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Shane Griffin on the Future of Design, Autonomy, & Breaking All the Rules

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Shane Griffin is a digital artist trailblazing throughout a multitude of mediums. Whether it’s in design, film, sculpture, or animation, he continues to create captivating and unique realms for not only our favorite brands but also for himself. I had the opportunity to speak with Shane about the future of design, autonomy, and breaking all the rules.

AP: Hi Shane!

SG: Hey ash! 

AP: What’s up, how are you?

SG: Good, how are you?

AP: I’m doing good, thanks for hopping on this call with me, I appreciate you.

SG: Absolutely, no problem! Great to be connected.

AP: Yeah! I’m really looking forward to getting to know more about you. I’ve been following your work for a while and I really enjoy it. I read in a previous interview that you grew up in Dublin, Ireland. How was that experience and what influenced you to pursue more of a creative career?

SG: Dublin is a beautiful city. It’s a small city. Back then there weren't many creative opportunities. Not that many jobs in art either. So that was a real toss-up with what I was going to do. In school, they didn’t really teach creative jobs. There wasn’t anything I could take in college that was creatively related really. I knew I wanted to do something in that field, but I honestly had no idea that the job I do now exists, so yeah it was a bit of an unsure time. There weren’t many people there that were shining a light on new media and things like that. Now it’s changed a bit.

AP: Yeah, we’ve moved in such a digital and technical direction since then and all of these new jobs we didn’t know could exist, exist now. How did you get introduced to animation and motion design?

SG: I actually applied to Architecture. I was very set on it actually. That’s all I was slightly interested in and when I was leaving [the equivalent to high school in America], they said I couldn't take technical drawing, the prerequisite to Architecture, because there was no teacher to teach it. So even though I did it for 3 years, I couldn’t take it for my finals which was ridiculous. So, I applied for Architecture and I actually missed it by less than 1%.

AP: Oh my god...

SG: Yeah! So I was pretty pissed off, I was like “Fuck College.”

[both laugh] 

SG: So in a weird turn of events, my brother used to work at this DVD Magazine place with this graphic designer. And my brother’s like “Hey, Shane didn’t get into college and he kind of has this interest in design. Do you have any jobs for him?” and the guy said, “Well I can use an intern.” And at the time, he was at this small post-production company that did animation and 3D. So I went in and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I was 18 and I was trying to figure this shit out. There was another guy there, Steven, who taught me all the tricks of the trade and all the different types of ways to get around things - bits of 3D, bits of 2D. I was really just learning the ropes there, you know? And then I really just got a feel for it and I had a natural aptitude for computers and art, so it kind of just went hand and hand.

AP: It’s crazy how all that kinda came full circle and worked out in the end. Look at you now. [chuckles]

SG: Yeah! 

AP: How has your creative journey been since you moved to New York?

SG: It’s been a real rollercoaster actually. New York’s a whole different beast for this type of stuff. I really didn’t think it would accelerate so quickly. I had an idea of where I wanted to go, but to be honest, even when I got here, which was probably like 7 years ago, there weren't a lot of 3D artists who were doing their own thing. They were all mostly in-house and at companies doing post-production stuff. There weren’t many designers exploring the world and doing things on their own terms, you know? So I sort of made my own lane. I don't mean that to sound in an egotistical way, it’s just the way it happened. The opportunities were coming in, I was getting a lot of work and meeting all these great people. Like-minded people. There wasn’t that kind of energetic, pulsing creative scene in Dublin, and in New York, it’s everywhere. There are niche scenes. And there are scenes for animators, scenes for illustrators, there are scenes for all these different people.

AP: It’s crazy you mention that because I wanted to ask you if you were able to find a design tribe in New York, you know, a design community to be a part of.   

SG: Yeah! I was actually. And not by accident either. A couple of years ago, when I was in Dublin, I won the Young Gun Award from the Art Director’s Club and they asked me to come to the ceremony in New York. It was my first trip over here. I met a bunch of people that night, other winners and other people who have won in previous years. There were a lot of people who I looked up to and all of a sudden I was in that clique, which was pretty unusual. It all changed a bit, but at that time it was really cool. Everyone was doing something different and everyone was trying to scramble their way to the top. It was so funny ‘cause it was like this weird creative wall street thing.

AP: That’s so cool! Do you think that’s important or necessary? To have that design community...

SG: It’s cool because you get to talk shop with people, you know? But it’s also very competitive. Creatives come from different walks of life and some of them are great people and some of them aren’t. It’s just like anywhere though. You float in and out of these nebulas of people until you find the ones you’re comfortable with. The creative world is no different. There are so many walks of life and a bunch of weirdos and it’s great. I think it’s important, yeah. I didn’t have that before I came here and it was important to me when I got here, but now it’s weird ‘cause it’s not that important to me. I loved being involved in it, you know? I’ve made some great friends for life, but it doesn’t hold the importance it once did.

“You float in and out of these nebulas of people until you find the ones you’re comfortable with.”

AP: Congrats on launching Grif.Studio! 

SG: Aw, thank you!

AP: You launched it in 2020...

SG: Yeah I did a soft launch. It wasn’t like a real thing. I was buying the domains, I was roping in people to do jobs with me. It kinda accidentally got out and I was just like “Okay!” 

[both laugh]

AP: How has that experience been? How does freelance work differ from launching a studio?

SG: I guess it’s more autonomous. I have a unique situation where I have a production company that represents me, but I don't work there. Their name is Psyop and we got in touch at the beginning of last year and really hit it off. We do all of the bigger, longer-form projects together. And for the smaller form, more art-focused projects, I do them through my own studio. The guys [at Psyop] really support that. They want to empower me in my artistic endeavors, so it’s a great relationship. On top of that, it’s great to be a part of a huge clan.

AP: Right! A design tribe. [chuckles]

So you work with all of these big names -- Nike, Apple, Adidas -- who are some people or brands you’d like to work with in the future? And what type of projects are you interested in making?

SG: I’ve just had a dream come true actually! Back in 2011 while I was in London, Wiz Khalifa had just released Rolling Papers and it was a really good summer album that we used to just blare on the rooftop. And I just did this music video for him...

AP: Whoaa, dope! That’s amazing! Congrats!

SG: Yeah! I’m really happy. It was a really cool collaboration.

I literally finalized it just before our call and I’m really happy with it. It’s wild and it’s very internet-y. It’s still very much my look, but it’s given it a new avenue, so I’m really happy with that. I’ve always wanted to work with Wiz and I always thought he was a very funny dude. I love how laid back he is and we’re the same age too, so I’ve always thought “Ah, I could be friends with Wiz!”, so that was cool. 

I would love to work with everyone. I’m really interested in taking on new projects and expanding what I do to different areas. It’s really just when the stars align. I’m just praying more aligns this year [laughs].

AP: Absolutely! And they will. What’s been your favorite project so far, do you have one?

SG: I hold so many of them dearly in a weird way, you know? The Kanye Red Octobers with Nike was amazing because there was so much hype behind it. He had just left Nike when they were supposed to come out and I was “Whoa this is gonna be huge!”. But then he left and I was like, “Noo, they’re never going to come out! I’ll never be able to show anyone this shit” But thankfully they did drop. It was a cool moment to be a part of pop culture history. I’ve always loved that. 

I’ve got good memories from all the Nike stuff too. I did the Sneaker Ball sculpture for them in Madrid and had a blast making it. They ended up fabricating it for real, so that was great to see that take life and a whole new form. To have people interact with it was great. So those things have been really amazing. Some of my own projects have also been really rewarding. My Chromatic series has served me...

AP: That’s actually one of my favorite projects of yours!

