YDF25 Artist 11 Q&A: Anna Billany8 min read

What’s your background?

Originally from Washington, Tyne and Wear, a new town in the North East, I got into art from a young age and was influenced a lot by the boxy architecture of my post-war village. I studied at Sunderland College and later completed my foundation year at the University of Sunderland, which was untimely cut short by the pandemic which completely changed my creative trajectory. Textiles and fashion was the dream at the time, but due to being confined to my room during my first year of my BA I shifted my focus to paper and changed my degree to Illustration with Animation at MMU. Due to this shift I fell in love with print and bookmaking and that remains my core practice to this day. From 2021 I volunteered as a technician and became co-owner of a Risograph press. Later on in my degree I worked in the bindery workshop at Manchester School of Art, furthering my deep obsession with making everything into books.

Who are your biggest influences? Artistically? Who inspired you to become an artist?

Growing up near to Newcastle meant I always got to see amazing exhibitions and creative events especially in places like the BALTIC gallery. But my main inspiration growing up was always the cartoons I loved like adventure time.

During my degree I was influenced heavily by the cyberfeminist movement, mainly Donna Haraway, VNS Matrix, Legacy Russell etc. I found I could relate to what they described in regards to existing in online spaces and how that plays into your real life ‘avatar’ (aka, your own looks and personality).
Recently I’ve been exploring loneliness, boredom, nostalgia and my memories growing up online, separated from my ‘AFK’ community in a long-term project called ‘home lonely’. A big inspiration for starting this was the painter Gao Hang and his strange but luring cyber-worlds.

How have you developed your career? (From student to artist)

After finishing my BA in 2023 I have balanced working at my freelance career with also working in hospitality, which I am happy to be leaving. I took on as many opportunities as possible, and I’m always seeking new ideas and goals to keep me motivated.

What does your work as an artist aim to say?

I used to get bogged down with getting my work to mean anything at all, and for a long time I have enjoyed just making for it’s own sake; I find it therapeutic to throw myself into a new skill.
Common themes in my work play into my experience of isolation growing up queer and disabled in a hostile environment, I often felt very other-ed but I don’t want to explore this as a self pitying experience. Instead I like to explore different ways of connection.

How does your work comment on current social or political issues? And if it does why is that important to you? Or if your work doesn’t comment on the current social or political issues what does it focus on instead?

I’m a deeply politically involved person and always have been. I think any artist should have this as key to their practice as nothing we make exists in a vacuum however, a lot of my work is making for making’s sake. I create a lot of things influenced by my identity as a queer disabled person, and my existence in the world around me. I often found comfort in being myself online rather than in real life, hence my affinity for cyberfeminism and the heavy use of online themes in my work. I think isolation is a powerful feeling, especially in the current political climate, and this seems to run through a lot of my work whether intentional or not.

At what point did you begin to call yourself an artist? What was it that made you think ‘I am an artist!’?

I have always felt like this, since being a teenager I just knew that this was going to be the path I went down so I really held onto the artist label.

How do you seek out opportunities for work and practice?

Constant looking! When I have a spare few minutes, like on the bus to work, I will trawl the internet for new things to do.

What current trends or area of work are you currently focusing on?

Exploring the architecture of my hometown and it’s relation to loneliness, and spinning these research ideas into artist books. I have been really into learning different bookbinding techniques the last few months and I have so many ideas for the way I can take my research and put them into a tangible, readable object.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

Riso printing. I run a risograph worker’s co-operative with two of my friends and it’s the love of my life.

What’s your strongest memory of your childhood?

Watching a soft play area burn down outside my house, I made a zine about it recently!

Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?

Getting locked into halls in university in my 1st year because of covid made me realize I needed to work wayy harder than I was. I had no access to anything that was outside of my flat and so I had a lot of time to sit and think about my life.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

Mainly hospitality: cook, bartender, waitress, barista. I have worked in hospo since being a teenager in a stupidly wide breadth of venues from football stadiums (The Stadium of Light) to tiny independent cafe’s.
I’ve also worked in Lush, Debenhams, New Look, HOME cinema ….

A part from that I work as a technician in the school and also did a placement as part of my 3rd year of uni where I worked in the bookbinding workshop.

What is an artistic outlook on life?

Make for making’s sake.

What role does arts funding have to your practice? Could you and would you still be an artist if you weren’t paid to explore your art?

Funding is so important to nourishing good practice, as it’s so hard to make your best work when you are not making any income from your practice and relying on part-time jobs. Personally I have always made work without funding (although by the time this is published I hopefully will have heard back on something, fingers crossed) but it’s really hard out there to maintain a creative career, a life, and several part-time jobs. Many of my friends end up really slowing down their work because of how competitive everything is and I truly hope that artists of all mediums can be more supported one day.

What is your dream project?

My current dream is to find a scholarship for a good MA Fine Arts programme. I felt as if my degree was not the best fit and I really desire retraining in a fine art context.
Also to work abroad and take a residency somewhere far away. I struggle to focus in my studio (PINK in Stockport) because everyone is so nice and I always end up chatting!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Everything Katy, (our mother of the house) director of PINK has ever told me has done so much good for my practice. She has really pushed me into taking the step to leaving hospitality and focusing on my art as much as I can which is truly paying off.

What advice would you give to a young artist beginning their journey to becoming an artist?

Don’t expect everything you make to be the best!
Also meet as many people as you possibly can and throw yourself into the arts scene.

Professionally, what’s your goal? Where do you hope to be in 5 or 10 years from now?

I hope to be entirely freelance and working on my own projects with directing Caterpillar Press. I hope to expand this cooperative so people can become a part of our collective and learn with us.

If you could recommend 3 artists for others to explore who are they?

Pita Santos + Rudy Tomala: my partners in Caterpillar Press who are two amazing illustrators (and friends) who I love working with!

George Gibson: a book artist who I have learnt really valuable and important skills from but they are also super funny and always a pleasure to be about.

What locations or places are the most artistically inspiring and why?

– Any book / zine fair I always leave with a drive to make as much as I can.
– Going back home after I haven’t visited for a while
– The sea or any large body of water makes me really calm, it’s something I deeply miss since I live in Manchester.

Do we need to provide GCSE qualifications for arts and cultural subjects? Discuss…

Yes! I think the shift towards ‘proper’ subjects leaves massive gaps in the development of critical thinking and personality in teens. I work in a high school at the moment and the art teachers are very stretched thin due to all the tory policies that neglect creative subjects. The lack of budget and care from the top down is so disheartening to see.

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