Ahead of The Cone Sisters’ upcoming Exhibition of Art event at Asylum Studios, Arts Editor Emily Godden caught up with the young artist duo to find out more

So, The Cone Sisters, what’s the story – tell us a bit about yourselves?
Stevie: We’re Thom Trojanowski Hobson and Stevie Dix. I’m an un-schooled Belgian painter with a love of dark, expressive abstract art, and Thom is an art school graduate who makes… What do you make, Thom?

Thom: Paintings, pots, posters, prints, lots of p-art. My painting style was founded from my love of German expressionism, Polish poster design and outsider artists. I’ve tried to develop my own language; I like my paintings to speak to the viewer and motivate an idea.

Stevie: We met when Thom was recording an album in Brussels and we became friends over our love of art. Seven years on we’ve formed The Cone Sisters, an artist collective under which we can realise some of our collective dreams. We’ve been collaborating on curating exhibitions, creating art installations and we’ve hosted art classes at events and creative venues in London. We try and give it a bit of a twist – one of our recent life drawing classes was a Matisse class. We gave people coloured paper and scissors to make their own cut-outs. Everyone loved it, no one questioned our sanity and it was really fun.

Thom: We try to always take on new and exciting projects and constantly submerse ourselves within a creative culture. It’s been a platform for us to do interactive things and meet lovers of all things art.

Your Exhibition of Art opens on August 11 at Asylum Studios in Rendlesham. What is the most important part as young artists about exhibiting work?
Thom: It’s important to get your work out of the studio and give it a new environment and some breathing space. It helps gain perspective on your work and actually appreciate it from a distance – it’s a good confidence builder. Having people critise your work is important. It’s a great way to initiate conversation and discussion.

Stevie: Although we both create work that’s very personal to us, we feel that art should be for everyone. It should be shared, enjoyed and explored by others.

Thom: An exhibition is a celebration. It’s like seeing live music or going to a stranger’s wedding.

Stevie: And maybe you’re lucky enough to sell a piece of work to someone who loves it and relates to it. And you can buy more art materials.

‘Stevie Dix’ by Thom Trojanowski Hobson

Any advice for local yokels wanting to explore the crazy world of art?
Stevie: Do it!

Thom: Never stop.

Stevie: Always experiment.

Thom: We’re also hosting the first edition of Art Club, an art buying fair in Ipswich, at the end of this summer. It will take place at our favourite venue in Suffolk, a bar and cafe called Pump & Grind, co-run by the fabulous Tom Kerridge. It’s open for submission and we want to have a bit of a party and help local artists sell artwork and offer people great, affordable art and have a party on top of it. Hit us up on Facebook and Twitter as we’ll be announcing all the details and application dates on there soon!

Stevie: Yeah, stick with us, we know what we’re doing… right?

Thom: Right on.

‘Le Moribond’ by Stevie Dix

Picture this, you have a space hopper, spray paint and a carrot – what do you do? Go, go, go…
Thom: Eat the carrot (we’re vegans), huff the spray paint (we like to party) and give the space hopper to our baby cousin (he’s very poor).

Stevie: I didn’t know you had a baby cousin!

Any fellow humans of interest out there, dead or alive, that inspire you guys?
Thom: Jonathan Meese. His motto “everything is art and art is everything” is spray painted in big letters on our studio wall. He’s a fantastic artist living and working in Berlin and we’ve had the pleasure of meeting him at his show at Stuart Shave/Modern Art in London.

Stevie: We wish we’d been at his installation at the Turbine hall at the Tate. Look it up on YouTube, it’s full on mental.

Thom: We also have Jacques Brel on repeat in our studio. His tortured, beautiful songs get us going. He’s Belgian like Stevie so it makes her feel more at home.

Stevie: Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely are a pair we look up to. The Stravinsky fountain they made together outside the Centre Pompidou is our dream project. Any one out there willing to let us have a go in their back garden?

You say all tribes are welcome on your poster. If only one person could view your exhibition who would you want that person to be?
Stevie: It would be a pretty depressing party if only one person turned up, even if it was Picasso.

Thom: Who would he talk to about the work?

Stevie: Us, I guess..

Thom: I don’t speak Spanish though. And he would just hit on you, Stevie.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thom: Come to our show, we’d love to meet you and hang out.

Stevie: It opens on August 11th, closes on the 22nd, but the Private View is on the 14th. Which should be a fun night and everyone is welcome!

‘Earn’ by Thom Trojanowski Hobson

Keeps tabs on The Cone Sisters by taking a peek at their social media feeds:
Twitter @theconesisters
Instagram @theconesisters
Facebook /theconesisters