SG: Oh, thank you! It’s weird, you know when you’re so deep into something you kind of lose track of what it is. You have to step away from it for a while. I did so many of them last year for clients that I had to take a step back from it. I jumped back into it with the Wiz Khalifa video, so it was a really nice stop and start that I had with it. It’s a really empowering thing for me to have, because no matter what medium I’m working with, I can always fuse the thinking and the conceptual nature of that project into it. So that to me has been a favorite. I always feel rewarded for it wherever it goes, whether it’s on iPhone screens, the Wiz video, or if I’m doing large scale installations with it. It always feels like it maintains the DNA of the original thought process I had with it, so that’s been really good.

AP: Yeah, that’s such a great series. The colors, fluidity. I was blown away when I was stalking all of your work.

SG: Oh thank you.

AP: Speaking of stalking, I pulled up old tweets. [laughs]

SG: [laughs] Oh shit.

AP: I saw one that made me laugh out loud. It was something along the lines of ‘Whoa. Client just asked to make the logo smaller.’ 

Both: [laughs]

AP: It reminded me of this meme I saw a few days ago about receiving feedback from clients. Sometimes brands, companies, or clients lack the context to design and the design process. What’s the craziest feedback you’ve received from a client?

SG: Oh my god. So I used to work at this company when I first got to New York that wanted to essentially rip off Instagram. Like, make a Chinese version of Instagram.

AP: [laughs]

SG: And that’s not something I do, you know what I mean? That was not a project I was interested in, nor was I really capable of doing, but I was like “Well, this is my job now.”

AP: Like rip off the layout or the actual platform?

SG: Everything. The platform was getting coded somewhere else, but it was an exact replica of Instagram. Initially, they wanted 10 photo filters but changed their mind to like 100. It was really hard to understand what the Chinese aesthetic was and to really get into the mindset of what they thought was cool and what wasn’t cool because of language barriers. So we sent this one filter and the feedback was “Looks like puke.” 

Both: [laughs]

SG: Getting lost in translation with the feedback was absolutely hilarious. Of course, it was frustrating but it was so beyond the realm of comprehension, that you’re like ‘This is so ridiculous.’ But that was really fun. There have definitely been some other really mean ones, where you’re like “Geez, no need to say that.”

AP: Right! No perspective on the design process. It’s just them telling you to move something here, or there, or make this bigger, ‘this looks weird’. 

SG: Yeah, there’s a lot of people that aren’t educated in the ramifications of some changes. But at the same time, that just comes with practice. Usually, no one says no to a good idea. You can always say “Here’s what I think you mean.”, and you present something that’s quite visually engaging and usually it’s a yes. For the most part, people just want their stuff to look cool. 

AP: What’s your creative process like?

SG: I’m trying to refine it more nowadays. I’m trying to be more strategic with how I approach things. The concept is really the key to projects and now more than ever there are more tools to realize that. There are more avenues to take with it and more mediums to explore with those concepts. Ideation to production is also much faster. So initially, I like to spread the net pretty wide with the concept. When I’m thinking of it, I try 7, 8, 9, or 10 different things, and one of them will kind of hit the mark. Or none of them! I have a graveyard of 50 projects from old ideas that I’ll never touch again, you know? But sometimes one of those things will really resonate and you’re like, ‘There's something in this!’, and then you dig deeper and deeper until you unearth something. You cast the net really wide, go down a bunch of avenues, you explore things, you try things, and one always rises to the top. And then you take that and you run with it. You refine it. And then you kind of get snow blindness from it ‘cause you’re in it so deep. You’ve been doing the same thing and you don’t know if it’s cool anymore...

AP: Yeah, you don’t even see it anymore.

SG: Yeah, you just see fucking lines and colors. You don’t see anything. So then you take a step away from it and then you revisit it. Sometimes I temperature check with people and see what they think and I’ve noticed that I don’t really get an amazing reception from a lot of people initially on things that I try, so I’ve dialed back a little bit. I don't really show people stuff anymore, I just put it out. When they see it in the context of when they can’t comment or they can’t change it, everyone seems to like it. It’s very unusual.

Both: [laughs]

AP: There’s more room for feedback when the opportunity is given.

SG: Yeah so I’ve gone backward on that one. I keep everything pretty private until I’m ready to go with it. 

AP: That’s an interesting way to go about it.

SG: Yeah, it’s actually kind of democratic for me. Like ‘Nah I’ll keep this for myself.’

AP: How do you get unstuck creatively?

SG: Oh I just have to take a few during the day. I try to get out. I try to step away from the computer as much as I can, for a refresher. If I’m going in all day I just start making mistakes. I’m beginning to read more and explore older artists. People whose artistic peek happened in the ‘60s or ‘70s. There was a lot of interest in color theory going on back then, so I’ve been catching up a lot on that. It’s always interesting to see people’s different perspectives and how people with analog tools have approached corporate work. So yeah, I get unstuck by just broadening my horizons a bit, in terms of influence. I think people may think I’m a bit ignorant ‘cause I don’t follow that many 3D artists online, but it’s not really what I like to consume. If you are only surrounded by people who do similar work as you, you’re all going to kind of melt into the same thing. So I like to keep things that influence me in a different spirit from what I’m in. I’ve always been interested in how other people communicate their ideas. If you communicate an idea via paintings, it’s different if you’re communicating via a novel. It’s really not about the concepts, but how people communicate the concepts. That’s what interests me. That always helps shake off the mental block. 

AP: Speaking of all these different mediums, it seems as though people outside the creative world are sometimes trying to box creatives into one category. You're only looked at as a designer, or a painter, or even a director, but I feel as though creatives are so much more than just one thing. Our art, interests, and passions kinda transcend titles. We’re multi-dimensional. Are there any other mediums, besides design, that you enjoy or are interested in diving into?

SG: Yeah. Filmmaking for sure. I direct commercials and stuff, but I’ve had this idea for a while and I’ve been wanting to take a stab at it. I guess it’s called educational filmmaking? Just ‘cause there’s not much of it out there. If I’m interested in a topic and I want to learn more about it, it’s hard to find something that engages me visually. I was trying to understand Quantum Field Theory the other day. Like, what is it? I don’t get it. And I couldn’t read this book on it...

AP: It wasn’t making sense... Especially if you’re a visual learner.

SG: Yeah, exactly. People just learn in different ways. So I was looking at this guy on YouTube who's actually quite good at it. He demonstrates it in a great visual way and at the end of it I was like, “Whoa, there’s no way I could’ve figured this out by reading it.” So I thought it could be cool to do this in a very film-like way. I’m interested in the educational part of science. I really liked Cosmos. I don’t know if you’ve watched it. It’s a series with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

AP: Yeah! I’ve seen some episodes. I love Neil deGrasse Tyson.

SG: Visually it’s very engaging. It looks cool. It makes you feel like you’re flying to different worlds. It’s pretty successful, from an educational standpoint. So I really like the idea of that, but just thinking of it more artistically. That’s in my pipeline somewhere. I’ll have to get that idea out at some point. 

AP: Let’s talk about credit! And we’ll use creatives and the music industry as the example. Sometimes music artists get all of the credit or most of it for let’s say -- the album art or creative behind their album rollout. What’s your perspective on that?

SG: I’m glad you touched on that. It can be hard sometimes, you know? It’s very unusual because some people get credit, and some people don't. I kind of forced my own credit on the Wiz video cause no one else worked on it. I’m taking it. I feel bad for a lot of people who do amazing work and can’t talk about it, or some people may steamroll past them. I think it happens in music as well. A lot of producers have this issue. A producer will make a beat, but because there’s another producer’s tag on it, there’s no recognition. And so I see it happen there and I see it happen in design. It’s a lot of people just trying to justify their position. You might have somebody, who by commissioning the job, feels like they own the creative, and in a certain way, they do. But credits are there to be honored and shared. 

A company I used to work for deleted me off the credits when I left... 

AP: That’s crazy...

SG: It’s very unusual, I don't understand it. It’s not how I roll and I really have no time for people who want to do that. 

