Incubus’ Choice: Close-up on Red in the rain (Scarlet Monahan)

What message(s) do you want to express through your work?

I am hoping to show that there is only a very small distance between the everyday and the surreal and that ordinary things and ordinary places can easily become an alternate and surreal landscape that we all recognise from our imagination and dreams. We choose the distance, we choose the landscape.

Which artists inspire you? Who are your masters?

All my life I have been inspired by surrealist artists. My favourite artists and reference are René Magritte and Paul Delvaux and their images are my constant companions.

What have you gained by being on the internet?

The internet has allowed me to exhibit my work globally, to meet many artists I otherwise would not have known, and to reach a specific market for my work, with ease, making many friends along the way. The internet, at least to me, seems like a perfect tool for the modern artist.

Did the internet enable you to meet new models, to find new exhibit places?

Yes, although I use myself as model in most of my work, many models have contacted me and subsequently, we have worked together on various projects.

Has your work ever been censored? If so, how did you deal with it?

Yes, my work has been censored once or twice, by certain art sale websites and generally, in most cases, I remove the work and move to a more liberated far sited gallery of which there are many.

What projects mean a lot to you at the moment?

My latest project is a series of work dedicated to shock imagery, but not in a negative way. What I am trying to do is to show that we can all be shocked in a positive way and amused and entertained at the same time, without resorting to boring or obvious stereotypes. To expose the viewer to ideas we all may have but that we never discuss, our own personal recognizable surreality.

Could you tell us a few words about the place you live/work in?

I live in southern England, amidst rolling countryside and depending upon the light, the landscape can look friendly, like a model railway or stark and dangerous, particularly in moody weather. I complete my photographic work in a beautiful small white room, with no distractions other than my imagination and a cup of tea.

Close-up on…