Reflective Encounters

“Affairs of the Art represents the latest, possible final venture for Quinn’s bodacious alter ego Beryl. Having first burst onto screens back in 1988’s Girls Night Out, her loud and proud personality has kept her going ever since. The quick wit of this unlikely heroine has paved the way for stories full of introspection, strikingly honest portrayals of womanhood and windows into family peculiarities. Paired with Quinn’s flair for capturing movement with the ferocity of her distinctive drawn line style, Affairs of the Art is a brilliant insight into passion and obsession.

Animators are, after all, an obsessive lot, willing to dedicate their days and lives huddled over lightboxes, sitting in darkened rooms, investing long hours perfecting repetitive action in the pursuit of pure illusion; this film alone took almost 10 years from conception to screen. Affairs of the Art reflects with grace on the elusive desire to follow one’s passion to the point of obsession amongst the many other factors that make up life – such as being a woman, a sister, a mother, a wife and an artist. In contrast to the director’s own life and success with the pencil, Affairs of the Art shows an alternative world through Beryl, one in which her dreams never came to fruition, loaded with self-effacing humour that has become a trademark of Quinn and creative partner/writer Les Mills. A poetic, sumptuous exploration of giving yourself over to the truest form of self-expression.”

— Laura-Beth Cowley