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Tim Storrier AM on Studio
State Library of New South Wales Magazine July 2008
John McDonald described contemporary artist Tim Storrier’s studio as he ‘sort that most artists see only in their dreams’. The studio occupies the top floor of the former stables of his 1880’s house at Bathurst, and has been described as the size of an average house.
Storrier says artists’ studios are very idiosyncratic spaces. ‘My studio is not a social space. It’s where I try to work things out and look for insight.’
Although the idea of opening up his studio to the scrutiny of Ian Lloyd and John McDonald was like ‘being a minnow in a tank full of sharks’, he admits it wasn’t that bad.
Storrier is full of admiration for the ‘extraordinary’ legwork that has gone into compiling the Studio exhibition and book. One thing it makes clear, he says, is how different the artists’ spaces are.
‘Artists are very resourceful. They can make a studio out of the back of a combi van if they have to.’
While he is ambivalent about the image of himself in Studio – ‘after a certain age I don’t think anyone is happy with a photograph of themselves’ – he suggests the artists aren’t likely to be interested in the portraits so much, as the environment in which the other artists are working and their materials – ‘what sort of paint, paper, brushes and pencils are they using.’
‘Artists are quite rapacious in seeking information about other artists’ studios, that’s why a lot of them don’t let other artists into their studios. Having said that, vanity comes into it too – it’s nice to know somebody cares enough to include you.’