AP: Yeah, that’s so crazy. It’s almost one of the reasons why the perception is that artists, music artists being the example in this conversation, do things by themselves. But in actuality, they have teams and they commission people or have people on their team pitching these ideas to make their shit look cool. It’s not necessarily just them, but people around them.

SG: No you’re right, especially with how things are now. I don’t know if you saw that Young Thug video, where he doesn’t show up for the video...

AP: I’m not sure?

SG: It’s amazing, the director basically says “Here’s a video I made for Young Thug, where he doesn’t even show up to the shoot, and he had one phone call with me and he demanded the video be directed by Young Thug, even though he didn’t show up for the video.”

AP: That’s fucking crazy.

SG: Madness. The director made such a good video, it’s hilarious. But I see that happen to a lot of different artists. I’ve had my own issues with companies I’ve worked for, but I haven’t had that happen with music artists. I do see it happening by music artists all the time though. I think we’re in a world where everyone wants their roses and everyone wants autonomy, but then everyone also wants to be connected to these celebrities. It’s tough to say no to things. If you don’t take the opportunity, someone else will. So I definitely feel for a lot of creatives who are going through that, but at the same time, I see it happening on the other side of the ladder. Younger people taking credit for things that they didn’t really have an intricate part of. So I think it’s really more so about the human element of it than anything else. Insecurities mixed in with savageness. I don’t know, I don’t really subscribe to it, but I think if you’re a good person and have a good collaboration, there’s no reason you shouldn’t give people credit.

AP: Exactly! I agree. I think social media really elevates all of this as well. Everyone wants to be a brand, no one really wants to put in the work, doing things just to do it — without purpose. I don’t know, it’s weird. [laughs]

SG: It’s weird. The mental gymnastics people do to try to justify that to themselves. It really all just comes with experience. If you’ve gone viral a bunch of times and there have been things in question, you begin to learn that lesson rather quickly. It’s always best to be a good person when it all comes down to it.

AP: We’re living through history right now, with this pandemic and all of these super intense events. How has this experience affected you creatively?

SG: Covid has been interesting. To see the shift in everything. To be honest, I was kind of worried when it happened because I had three projects at the same time, and they all got canceled immediately. They were some cool projects too. But after digesting what was going on, it didn’t affect me too much. I feel pretty guilty because people's lives have been ruined from it and it's horrific to watch. Friends have been displaced forever because of it, you know? A lot of people have obviously passed from it. The side that’s unforgettable in a way is, I feel like I’ve avoided most of it. And I feel guilty, to be honest. I’ve just been really thankful that I’ve been able to navigate the change in landscape and what is presented. So from a creative level, it’s been fine. It’s been somewhat inspiring in a way because there’s been stuff to talk about within art, and with everything going on in the year, in America in general. A Lot of people are having discussions about many things. I’m not the type of person who’s particularly worrisome but it has definitely tested me several times. A lot. Work and real life have always kind of blended together. So if I can give you a two-sentence answer for it -- Yes, it has displaced a lot of things that I was familiar with, but change is good. I always welcome change.

AP: Even though it’s been very negative for the most part, the positive side of it is we’ve all had to adjust and learn new things -- about ourselves...

SG: Yeah, definitely. It’s forced a lot of decisions and a lot of things I probably wouldn’t have done if I wasn’t confronted with it. So yeah, I hope there’s a silver lining. I really do. 

AP: Yeah. Same. 

I saw that you had an installation scheduled in 2020. Between.

SG: Yeah, I did. [laughs] 

Yeah, the day everything fell apart. [same day we went into lock down] 

AP: [laughs] Aw, no way! Is this something that will potentially still happen?

SG: I doubt it. 

To be honest, I looked back at that project and I didn’t know if I really liked it. I went to see it recently. We put it back up and I went to photograph it. And I don’t know if I liked it as much.

AP: Really?!

SG: Yeah, so I think if I revisit it, I might do something wackier. You know things change, ideas change, your perception of your own work changes, everything is in a constant state of evolution, and being creative is never finished in that regard. I still talk to the gallery and we’ll probably do something when it’s safe and when things are back to normal. I don't want to take away from anything else that’s going on. I definitely will do something though. I’ve got a couple of more things planned for that world, which I would love to share with you, but just shouldn’t. [laughs]

AP: [laughs] Nah, let’s keep it a surprise, it’s cool. Artists are never satisfied with their work, so I understand. But I thought it was a cool series [laughs]

SG: I appreciate that. That’s good to hear, cause you know when you’re so deep into something, you can’t see it anymore.

AP: Definitely. 

AP: As we move into this hyper digital-focused space as a society, I think it’s super important we learn some sort of digital or technical skill set. What do you think the future of animation and/or motion design is? Given the takeover of social media, movies, entertainment, and all that stuff.   

SG: I think it’s weird for people who are learning right now. A friend of mine who’s a professor asked one of his students “Where do you want to work? What sort of work do you want to do?” And one of the girls was like “I want to be Insta-famous.” 

AP: Interesting [laughs]

SG: I had this knee jerk reaction, “What the fuckkkk??”

AP: [laughs]

SG: But when I thought about it more, I understood that there is a potential if you’re an amazing animator with a unique point of view. Just as there is potential if you're unique and have a unique point of view in anything. There is a way you can sustain yourself off of something like Instagram if you have the platform and have tons of followers. But I guess what I thought she was forgetting is that there are maybe 40 graduates that year and maybe 40 graduates every year. She’s got competition. So trying to skip the phase of putting your teeth into design, or really learning all of the tools and skillset, is a dangerous thing. At some point, you could be made redundant. And that kind of segues into the future thing. There are so many applications for AI now -- I don’t know if you’ve seen DALL·E from OpenAI, but they’ve created a new text-to-image generator, where you basically type whatever it is you want to see and it makes it.

AP: Whoa...

SG: A porcupine in a leather jacket walking a turtle, and it makes it.

AP: That’s crazy...

SG: Crazy. So when AI gets smarter and tools get easier, some people will be made redundant. In the creative industry, everyone thinks they’re safe, but that’s not the case. It’s obviously a dangerous precedent to set. Something that just learns and mimics humans. But at the end of the day, it’s coming whether you like it or not. Regardless of what you think and how you feel about it, it’s coming. People have to learn how to adapt. It’s extremely tough, but it’s more important than ever now. The ability to segue if you need to based on unforeseen circumstances. For instance, Covid this year. It was very hard for me to direct. I only got to do one shoot in 2020. And that’s down from maybe 5 or 6 shoots a year. If I didn’t have the skillset to pivot, I’d be in a really dangerous place financially. Also, my career would feel very stagnant, ‘cause I’d only be putting out one job a year. So skills are important. Always keep learning. 

AP: So important. We should always be trying to evolve. What advice would you give to someone who might want to start designing?

SG: I always advise people to learn as much as possible. Try different things, break the rules, try to break your computer, try to break the programs. Just try to learn as much as you can and try to do as much as you can. And it doesn’t even matter if it’s perfect or not, because it’ll be 10 years before you even break through. It’ll be 10 years before you make it big. No one blows up overnight. Some people might get a shit ton of Instagram followers overnight, but that’s not really blowing up. It takes 5 years of craft to even get in front of the door and 10 years to even blow up. So it’s a waiting game. People are more impatient now than ever, so it’s a tough pill to swallow. In the design world, it’s almost the reverse of musical artists. Musical artists may hit it hot straight out the gate. They may have stuff that’s relevant, the subject matter, the new sounds, and they don’t give a fuck and that’s what really creates this attitude and interest with people because they’re so fresh and so new. Whereas in design and art, if you want to create a masterpiece by yourself, you have to learn from the masters. You have to really put your teeth into it. It’s a waiting game and it’s a patience game. But it’s a rewarding game if you do it right you know.

”..break the rules, try to break your computer, try to break the programs. Just try to learn as much as you can and try to do as much as you can.”

AP: Okay last question. I’ve asked you a million already. 

Do you remember your first-ever design? Either static or motion. 

