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Hello Instagram: Angela Lane in Berlin
Interviewed by: Giovanni Garcia-French
October 22, 2019

Angela Lane, Phenomenon #25 (double binary rainbow), 2019, oil on wood, 5.5 x 8.6 inches

I initially resisted Instagram, dismissing it as a repository of selfies, sunsets, and celebrities, but,soured by Facebook and Twitter, I finally joined. Over the past four years I’ve come toappreciate IG for introducing me to a lot of terrific artists, many of whom never show their workin New York. “Hello Instagram” is a Two Coats column where I can share some of my favorites.
In this installment I interview Angela Lane (@subterraneanthunder), an artist based in Berlin.
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech: First of all, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Angela Lane : I live in Berlin, Germany but was born and raised in the UK before moving toNew Zealand. Drawing and painting have been with me for as long as I can remember, but
receiving two gold stars and a tick for my cave buffalo when I was six probably marked
something of a turning point. From there I learnt that if I illustrated my homework well enough, it
didn’t matter if the written content wasn’t very good, I could at least get marks for trying. I
studied and ended up lecturing in illustration at university for a while but left it behind to pursue
what I do now.
GG-F: There’s something very interesting in the incongruence between the scale of yoursubjects versus the scale of your paintings. Why do you choose to paint so small?

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AL: There’s something I enjoy about the absurdity of cramming massive natural (and unnatural)
events into small spaces. But scale is a funny thing, for the most part I forget how small mypaintings are until I step back and look at them in the context of the vast wall they are on. I’m
not sure why but I’ve always tended to look beyond or behind the “main event” in both art and inlife, getting sucked into the minutiae of the things going on in the distance. Netherlandish
paintings from the 15th and 16th Centuries are a goldmine for background information, virtually
each square inch has something new to say. So in this respect, I would say there is a verypractical reason for me painting so small, I would likely never finish anything large.” Instead, I’d
add and add and add.
GG-F: Are your paintings based on real places?
AL: Rarely do I base my paintings on real places, they tend to be montages of memories.
There’s too much opportunity to go wrong if I try to represent the real. Often I start withsomething in mind and end up with a completely different painting, but it’s the surprise (forbetter or for worse) at the end that keeps me at it. Starting in one corner and finishing in anothersomehow seems to work for me, unless it’s a tondo. I’ve always admired the working method of
Joachim Patinir – it is said that the vast and imposing rocky landscapes in his paintings were
simply upscaled versions of the stones he kept on his table.
GG-F: One of the interesting things that happens with your Instagram is that where I
would ordinarily have described your landscape paintings as realistic, the images ofartworks and scientific illustrations you post made me start looking at your work very
differently. I begin to see a visionary aspect to them, or at least an intense Romantic
presence. Is that a fair assessment?
AL: I mentioned Netherlandish paintings just before, for me they’ve been a staple but theRomantics are a huge influence as well. I am lucky enough that here in Berlin at the Alte
National galerie it’s possible to find yourself completely alone in a room full of Caspar DavidFriedrich paintings. There are plenty of other Romantic painters of course, but he will always bemy go-to. His use of light and color, his draughtsmanship and originality, the emotional pull andmelancholy is for me unsurpassed. But the way in which they all use natural elements to convey
deeper meaning is hugely influential for me: they are in another sense, visionary. Visionaries
are fascinating; that sense of conviction in belief which drives their work is remarkable and very
often results in remarkable work. Agnes Pelton, Ithell Colquhoun, Hilma af Klint, and Emma
Kunz all play a role in my work, as do Hieronymus Bosch, Simon Marmion, and William Blake.
But there are other examples in the field of astronomy/meteorology (the AugsburgerWunderzeichenbuch for instance) and early geological studies which feel just as visionary to me
and are just as much an inspiration. Ultimately it is the otherworldliness which ties them all
together and which keeps me coming back.
GG-F: Can you share a couple of Instagram accounts that you would recommend?
AL: Instagram is my only entry into the world of social media, I’m relatively new on there but I
like it. Recommendations that’s tricky, there are a lot of accounts I really enjoy. If I have towhittle it down then I would say @fabiola.alondra, @somewhereintheether, and@spacestaysthesame are all accounts I find interesting for their variety of material spanningsubject and time.

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