You might think that when artists are faced with the question “what’s your favourite studio tool or art supply” they’d be limited for choice: oil paint, acrylic paint, watercolor, maybe oil pastel at a push—lots of brushes.

In fact, artists have been using experimental and adventurous tools and materials forever, from cave painters plowing powdered pigment through bone tubes to capture the outline of their hands, to Tatsuo Horiuchi creating expansive, detailed landscapes using only Microsoft Excel.

The dawn of the readymade in the early 20th century—pioneered by Marcel Duchamp and Dadaists—rewrote the rule book on what can be considered an acceptable artistic material. It was suddenly quite normal for museum-quality artworks to be made from a rubber lobster, bicycle wheels, or even artist’s excrement (maybe that last one is not so “normal”…)

Over the past year, we asked some of contemporary art’s most exciting names about what goes on in their studios, from their music preferences, to what they do when they’ve hit a wall. This is what eight of those artists had to say about their go-to tools, from medieval manuscripts to tweezers used for plucking out pesky flies that have landed on wet paint.

Saskia Noor: Trusty Shovel

Saskia Noor (2024). Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Nikola Lanburo.

I work across so many different mediums, so I wouldn’t say I have a favorite. I like to stay a bit clumsy—I don’t get to know a tool or a medium too well because then I become quite beholden to the way it “should” be used. But I use a shovel quite a lot, I suppose that is not so common of an artist’s tool! But if you see your land as a studio, then it is normal to use one.

Glen Pudvine: Fly-Extractors

Pudvine in his studio (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.

This Da Vinci Colineo brush, size 5/0. It’s thin and long and it gives you a natural flick. I’ve also been using protractors a lot lately. And tweezers—they are great for getting flies and other things out of paint. You’d be surprised how often flies go into paint; they like warm colors, like yellows, oranges, and white.

Sidival Fila: Ancient Textiles

Sidival Fila (2024). Image courtesy of Sidival Fila Foundation. Photo: Mario Coppola.

The material that inspires me most is ancient textiles, dating back to around the 17th and 18th centuries. Textiles are highly symbolic, they are man’s first architectural gesture. They carry with them the memory, the time that has passed, and the experience of the people who used them, with all their expressive power. Visitors are usually surprised by the unique look and the possibility of seeing so many of my works hanging as though in a gallery.

Lee Bae: Hand-Mixed Paint

Lee Bae (2022). Image courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. Photo: Claire Dorn.

I don’t use pre-made paint—I mix charcoal powder directly with oil paint. The powder comes from five types of wood: pine, oak, bamboo, willow, and grapevine. The black can appear deep, transparent, or muddy, depending on the kind of wood used. There are also cool blacks and warm blacks, which I usually work with. For brushes, I work with various types, but I mainly use flat brushes with slightly long, stiff bristles. The size of the brush varies according to the size of the canvas, ranging from as small as 20 cm (7.9 inches) to as large as 1 meter (39 inches).

Edmund de Waal: Medieval Manuscripts

Edmund de Waal (2014). Image courtesy of the artist.

I bought scraps of medieval illuminated manuscripts written on vellum and parchment some years ago. A few pieces were bound into an artist’s book I made for Ivorypress in Madrid and now the rest are becoming part of a new work. Watch this space.

Woody de Othello and Nico Vascellari: A Pair of Hands

Nico Vascellari (2024). Photo: © Lea Anouchinsky for Elle Decor Italia.

Nico Vascellari: When it comes to choosing a favorite tool or art supply, I find that nothing compares to the primal connection of using my hands. My hands allow me to truly feel and interact with the materials around me in the most authentic and visceral way possible. Whether I’m smearing paint, tearing paper, or shaping clay, I am drawn to establishing a physical connection with the elements.

Woody De Othello (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.

Woody de Othello: My hands, it’s the thing God has blessed me with and I’m forever thankful for them.

Pipilotti Rist: Her Audience

Pipilotti Rist (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.

My most essential art supply is envisioning a future being who will experience my installations. Bringing environments with caressing lights to life requires meticulous logistics, so I rely on the software Notion to keep tasks and timelines on track. It saves us emails.

My lover is the small ladylike camera, my Sony A73 III S with its different Laowa lenses. I am married to the editing software Davinci Resolve and I love the Canadian Software TouchDesigner for creating and altering pictures to bring them closer to [what I deem] necessary. We regularly do little dance sessions, where we dance together trying to do it as ugly as possible.