MOLLY ROSE DYSON
Viewing Molly Rose Dyson’s artwork, it’s difficult not to be swept up into a world of nostalgia. Her quirky characters and subject matter mixed with the use of bright colours in watercolour and guache are likely to sweep you back into your youth without even realising why. Much like stepping back into your favourite childhood book only to find it has a more refreshing and grown up aesthetic than you remember. The uplifting qualities of Dyson’s work are intensified due to the sheer joy that emanate from the page. Clearly this is an artist who works with passion from the heart to produce charming and uplifting images.
Originally from Melbourne, Dyson has recently become part of the exodus of artists making the move to Berlin, the unofficial creative capital of the world. With it’s thriving arts scene, eclectic energy, and occasional freakiness, many have compared the city with New York thirty years ago. “I love Berlin, though it can feel like a transient place with people constantly coming and going, arriving and leaving… But it’s an easy city to exist in,” explains Dyson. “From what I’ve experienced, (the Berlin art scene) has a much different feeling to Melbourne’s art scene. It’s a bigger city, but I don’t think people buy as much art by emerging artists, so the main galleries seem to be more highbrow. I think exhibiting for artists is more affordable here compared to Melbourne, but the approach to exhibitions is more DIY and low key… My work has evolved a lot since being in Berlin. I think this change in ideas of exhibiting has made me less self-conscious and more confident to show works to people, put things online and collaborate with other artists here.”
On inspiration and subject matter Dyson enjoys finding more in the ordinariness of everyday objects. “I love drawing dogs, there are so many amazing dogs in Berlin… I also like drawing and cataloguing objects I encounter in my day-to-day life, whether it’s
just concentrating on the colour or shape of the weird objects that end up on the kitchen table, the strange German signs on buildings I pass on the street, or the pattern on a piece of fabric in a second hand shop. I think the mundane moments of life are a big inspiration,” says Dyson. “I think I struggle with the whimsical-cutesy side of my work. Since being in Berlin I think I have relaxed a lot and feel more comfortable introducing some more ‘adult themes’… My drawings being misconstrued as being sexual or ugly was something I was once a bit embarrassed by, but when someone comments that a sausage I’ve drawn looks phallic or if there is a poo-shaped brown splodge, I have begun to enjoy exaggerating those aspects and adding a bit of humour or discomfort – depending on the viewers ideals.”
November sees Dyson make the move back to Melbourne to be with her beloved dog Chippy, but this will not be the end of her creative growth or European travels in fact. With plans to do residencies in Iceland or Finland in 2013, Dyson is also working on a range of zines and potentially a stop-animated series. “At the moment I’m experimenting with cut out drawings, shapes and patterns and forming them into layered assemblages, then photographing them using a copy-stand,” explains Dyson of the stop-animated process. “I also really would love to illustrate children’s books. When I was a kid I wanted to make books, and I still do. It’s cool thinking that I’m not much different to when I was five or six.”
With artworks so colourful, fun and full of charm it’s so easy to imagine Dyson’s work gracing any number of books or magazines in the near future. A future filled with whimsy and optimism as enchanting as her work.
Images courtesy of Molly Rose Dyson
Published in PITCH Zine Issue# 12, October 2012