What was it?

SG: Awe, yeah. [chuckles]

I used to photoshop random bands’ images together. And I used to upload them onto their fan websites. That’s so corny, but that was a real thing that happened.

AP: [laughs]

SG: But it wasn’t pictures of them, it was always abstract shit. Shit didn’t exist back then. Instagram and all of that. Any sort of media we consume now didn’t exist back then. So I was trying to play around with the tools I had, which was photoshop, and that’s what I was doing. I was making wallpapers for bands, not commissioned, I didn’t know them [laughs]. I would just go to their fan websites and be like ‘Here’s a cool thing I made!’, and they’d upload it onto their wallpaper section and I would be like ‘Coooool!’ 

AP: Were they good? [laughs]

SG: Some of them were soo bad. [chuckles] Some of them were good though.

It was soo long ago. I never thought I would be doing kind of the same thing still — that many years later. Obviously, it’s been taken to a whole new avenue, but not really, you know?

[vsionvry]

To My Sisters: Photographer Liv Latricia Habel On Her Resilient Self-Portrait Series ‘Diasporan Daughters’

Danish American photographer Liv Latricia Habel is the creator of the reflective visual diary ‘Diasporan Daughters’. It’s a moving series of self-portraits that explore her take on what it means to be a mixed Black woman, and what it is to be seen as a mixed Black woman in Denmark. Raised in Germany by her mum and currently living in Copenhagen, Liv’s series comments on her personal experiences of being one of the few brown faces in her community growing up. She also dives into her connections with America and her different relationships with religion. This interesting combination of personal lived experiences informs not only the style of her photographs but also the meanings behind them. Liv explores societal expectations, her personal views, representation and resilience through her images. I got the pleasure to sit down with her (over Zoom) and talk all things self-love, fighting spirit, sisterhood, alter egos, and the craziness that is code-switching.

RC: Hey Liv. how are you doing?

LH: I’m doing good, I’ve just moved to a new apartment.

RC: That sounds fun; you get to decorate a new space. Do you do all that feng shui stuff?

LH: I don’t really know anything about that [laughs]

RC: Neither do I! You just put what feels right wherever.

LH: Right, exactly. How are you?

RC: I’m doing good too, tired but good! I’m happy I got to hop on this call with you though, it’s a cool change of pace.

RC: So do you study film or photography or something else creative?

LH: Yeah, I study at Copenhagen Film and Photography School. It's a one year compact course and it’s ending this December. I also studied Visual Communications a few years ago.

RC: Ooh, that’s a good combo, they work together well.

LH: Right now I’m using my skills, but it's not really what I want to work with.

RC: What do you want to work with?

LH: Photography!

RC: [laughs] I like that.

LH: I like working with photography, but it’s not my main income.

RC: Sometimes you need a plan B to help your plan A.

LH: Yeah.

RC: So is the book Diasporan Daughters a project for school or a personal project?

LH: This is a personal project, my evaluation project for school is about young female and Black artists, which I’ve been photographing.

RC: That’s super relevant nowadays, it’s also nice to do a little showcasing because all this talent is there, but not a lot of people know about it.

LH: Yeah, exactly.

RC: I was wondering what made you come up with this project?

LH: [laughs] Okay the interview is starting!

I came up with it because of my own story. My mum is Danish and my dad’s Black American. I grew up in Germany with my mum who’s white and with my white family. My school and community were totally white, so I spent my childhood and adolescent life learning to look like everyone else. I couldn’t mirror myself in anyone around me, neither in my family nor my friends till I was 19 and moved to Copenhagen and found my own community and friends.

RC: Oh wow!

LH: I was 20 when I had my first Black friend and started having contact with my family in the US, so it wasn’t that many years ago. I think of it as being a chameleon sometimes since I have so many identities that frame who I am today. I guess everyone has different identities and we can code-switch when we talk and adapt. Which is just superhuman! But for me, as a mixed Black woman, it's even crazier because of the way I grew up: I have so many identities. There are the ones that I’ve been living with, but also the identities society has given to me – which are a reflection of structural racism too. So you know, when I’m walking down the street in a specific neighborhood in Copenhagen, where there’s a lot of sex workers, and I’ve dressed up, and look good: men directly ask me how much I am.

RC: Really?!

LH: Or if it’s another situation where I might be confused for someone else, only because of my skin color.

RC: I definitely felt that through the book because there were a lot of photographs of you in different settings.

LH: Some of the portraits, I can definitely see myself in, I mean one of them is my alter ego.

RC: Ah which one is that one?!

LH: The one where I’m sitting with the pink bandana.

RC: Boss lady?!

LH: Yeah, its me when I’m the best me [laughs]

RC: That’s really cool, cause it's not only different identities you’re exploring but different versions of yourself as well.

LH: Exactly. It's different versions of myself, that’s what I mean by identities actually. Some of the images aren’t me, but what society thinks of me. Like my expereinces of being mistaken as a sex worker or cleaning lady. They’re stigmatized stereotypes of a Black woman in white society.

“There are the ones that I’ve been living with, but also the identities society has given to me..”

RC: I like that! It’s an ongoing story, you can add more as you go. 

RC: Why did you decide to title your series Diasporan Daughters?

LH: Hmm, being part of the Black diaspora means everything in terms of my looks to me and society. It is also such a big part of who I am, and the title refers to all the women and girls who are part of the Black diaspora. That obviously includes the African diaspora, but for me, being part of the Black diaspora means more since my African roots are pretty far away [laughs].

RC: It felt like a love letter where you said ‘I’m writing this for me, but also for you’. That’s a sweet idea I think.

LH: It is! In the beginning of the book it says “For my Sisters”.

LH: Each one of us is unique with our individual experiences, but we have a lot  in common. Especially when you’re living in the diaspora. I guess it's a different experience to be a Ghanian woman living in Accra for example, where you were born and grew up surrounded by a lot of other Black women. I imagine that experience differs to mine:  living as a Black woman in a white dominated society. So the book is mainly for my sisters in the diaspora.

RC: I also saw one of your images was of you standing beside the Queen Mary statue in Copenhagen. She’s a very powerful woman, why did you feel it was important to take that photo?

LH: I wanted to add this archetype of a fighting personality. And for me, this picture has connections to the Black Panther movement. At the same time, this image also connects to the Black Lives Matter movement that has been expanding worldwide in 2020 after Breonna Taylor and George Floyd's murder. For me, the only public symbol fighting the Black struggle that exists here in Denmark, is the Queen Mary statue. She means so much because she led the labour riots of former slaves and plantation workers in the then Danish colonised West Indies. So, it’s all connected for me: fighting for your liberty as a Black person since slavery till today. 

RC: She’s also powerful because of the scale. The statue is a lot bigger than many others in Copenhagen, so when you get there, you have to look up. I was almost thinking, is this really here? It is one of the only public images of a Black woman – there should be more!

LH: Definitely. For me, this image is not the strongest stylistically in the book, but its content definitely says a lot more than a lot of the other pictures because it has so much more depth.

RC: You’ve spoken about people of color’s experiences, not only in Denmark, but around the world too. There was one photo where you were wearing a red scarf, I was wondering if that had anything to do with the Burqa Ban in Denmark, or if there was any connection with that?

LH: That’s a good question. No, it doesn’t actually. My dad’s family is Muslim, so I got the whole outfit from my aunt. I grew up pretty nonreligious; I only went to church on Christmas, and I had a Confirmation because of the presents and because everyone else in my class had one – so that’s been my relationship with religion. Being in Philly and celebrating Eid made me experience a different religion that’s part of me. I’ll probably never get into Islam because I disagree with parts that I think can be problematic, as a lot of other religions around the world can be. As a Black woman wearing a sign of God means so much, because if you’re walking around in the streets as a brown or Black woman wearing a hijab, you’re looked at way more than if you’re not wearing a scarf. I’ve only worn a hijab once for Eid with my family, but when I’m wearing a scarf just for a bad hair day, I can get looked at differently.

