Artist Flora Yukhnovich’s studio is a stone’s throw away from Elephant & Castle station in a building filled with other artist’s spaces. The room is large and filled with streams of natural light, with a beautiful view looking out over the city. Flora says she is always grateful for the radiators as the colder months set in. When I went to visit, she was working on a huge piece, which sat upon an even bigger easel, an extravagance she said she couldn’t really justify but had become integral to her process. Scale is important to Flora, her paintings seem to be getting bigger as each show passes (as does the artist’s status) so the size of the studio feels apt; high ceilings, large bright walls with big windows. Flora likes to have long, relaxed days in the space, fuelled by copious cups of coffee: “I usually get in, have breakfast in the studio and plan my day, try and get in the zone mentally, and then I begin painting. I spend a lot of time sitting and looking, maybe listening to a podcast – working out what needs to happen to a painting. And I just go like that, reviewing the work, changing the work and then reviewing the work.” A typical day tends to be a combination of painting, admin, reading, priming and stretching. Music plays an important part in her process, acting as an aide to regulate her mood: “If the work’s feeling too serious, I’ll listen to something fun, if it’s too repetitive, I’ll listen to classical music so it doesn’t have such a strong beat….depends.”