Every object tells a story – and Brighton-based Philippa Stanton’s home is jam-packed with them. The artist, aka 5ftinf, has an eclectic array of possessions that very often end up as artworks in themselves.
As a child, Stanton loved to sit in her grandmother Beryl’s shed and watch her practise ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It seemed fitting then, after Beryl’s death, for Stanton to use the bequeathal to help transform her own shed into a place of inspiration.
Tucked away in the garden of her Brighton Victorian terrace, Stanton uses the shed to paint and create installations. “Afterwards I can never bring myself to completely dismantle the pieces, so there are bits of everything I’ve done in here.”
Stanton is a synaesthetic artist – she “sees” and paints sounds, tastes and smells. Recent canvas Dark Chocolate Champagne Truffle is typical of her painterly style and, she says, “depicts the intense taste of chocolate and brightness of champagne”.
One belonging takes particular pride of place. “I feel very emotional about my easel; it marks the start of my painting,” Stanton says. At the time of its purchase, the Rada-trained actor was at a crossroads and going through a divorce. She wrote to actor Mark Rylance, then artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, to ask if she could paint at the theatre. “Mark was the first person to give me a chance, to take me seriously at a time I needed a new start,” Stanton says. She went on to became the Globe’s artist in residence.
Stanton has another “magic corner” for creating art – a wooden table in her dining room, on which she photographs still-life compositions featuring ephemera from her home and garden, sharing the results with her 480,000-plus Instagram followers. “I don’t decide how to arrange objects; it just happens. There’s a sense of season, a sense of domestic life. It’s like ‘visual haiku’.” The table is also a focal point for family life: “It’s where my son Jules [15] and I sit to eat and chat.”
The table provided the inspiration for an object that’s close to Stanton’s heart – a “life ring” made by jewellers Perry Rhodes and Jessie Tai. On the outside, it’s engraved with the knots and grain of the table; inside are the words “Just as I am”.
“When I got it, I hadn’t worn a ring since my divorce, 10 years earlier,” Stanton says. “It represents me as I am now – a single parent who’s made her life work.”
Discover more about insuring your home and belongings with the Halifax at halifax.co.uk/whychooseus