RC: Yeah, I guess you can pick it up.

LH: Yes exactly, the photo comments on that, and also for the little part of me that’s Muslim too.

RC: That’s really nice, that you recognize these different dimensions and layers to yourself. It’s not just ‘I didn’t grow up with this, so I’m going to ignore it’, I think that’s quite a powerful photo in your collection.

LH: Thank you, there's also just so much stigma connected to being a Muslim woman and wearing a headscarf, niqab or burqa I find, especially here in Denmark, politically, it’s often connected to Islamophobia.

RC: The other thing I wanted to ask about was the types of text you include in your book. You have poetry from Maya Angelou and lyrics from Cardi B’s and Megan Thee Stallion’s song WAP.

LH: I’ve known the poem from Maya Angelou for some years, and I think it’s a very beautiful poem. I actually have to look up when it was written – it was published around 25 years ago. But it expresses how important it is to have self-worth, self-esteem, show who you are, and to be proud of who you are and every bit of yourself. That’s why I chose it, and WAP, I just think it’s a hilarious song, and I think since Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott and other female pioneers in Hip Hop have been rapping about femininity, being in control of their own sexuality, and about sex in general. WAP is just the biggest 2020 example of how women should express that part of themselves. It’s a very extroverted song, whereas the Phenomenal Women poem is very ‘You have to stand up for yourself, but you don’t have to shout it out’. WAP, on the other hand, is ‘You shout it out!’- [laughs].

RC: I think that’s pretty interesting because they both talk about the strength and resilience of a woman just in very different ways.

LH: I also added an extract from the report of the African American Policy Forum. It is a list of all the African American women who have been killed by police brutality. And that’s a list of 48 women who have been murdered or died in detention because of the color of their skin. This is only the official list you know –

RC: Somethings aren’t documented…

LH: Yeah, exactly! Where have you actually seen the book?

RC: I saw a version of it online! So I did some stalking [laughs].

LH: Ahh okay, well done! I’ve actually changed a bit of the layout of those names from the online version. I’ve put the names of the women who have died in the same year in the same paragraph. Since 2011, there's been so many murders. The rate has been increasing, but I find that we don’t talk about it as much as the Black men being murdered in the US. 

RC: Is that why you felt it was important to showcase it in your book?

LH: Yes, it's definitely a different rate when we talk about the US. In my experience, we talk a lot about men, and how they are targeted more in terms of police brutality. But after George Floyd, there weren’t that many people talking about Breonna Taylor in my circles, which happened three months before. Even my mum’s friend was like ‘Who’s Breonna Taylor?' and I was like ‘Yoo, educate yourself!’ So that’s why I added them. Also, I’m a woman myself!

RC: You gotta work in your own interest –

LH: Exactly! I can't relate to the men, but I can represent us.

RC: It’s a solidarity moment. What do you hope people take away from your book?

LH: So I hope that everyone who sees and reads it can get something positive, meaningful, and forceful out of it, which they can translate into something that drives them. Secondly, when I’m a bigger photographer and if..

no, when the book gets -

RC: Yes! WHEN! You have to manifest!

LH: [laughs] Yes, when the book is out there on bookshelves, I hope I can also be a representative Black face for young mixed Black kids and girls. Now I’m also saying mixed because I’m that myself, but it'd just be good to get more representation out there. My biggest dream as a child was just to see someone who looks like me in this Western world.

RC: Do you think that would have helped you when you were younger in Germany?

LH: For sure! That said, I’m also extremely privileged because I’m light skinned. Knowing that, It’s very much like standing in between two worlds especially when I’ve only grown up with one side. I’m always thinking I’m not white enough or not Black enough and trying to find an in-between. So with the book, I  wanted to acknowledge that you can be as many different parts of yourself as you want to be

RC: You don’t have to choose.

LH: Exactly, you don’t need to choose!

[vsionvry]

Form + Function = The Future of Sustainable Design

Considering the challenges of our time—of which there are many— it's fair to say that we have a social responsibility to design with the planet in mind.Sustainable architecture tackles many different shapes and sizes depending on where you are. It's about the materials you source, the techniques you use and the final environmental impact of the structure. It's about longevity and giving the climate a second chance to recover from all that we’ve put it through, from pollution to loss of habitats and rising temperatures.

As you’d imagine, there are already countless examples of architecture that is centered on meeting the needs of people without damaging the earth. These designs use local knowledge and traditional techniques to create buildings that bring a sense of community. Diébédo Francis Kéré, an architect from Burkina Faso used locally sourced clay and wood to create a primary school. He worked with the students, the teachers and the community to build a school that would survive wet seasons to come and use natural ventilation to keep costs low. His design is one of the best examples of doing the most with little.

Learning from nature has always been a hallmark of sustainable architecture. Never is this more apparent than in cases like Eastgate Center in Harare, Zimbabwe. Architect Mike Pearce drew his inspiration from termite mounds to create a system of passive cooling and thermal control in an approach called biomimicry. In the same way termite mounds regulate temperature throughout the day, the building stores heat in the day and slowly vents it out in the evenings. It's a clever and much cheaper way to save energy.

Sustainable architecture has also come to mean living as a part of nature, as opposed to apart from it. These days, architects don’t only draw inspiration from nature, but have weaved it into their design process as an integral factor that influences their form and function. There are many cases to marvel at that do this exceptionally well, but a personal favorite of mine is RAW Architecture's Alfa Omega School in Indonesia. The structure is made up of concrete and curved bamboo. The building is suspended and almost seems to grow from the swampy soil beneath it. The materials used in the construction were all sourced locally so it has a low carbon footprint, and in the same way Eastgate Center in Zimbabwe self ventilates, the Alfa Omega school is also passively ventilated.

While we tend to associate sustainable architecture with the earthy brown tones of natural materials like wood and soil, there are efforts to reimagine other more widely used materials like aluminium as sustainable. Its lightweight, durable and can be recycled again and again which makes it an ideal option for prefabricated structures. Mexican architecture firm, Taller Aragones is one example of how a 100% aluminium build can be assembled to create a striking building that stands out from nature without harming it.

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When we talk about sustainable architecture we are also talking about sustainable solutions in the same breath. One of the challenges facing us nowadays is finding innovative ways to make enough houses for everyone; there are 7.8 billion people and not nearly enough quality homes for all of us. Projects like UN17 Village directly address all 17 Sustainable Development Goals into practice. Led by Danish firm Lendager Group, UN17 Village uses up-cycled materials and solar panels to create self-sufficient homes. Ideas like this that combine function, form and environmental consciousness can be translated around the world to improve people's well being through livable spaces

[vsionvry]

Something Good Will Come With Time: 3D Artist Grace Casas on Futurism, Inspiration and Taking Time Away From Creating

Grace Casas is undeniably, effortlessly chill. Cool-headed and easy to talk to, the digital artist was a delight to speak to on all things nostalgia, Disney World, Animal Crossing, and becoming an artist at the wee age of five. Casas tackled balancing the demands of working as a full-time artist and having time to create works for herself that transport her and her viewers to other, more positive, and hopeful worlds.

ME: How’s your morning been going?

GC: It’s been going alright. Just a little bit of work here and there and prepping for this. 

ME: Oh nice, the work that you create, that’s your main job right?

GC: Well, not necessarily. I have a full-time job as a CG Generalist, so I still do 3D work, but the personal stuff you see on Instagram that’s all on my own.

ME: Wow, that’s amazing.

GC: Yeah. Thank you!

ME: Is it difficult balancing your full-time work and your personal work?

GC: Absolutely. I struggle with that all the time—especially when quarantine started over here. I work a lot and try to make time to do my personal work.

ME: Do you sleep well? [chuckles]

GC: [laughs] I try. I try. 

ME: [laughs] Nice. Where is here? Florida right?

