individual perspectives.

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Abigail Hampsey and I’m originally from Lancaster in the northwest of the UK. I completed my BA in Fine Art at Newcastle University in 2019 and I’m coming to the end of my MA in painting at the Royal College of Art.
I primarily work in oil and canvas but have a mixed media approach allowing everyday objects and debris to make there way in, on and around my work. I also have a deep interest in analogue photography, making bread and have most recently began working with story writing, poetry and text.

How long have you been doing this and how did you get into it?
It’s hard to say how long I’ve been doing this, I definitely didn’t start painting until I started my foundation in Blackpool back in 2015. However, I have strong memories of my nana attempting to keep my quiet by putting household objects in front of me on the table and saying ‘here, draw that!’ resulting in me routinely asking her to give me something to draw. My sister was very good at drawing also, so I probably just copied her.

Do you have a favourite piece of work you've made?
I think the piece of work I made for my degree show in Newcastle is up there. It’s just so ridiculous and large. Completely impractical and so difficult to move but I had so much fun making it. Otherwise the work I make as part of a collaboration with Georg Wilson, and more specifically the huge set we made fro a show in the summer, would have to top my list for now. Seems to be a theme here about massive work...

What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I’m working towards my degree show in June at the Royal College. I'm trying to allow ideas of layered narrative, memory and the everyday become more material visible in the way I apply paint and other objects. I’m working on some bronze casts as well but they’re a secret!

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Mark and I'm an artist living in Newcastle Upon Tyne. I mostly paint but I also work on paper or with print. One of my main subjects is modern magical realism, which is always a tricky thing to define, but I often try by naming authors who explore the same subjects, such as Murakami. I'm interested in seamless interaction of fiction and reality and the exploration of the unknown, which I believe to be the two major elements of magical realism. 

How long have you been doing this and how did you get into it?
I've been painting since I was 19. I found my current subject when at Newcastle University during my studies and after discovering a number of books that helped shape my ideas. 

Do you have a favourite piece of work you've made?
I'm always most happy with my most recent work, but often most surprised by my older work. 'Wake me up before you leave' is a particular favourite of mine from my older work. Of my more recent work, the 'The Heat Before We Blundered' taught me a lot, and being a fan of chess, is a painting that I very much enjoy. 

What are you working on at the moment?
Right now I'm continuing to paint but working on some much smaller works that feature books. None have names yet, but the phrase 'Lore Eater' keeps popping into my head as a title for an exhibition of them. 

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Oliver Hoffmeister. I am a painter-printmaker living and working in Newcastle upon Tyne.

How long have you been doing this and how did you get into it?
I have been a creative person as far back as my memory serves me. However, I decided to fully pursue my passion for the visual arts in 2013, just prior to coming to study my Bachelor's degree. I’m not sure what got me into doing what I do, nor do I think I want to know. I just seemingly have an innate drive to make and create.

Do you have a favourite piece of work you've made?
I would say that my favourite is always the piece I’m working on, I find that I’m less interested in works once they’re “finished”. However, I can say that I’m most proud of a work I made for my solo show with Berwick Visual Arts called ‘Window Seat’ (2020) which was later shown in the Contemporary British Painting Prize longlist exhibition (2021).

What are you working on at the moment?
Currently, I am just trying to experiment and explore my practice, the way I paint and the images I make. I’m not working towards anything as such, but through this process continue to make works that I hope are becoming increasingly more interesting.