Andy Fitz was born in Dublin 1989. They were awarded the TBG+S Graduate Studio for 2015 and has shown work in the Douglas Hyde offsite program, The Dock and NCAD Gallery. In 2018 they had a solo exhibition at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios and at the Kerlin Gallery Dublin.

Do you have a favourite art work of all time?

No, not a favourite.

What is your daily routine as an artist?

It changes all the time depending on what I am doing. But I rely on having a studio to keep some sort of structure on my practice. Leaving the studio always feels like folding down a corner in a book, knowing you will be able to return and continue to work it out from where you left off. I eat read and stare into space there. I take pictures out the window or reorganize the storage. Sometimes I go to the studio look at it and leave again straight away. Other times I work for 14 hours, I sleep in two hour chunks on the couch and eat only pasta pesto for meals and snacks. I go for long periods without talking to people. I like working at night cause it feels like working on stolen time. Being an artist is both incredibly precarious and incredibly privileged.

What would you say is the biggest challenge as an artist?

Money. You go into it not caring at all about money, being willing to spend everything you have on your work. Soon this doesn’t work out and you realise it was only possible because of free wood in art school, or a grace period hassle free on the dole. Not having enough money immediately affects your mental health. When state funding backs artists and projects it supports something to exist outside of a financial market. When I received funding it changed my life by allowing me to continue what I was doing.

Who has been of great influence to you in your field?

It has always been friends that have influenced me the most. I think a lot about particular artworks at different times but when it comes to people it’s always the ones who I have argued with or listened to.

What is the best piece of advice you would give an emerging artist?

Always be emerging?

What has the Next Generation 2018 support from the Arts Council meant to your practice?

Getting funded means being able to practice. It changed everything by not changing what I wanted to be doing every day. During the time I was funded I was free to make a lot of artworks, most of which are very important to me and some of which I hope have been interesting to others.

What are you doing next? Would you be seeking funding in the future?

I received the Next Generation Bursary in 2018. I used it to keep a studio, pay my rent, eat and buy materials. I applied particularly to this award so that I could make work in Germany and have a mentor/teacher there. That year I developed Knock Knock for Temple Bar Gallery, it was a sculptural show made up of work that I feel very happy about.