GC: Well, I did live in Florida but I actually moved to New York a year and a half ago. Now I’m living in Brooklyn. 

ME: Oh shoot. Me too!

GC: Oh hey! Which part?

ME: I’m in Bushwick.

GC: [gasp and laughter] Oh My God. Me too!

ME and GC: [laughing]

ME: Wow, that’s crazy. Small world. I listened to part of a podcast you did with someone and I remember you talking about Miami so I just decided that you lived there.

GC:  I mean, hey, Florida is my hometown. I was born and raised there so it will always be home to me. 

ME: Do you think moving from Florida to New York has affected what kind of work you’re making?

GC:I think so. For sure. A lot of my work is based in nostalgia and architecture that I grew up around which is very mid-century, space-age inspired stuff. Then I come to New York and it’s a totally different vibe. The environment is very concrete and very old school. 

ME: That’s real. How do you feel about nostalgia as a concept and a feeling?

GC: I think it’s a really important feeling that everybody can relate to. I think it’s important that people and especially artists take a look at their roots because it really influences different people’s styles and paths.

ME: I agree. What are some of your favorite moments from childhood that has drifted into some of your artwork? Are there any Easter eggs or things like that?

GC: Yeah, my favorite parts of my childhood that influenced the work that I do now is definitely going to the beach and going to Disney a lot. I grew up right next to Disney World in Florida and it was always a place of wonder and magic of course. There was also this sense of futurism that Walt Disney himself really got influenced and inspired by. You see a lot of that in the architecture and his vision for Disney as a whole and the future. I saw it too and it blew my mind.

ME: Were you a big fan of Epcot then?

GC: Yeah, Epcot is just a source of pure inspiration. The aesthetic is so good to me.

ME: That’s so cool. I went to Disney World one time when I was fifteen and I had just read Fast Food Nation. I thought Disney was evil and in all the pictures I’m just frowning and it’s full of pure teenage angst [laughter]. I was like, “Hmph I don’t want to be here,” but I couldn’t deny that Epcot was really cool in all my rebellion. 

GC: [laughs] I feel that. 

ME: So, I’d like to hear more about architecture since it’s something you keep saying. What is it about architecture and buildings that speaks to you so much?

GC: I’m a very visual-feeling person and the whole “I have to see it to believe it,” sentiment really resonates with me. I think the best way to get immersed in any experience is the environment that you’re in; if you go to an art gallery that has a really interactive exhibition where it puts you in what seems to be a different world— I feel like that’s the best way to experience the feeling of being in another world or a different state of mind.

The best example of this sentiment is Yayoi Kusama and her installations and exhibitions. I can relate to that and I’m just trying to create that feeling in 3D and virtually rather than real life. 

ME: Do you ever work with any traditional mediums or do you only do digital?

GC: So, I started out as an illustrator. Actually, I wanted to be a tattoo artist, but for some reason, digital design and seeing other 3D artists really inspired me. I think that’s where I found myself and my medium.

ME: Wow. I feel like a lot of your landscapes are very comforting especially since the [world’s] landscape is very doom, gloom, and chaos. Do you also feel like the works that you’re creating can offer a source of escape for people?

GC: That’s kind of why I do it. I made work mainly as an escape for myself— as selfish as that sounds—I made work for myself to escape to the good feelings, vibes, and nostalgia that I had as a kid where I just felt fascinated by everything.

Then I started noticing that people were also feeling the same way. They found a sense of comfort and nostalgia. Even as I move toward the future in my work, I think it offers a sense of hope for the future. Right now, everything seems like it’s going down the toilet.

“Honestly, it’s nice to think about a world in our distant future where we’re not bound by doom and gloom but inspired to move forward.” 

ME: Does your use of color and shape directly relate to that mission? You use a lot of bright and bold colors, sometimes even neon.

GC: The bright and bold colors is definitely a mix of Florida as a whole— Florida is very bright and overexposed. Baby pinks end up being bright pinks and bright blues are just bright. There’s that sense of midcentury there and use of light and bright colors to paint a happy future and neons are definitely from when Florida turns off at night. It’s still bright in a different way.

ME: What are some of your favorite textures?

GC: Textures?

ME: Yeah, I know that’s kind of a weird question.

GC: No! Honestly I’ve never been asked that before its kind of a cool question. I think my favorite textures are anything that looks or feels soft or cozy.

ME: Mmmm.

GC: Or pretty basic texture, nothing too rough. Actually, I really like tiles a lot. [laughs]

ME: I do too! They’re so cool and refreshing. Cool to the touch.

GC: Yeah, exactly.

ME: Do you have a favorite artist?

GC: Yes I have a few favorite artists. Are you referring to classical artists or artists that exist now?

ME: All of them, just tell me all about your favorites and what you like about them.

GC: Okay, so I’ll start with what’s coming up to my head right now. There are two artists that I am heavily inspired by on Instagram right now: Andrés Reisinger, he’s another 3D artist and his work is so clean and wonderful. It inspired a bit of my textures and what I hope to be better at in the future in terms of technical work. There is also Alexis Cristodoulou, he’s another 3D environment render artist and I like him for the same reason why I like Andrés. They just have beautiful outcome of their work: the rendering, the output, the quality, its all just beautiful and it does inspire a lot of my composition.

When it comes to classical work that is a very interesting question. I think Pablo Picasso is one of my favorites in terms of classical. Mainly because he really thought outside of the box and he learned the traditional way to paint and draw and is a master of the principles and the elements but then he was like,

“I’m not bound by this; let’s experiment, let’s explore, let’s create something new.”

That something “new” I carry with me a lot in my own work. I’m an artist, I can make anything I want. [laughter]

ME: Yeah. I can definitely see that in your work. 

GC: I shouldn’t be bound by what I see outside my window. I can really push the envelope in 3D. 

ME: What’s inspiring you right now? Is there anything you’ve been seeing or watching that has you excited to make stuff?

GC: Yeah, I’ve been finding a lot of vintage architecture on Pinterest and vintage, space-age technology. There’s a lot of interesting ways that they built fancy tvs that we don’t really use anymore, but I’m trying to envision them as an environment rather than a piece of technology. I’m expanding old, space-age technology and blowing it up into a whole world.

ME: Do you watch a  lot of tv?

GC: I do. I watch a lot of Netflix. [laughter]

ME: Have you heard of this show called LoveCraft Country?

GC: Yes. I watched the first episode and it was pretty insane. 

ME: Yeah! It’s so good though! When you were talking about surrealism and futurism I was thinking about how, later on in the show you start seeing a lot of those elements in the show. So, I was curious as to whether you had seen it.

GC: Ohh. It’s on HBO right? I don’t have HBO yet so I kind of have to mooch of somebody.

ME: Alright, alright. I feel that. But when you do get it you need to watch it!

GC: I love Black Mirror. Damn, that show is so cool.

ME: It is. What’s your favorite episode?

GC: I think it was the dating app one. So the dating app makes two people go into a virtual world where they essentially play out their romance in a simulation.The simulation lays out how compatible they will be personality-wise by playing out different scenarios. When you’re watching it, it doesn’t tell you that its all a simulation, but you’re just seeing these two people trying to escape it and like try and find each other. At the end when you find out its a dating app you’re like whoa! The technology is just so out there. I feel like it’s very realistic though.

ME: Yeah that’s crazy. I feel like a lot of your work has this Black Mirror, light sci-fi whimsy to it. There’s a little humor and cheekiness in it. Would you say that’s part of your personality? Are you a funny person?

GC: I would definitely say I’m a fun person. Even though I work a lot and tend to stay indoors a lot, you invite me out for a party and I will dance my ass off. I love to go have fun with friends, drinking, partying whatever. I’m fun once you get to know me.

ME: What’s your sign?

GC: I’m a Gemini.

ME: AHHH me too! [laughter]

GC: AHHH [laughter]

ME: When’s your birthday?

GC: May 28th.

