A couple of years ago, I purchased a painting by an artist who, until that moment, I was quite unfamiliar with. Beautifully flowing, almost organic, autonomous lines forming an ever so slightly forlorn and contemplative character. The piece, by Melbourne artist Caitlin Rigby, is, unabashedly, a personal favourite in my meagre collection. It sits centre stage in my living room – its vibrant, pastelian presence a wonderful counterpoint for the darker pieces I somehow always tend to lean towards.

Since its purchase, I’ve continued to follow Caitlins work, watching to see when something new will pop up in a group show – yet in all this time I haven’t had a chance to see a real, full blown body of her work, pieces together, characters sharing a common space.

The announcement of “This Path We’re On“, Caitlin Rigbys first solo show in over five years (since her move from Brisbane to Melbourne), was, therefore, something of a delighted surprise – yet for all I’d followed her work, there was still an air of mystery around her work. What are these characters? Where did they come from? Where are they going? How did she come up with them and how did she develop these gorgeous palettes and lines and layers?

Luckily for me, she had a bit of time before the opening of her show tonight to help me ask her a bit more about her beautiful work, and to try to unlock some of the mysteries surrounding it.

For those to whom you are new, and for those that already know your work and who are curious, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you started painting and working on your art?

I have always been interested in creating my world of art and expression, I studied all creative subjects in my senior years at high school and then went on to TAFE and studied a variety of art subjects.

Those early years at TAFE were really challenging with my health at the time, and teenage craziness. To recover and get out the pain and hurt inside, I really clung to my art as a survival tool – I got a studio in Brisbane and began painting everyday, and exhibiting.

Your style is quite distinctive – has it always been moving in this direction, and do you often find that you style is continuously permutating in different directions? Where did it originally spring from?

I have been in the same world of my characters for a long time now, I like that my work is quite distinctive, it is always growing in new directions though quite subtle and organically.

I remember my brother teaching me how to draw cool characters when I was around 11 and 12 years of age, and from then i have never stopped. I feel deeply connected to my characters which is why they still are around, I’m not ready to move on without them, they have become my language, my image, my reflection.

There’s something gorgeously organic in your characters, is this intentional or subconscious? How much of these characters are derived from the various environments you are in, and how readily do they reflect your personal moods when you are painting them?

I guess I would say that my work is both intentional and subconscious. My paintings start as a sketch that I draw really fast and flowing and straight from the moment of mood or situation around me or inside me. As I paint, I never have a plan where I’m going or what i want it to be by the end, I enjoy having my work sit around me for a week or way longer and grow in different ways over time. My mood definitely plays a huge roll, I can change my whole palette in a day and my line work and reflect a totally different image one day to the next.

I love the process of painting and building up layers. I lose myself in the work, and it becomes very automatic and subconscious, I feel that sometimes I paint almost blindly, and don’t see the outcome until I step back and focus.

It’s been almost five years since your last show, though in that time you’ve had an impressive amount of work in a  variety of group exhibition, that is still a fair amount of time – what was it that was stopping you from putting together something of your own, or was it merely a matter of time?

I moved to Melbourne five years ago and feel I’m only just now finding my confidence. My show about to open on Friday [Ed. 3rd February] will show a body of work from the last three years, I had the space offered to me and took that as a sign and an opportunity to have all my work on exhibit in the one space.

I’m really excited to see them all hanging together – it’s kinda a show for my paintings, the characters in them, as much as it is for myself, one last showing of these paintings and this chapter of work before moving onto a new.

How about the show itself, what will it contain and what can people look forward to seeing? Will it be a retrospective of all the work you have done in the last five years, or a new body entirely?

I’m only going back three years with this show, it’s not a new body of work, most paintings have been in group shows all over the place. People can look forward to the chance to view a large number of my works in the one environment, which hasn’t happened in over five years.

Can you tell me a little about your involvement with the  Sketchbook project – what is it and why did you want to become involved? What’s your sketchbook like?

I heard about the sketchbook project two years ago, and I got it together in time to apply for the 2012 sketchbook project. I really like the idea of a library of artist’s books with the diversity of so many different people from all over the world all wanting to make something unique happen and share in the one experience.

The books travel around for a few months in the States and a few other cities, it’s a world tour of sketchbooks. I just think that sounds so cool, and I can’t wait to be in New York one day and go and flick through sketchbooks in a library and have my book amongst them.

You also recently did some work for the “Board” exhibition down at NGV – what did you think of the show?

I didn’t do the public painting workshops but getting the opportunity to exhibit in the NGV studio space along side Tony Harlem’s collection is awesome.

You’re also not only a painter, but recently you’ve been taking your style and applying it to a 3D medium, hand modelled jewellery and the like  – what forms and patterns does this kind of thing allow you to explore that traditional 2D work doesn’t? Have to dabbled in a lot of 3D, sculpture, modelling and such before?

I have only just started to explore 3D mediums and am having lots of fun, I like how hands on it is. I have been exploring shapes and creating little installations which emulate elements in my 2D works.

Where to from here? What else do you have planned for this year and further down the road?

I really want to jump straight into a new body of work and have another solo exhibition in 2012 …

Check out Caitlin Rigbys blog here, as well as here for info on her show.