Five questions: Aliki Braine

‘Sex, death and fear are always returned to’

What does Tracey Emin have to do with Delacroix? And what does her unmade bed say about us?

In the latest issue of our print publication The Arts Society Magazine, lecturer Aliki Braine shows us how historical masterpieces inform contemporary provocations.

We sit down with the artist, academic and Arts Society Lecturer.

You’ve written a piece in The Arts Society Magazine on what the contemporary in art and the historical have in common. What would be the key factor?

No matter how and with what materials artists express themselves, the same subjects of love, death, sex, beauty and fear are always returned to and shared in art across time. My lecture ‘Same old, same new…’ looks at how historical and modern art share the same subjects.

We see that you explore the medium of self-portraiture in some of your lectures. Which artist’s self-portrait would you most like to live with – and why?

I would happily live with Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, from the Royal Collection. It’s the most formidable composition and shows the artist in the very moment of creation facing the blank canvas.

One of your lectures looks at ‘anthropomorphic landscapes’. What is an anthropomorphic landscape?

Anthropomorphic landscapes are instances in which human forms appear to be visible in natural formations. The history of painting is full of such images, hidden in clouds, rocks and foliage. This lecture brings together some of the most interesting and bizarre examples.

We’re intrigued by your lecture: ‘Dirt and dirty brushes: myths of the artist at court’. Does it bust some myths?

This lecture explores a series of myths about artists and monarchs. It looks at the relationship artists historically had with rulers, starting with the story of Alexander and Apelles and its echoes in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, with pairings such as Leonardo and Francis I, Dürer and Maximilian I, Titan and Charles V, Rubens and Marie de Medici, Velazquez and Philip IV.

We hear that you are also a photographer. Is there a particular medium you love – and why?

I really can't claim to be a photographer in the conventional sense, but my own artistic practice is ­– fundamentally – photographic. I rework medium format negatives with simple strategies such as cutting, stickering and folding, before printing them to create the finished artwork.

Aliki Braine studied at The Ruskin, the Slade and the Courtauld Institute, where she was awarded a distinction for her masters in 17th-century painting. She is a regular lecturer for the National Gallery, Serpentine Gallery, Tate Galleries, Courtauld Gallery and Wallace Collection. She regularly exhibits her photographic work internationally.