ME: Oh you’re a May Gemini. Wowww. I’m a June Gemini. June 17. 

GC: Ayee look at that!

ME: What excites you the most about life right now?

GC: Right now, its hard to say. [laughter]

ME: [hard laughing]

GC: Mainly because, its like hmmmm maybe going outside [laughter] but I think in terms of like a year timeline, is things turning up and getting out of this slump as they say. I feel like this pandemic and this whole economic collapse doesn’t happen all the time. It doesn’t happen every few years. It feels like a very unique experience that we’re going through and will, maybe once we’re out of it, usher us into a new age of technology and innovation and serve a mini-Renaissance if you will.

“With a lot of bad times comes a lot of good times because progress isn’t stagnant.”

ME: I definitely agree. My mom always told me that things get like ten times worse before they get any better. So, like as much bad shit is happening right now, it can only be great after this. 

GC: It’s going to be great. 

ME: It’s going to be so great. What excites you the most about your creative process?

GC: Ooo what excites me the most? I think seeing everything come together and also getting like a Eureka moment where I’m like ‘Oh my god, this would look good!’ and then I experiment with it and its like ‘Oh my god, it does!’ and it ends up being totally incredible. I get inspired and get that fire to go to my computer and start clacking away and just doing what I do. It excites me to create in general.

ME: Do you create your work from references or is a lot of it just off the dome?

GC: 90% of it is off the dome.

ME: Whoa.

GC: And then the other 10% of it is that I will go outside and take a picture and experiment with how I can make something of my own or I’ll look at another artist’s piece and I’ll pick parts that I really like and like before, make it my own and experiment. 

ME: Is the second part more of what you do when you’re lacking inspiration or can’t come up with something?

GC: Oh yeah. Yeah [laughs]

ME: So that’s your go-to move? Are there any other things you do when you’re not motivated?

GC: It’s not my go-to. Everyone has their creative blocks where they can’t make anything, but I feel like when I do get creative blocks I take my time. To overcome a block I take my time and I don’t force myself to make anything rushed. I look at other art and consume inspiration before I start getting inspired again and it usually ends up working out that way.

ME: Yeah, I’m the same way. One time, I had a writing block for like two years, but honestly everything that happened in that time was stuff that— I kind of just lived a little. Everything that I’ve written since then is some of the best stuff I’ve ever done you know?

“Exactly. People forget that creative blocks doesn’t mean it lasts for like two weeks or a month. It can last for years before you start to find yourself again.”

ME: Yeah! Sometimes it means you need to pay a little more attention to what’s going on around you in your life. 

GC: For sure. 

ME: So do you take days off from your art?

GC: Oh, absolutely. Especially when I’m feeling burnt out from my own job. Which tends to happen a lot because I work pretty intense hours. I take breaks. I play video games. I don’t focus on the need to make something for anyone else and I focus on the need to create something inspirational. Something good will come with time. 

ME: Yeah I feel that. What kind of video games do you play?

GC: Oh, I love Animal Crossing.

ME: Ah! Me too!

GC: I love Mario.

ME and GC: [laughter]

ME: You have a Switch?

GC: Yeah I have a Switch and its amazing. Nintendo for life.

ME: Oh I know. Oh my god. That’s what I do when I’m stressed out too. I just play Animal Crossing until I feel better.

ME and GC: [laughter]

GC: I feel that. Oh man.

ME: When you’re burnt out, do you do any like— people are really into journaling and meditation or sound baths or whatever—

GC: [laughs]

ME: Do you find any of that stuff useful?

GC: Okay. I have ADD. I find that meditation is basically like a mental prison sometimes. I used to do a lot of journaling and it does help me get my thoughts out there when I’m feeling really low and burnt out. I do it every now and then, but sometimes all I need is a good shower or a walk around my block. A walk to the park honestly helps so much because you can get really tied up with how you’re feeling when you’re constantly working in one place and sometimes a change of pace is just what I need. It’s like okay, I exerted all this mental energy and now I can just focus on what’s important.

ME: Okay, I have one more question. At what age did you begin to feel like an artist?

GC: Oh when I was born honestly. I just remember a very specific memory where I was 5 or 6 years old. I wasn’t even in kindergarten yet. I was in like preschool. One day, in my room I decided to draw all of my classmates. It’s a really shitty drawing. I’m telling you.

Everyone is triangular and it’s a crayon mess. Some people are like pink or blue or green and it just looks chaotic. When I showed my parents, I remember everyone was so ecstatic. They were like, look at what you did! You made this artwork and its so beautiful! She’s drawing from reality! To this day, we still have that picture in a frame. Ever since then I was an artist. 

With that, Grace laughs and we exchange pleasantries and well-wishes to each other— each of us ending the call, turning to our computer screens, and getting to work. We stare at the screen searching for inspiration, searching for hope, and mining for ores of progress in other worlds.

[vsionvry]

The Art of Resistance

Our lifetime and the times before us have been marked by moments of history captured on camera or expressed in murals or painted posters. These moments have not only defined our actions, but they’ve gone on to change our way of thinking about race, identity, and equality. Protests are a means of enacting change; they rally and bring people together around a shared goal and aim. They tend to be part of larger social movements, where art has become a tool to fight and spread awareness

These movements have never been restricted to the streets, in fact, they’ve taken on the power to occupy our virtual spaces with their own kind of power. Color Blocks have become an infamous form of activism. For weeks our feeds went Blue for Sudan and now they’ve gone Black for Black Lives Matter. These simple transformations are an act of solidarity that has miraculously transformed our virtual space into one of solid squares that have allowed for social movements to spread globally. For Sudan, the navy blue squares and profile pictures represented a tribute and a symbol of recognition to launch an opportunity for people to read up and get educated. For the Black Lives Matter movement, the black square is a highly contested form of artistic activism. Originally created as a mode of reflection by two black women in the music marketing industry, Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang hoped to inspire others in the industry to pause business for a day as a way to stand against racism. The idea transformed and expanded to the point that it began to mean different things for different people. For some, it became a sign of solidarity to interrupt daily feeds to get people involved in conversations. For others, the black square became a trend for people to join without engaging with the larger discussions on race and equality that it represents. Whatever its reception it has become an easily accessible contemporary version of resistance that people have at their fingertips. Perhaps that’s why it became so popular; it’s a simple symbol with a simple aim that is simple to share.

Another universal art form of resistance is the poster. Admittedly, while the primary objective of the posters and many signs we carry to protests are purely functional, they hold their own kind of aesthetic. Usually, they contain a version of a short, punchy statement scrawled in thick permanent marker. Which ends up having a homemade organic feel to it that makes us realize that the aim here is to deliver a message as clearly and effectively as possible. There are no frills and sparkles involved in most cases, but that is not to say that in their own way, the cardboard cutouts haven’t become their own type of mobile artwork. There’s something equally comforting and uplifting about seeing the same message repeated in a thousand different styles across a sea of people whether it be for the climate or for justice. Type has become a form of art in resistance to the point that different typographies have begun to be associated with and represent different movements. The Black Panthers in the 1960s used bold, strong, and distinct typography in their weekly paper. It resulted in an eye-catching powerful design that when combined with illustrations of everyday Black people was able to communicate catchy slogans more effectively.

The posters and signs that are most recognizable to us now come in the form of words and phrases. For police brutality and human rights, you can see calls for reform and drastic change written in everybody’s own unique typography.

Credit: Amandla Bakara George Flyod Protest in NYC

These calls for action and change are not new. If we look back in history the same images appear. In South Africa and around the world, anti-apartheid posters became the message boards for change, they were stark, direct, and easily recognizable in their simplicity.

Protests for the Vietnam war were no different, people carried signs with a different message but the same aesthetic and style. These were no-nonsense large-scale posters and banners that asked in a bold black font for peace and an end to the war.

Beyond these signs, murals are perhaps the most recognizable type of artistic resistance. A classic example of the power of art as a platform for spreading awareness comes through the joyful, cartoonish figures of Keith Harding. In the 1980s, he created expansive murals to spread awareness about cocaine and countless posters to educate people on safe sex. His work revolved around important issues of equality, the environment, and Aids, but compellingly do so in a way that can be understood by everyone.

Murals are open to all and often seem to appear out of nowhere, one day from the next, which makes whatever statement that has been sprayed or painted onto walls even more noticeable to people passing by. It creates a space for vigil and celebration where people can come together to both honor and denounce actions and injustices. Something unique to murals is that they are accessible and visible to everyone, murals have become the eye-catching ever-familiar images of the people and issues we fight for. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others have become the faces of our most recent social movements. Their portraits are large scale, in your face and are the best examples of modes of activism.

From walls, to scrap paper there is no medium that we do not use as a canvas, in India and South America, girls paint their faces and bodies as a statement against gender-based violence and rape. All these examples are a testament to the fact that people will always find a creative outlet to raise awareness of the issues that are important to them. It is in these times, that the importance of photography is really appreciated. By capturing important moments in time, photography has become a crucial tool and form of artistic resistance. It has a timeless ability to act as a visual testimony to key periods of history, a record-keeper of sorts that allows us to document and compare the conditions of the past with the present. Without photography, many of the other forms of resistance would remain temporary and accessible to the few who were at the right place at the right time.

A creative culture has erupted from the chaos that is social change where words, phrases, and images that were once unfamiliar to us have become the slogans and background music in our daily lives. The streets we walk and the feeds we scroll through daily have turned into a place for protest where color, a portrait, or a phrase can carry weight and be their own form of expression. With all that said, it’s important to remind ourselves that in these many fights for change around the world there is no one way to be an activist or fight for a cause. Resistance and change are not straight roads, its ones that have potholes, U-turns, and in many cases require a little bit of creativity to navigate. But it is a road worth taking.

[vsionvry]

400 Hours Later: A Conversation with Hyperealist Artist Oscar Ukonu

Hyperealist artist Oscar Ukonu describes his craft as “a practice in time and patience”. This seems accurate considering that his blue ballpoint portraits average 200 - 400 hours of work to create. His intricate and unbelievably realistic portraits are detailed tributes to Africa and African identity. His work is centered on the concept of Afrorealism and unpack some of the big issues of our time like disinformation, fake news and honest representation.I managed to chat with him over the phone from his home base in Lagos Nigeria, scroll down to check out our conversation below.

RC: Hi Oscar, thank you so much for agreeing to speak with me! Are you in Nigeria right now?

OU: Yes I'm in Lagos.

RC: That’s cool, I've only been to the airport [laughs].

OU: How was it?

RC: It was an interesting experience, next time I hope to make it outside…

OU: [laughs]

RC: So, I had a few questions I wanted to ask about your artwork, they are stunning and look like they take a lot of time. 

OU: Thank you so much.

RC: I was wondering how your artistic journey led you into hyperealism because it looks like a very skillful craft.

OU: I've been drawing all my life so design and art have been with me for a very long time, but most of my hyper realistic skills were developed when I was in architecture school. During my time at school, I did a lot of pencil based drawings but began to experiment with ink to develop my own art style. 

RC: I was also wondering why you choose ballpoint pens as your medium?

OU: From my experience at architecture school, I thought I could find something that writes better than the ink pens I used. So  I spent a lot of time looking at different mediums and drawing tools. But the first time I tried the ballpoint pen that was in 2014, and it just clicked...

RC: Like love at first sight?

OU: Yea, working with the ballpoint pen gave me more confidence and helped me express myself better.

RC: I noticed you work almost exclusively in the color blue, does that color hold a special significance for you?

OU: It is mostly about the mood that I  want my works to exude. Most of the moods I like to set up in my works are associated with this cool color, plus it's one of the original ballpoint colors. In the current series of works I'm working on, that’s the kind of mood I'm trying to express. 

RC: Do you see yourself moving into a different color scheme or different tones in the future or do you like what blue is doing for you now?

OU: Yes yes definitely! I have a series of works that explore other colors and other mediums like oil paint. My next series might need a different kind of expression that may not use the ballpoint pen or the color blue.

RC: That’s interesting, especially because sometimes what you want to achieve with your artwork determines what color, style and medium you choose.

OU: Exactly, exactly!

RC: Most of your works feature people, so I was wondering who are those people to you? Are they friends or family?

OU: My work is mainly influenced by my personal and cultural experiences of living here in Africa. So most of the subjects in my work are friends or family and sometimes strangers. I have them come to the studio for a photoshoot where I interact with them and find out what type of person they are to decide what the best way to express it is. Other times when I meet certain people, I leave the studio and meet them in their own environment where they are more comfortable.

RC: My next question was actually about your drawing process. I saw that some of your works take 200-400 hours to create, where you take reference photos and get a feel of the person by having a conversation with them.

OU: Yea, the photoshoot is an important part of my process. When I have an idea for a series or artwork I pen them down and sometimes flesh out a few sketches. Then what follows is photography where I take maybe 100 pictures and select about 10. When it's time to put pen to paper I let these pictures inform me. What I mean by ‘inform’ is that I don't just use one picture: I use the whole photoshoot. That way I'm able to take down all the different individual pieces and  maintain the fidelity of the initial idea I had.

RC: From that whole process, what do you enjoy the most about making art?

OU: I think it's the moment when I start bringing my subject to life since my work takes a lot of time. Sometimes it takes up to 6 weeks to create a piece, and in the 3rd week I haven't really brought the subject to life but in the 4th or 5th week it will start taking shape. And in that moment I’m like ‘oh okay its coming to life’.

RC: I understand that, I was also looking at some of your artwork and there was one I really liked it was…

OU: Which one!?

RC: It had two people looking away from each other and they had newspaper wrapped around their heads -

OU: Ah yeah, that’s ‘Disinformation of a Republic II”

RC: Yes! So what were your thoughts behind that artwork?

OU: I made that in the beginning of the year, as part of my current series called ‘Disinformation of a Republic’. What I try to do is look at the news and social media and explore how we poison information. You see I tried to cover the eyes with the newspaper to show some of the blindness that can come from that. People are constantly being positioned to see things from a particular angle, so I covered the subject's faces to show that most times what we see is what the media allows us to see. A friend of mine is a journalist and mentioned that what journalism is, is printing what people don't want printed, that really stuck with me, so that series of artworks has a lot to do with journalism and the way information has shaped identities.

RC: That's quite powerful especially in a time when there’s a lot of fake news about big things like Covid-19 and elections. So it's definitely very relevant...Besides this, what else inspires you to create in general? You’ve mentioned personal and cultural references, so I was curious if you try and include Nigeria in what you do.

OU: My practice in general is a kind of act of gratitude for the life I’m given and the privilege of work. I’m aware that there are lots of people here in Nigeria who have dreams and dont have the means to go about achieving them.

RC: That's very true.

OU: Yeah, the privilege of having an idea and having the chance to express it in my works is what inspires me. It's like a language that I speak and a form of expression that I use to flesh out my ideas. Now talking about my cultural influences, I try to center my work on the concept of Afrorealism as a  visual aesthetic of ways to be black and to know black. Most of the time I think the black body and its different identities are not well represented, even in the art industry. In Nigeria right now the idea and identity  of who the Nigerian living in Nigeria is without Western influences is found wanting. So quite a few Nigerian artists are working with hyperealism right now to try to portray that identity.

RC: It feels very fresh and honest because you’re just drawing or painting what you see. Its also different to the few limited ideas of Africa that often get repeated in images. So its nice that there’s new more truthful images being shared now.

OU: Hmm, true.

RC:  I was also wondering when did you start drawing or how long did it take for you to develop your skill to where it is now? You talked about drawing a lot when you were studying architecture. Do you feel like you could develop your skill more or are you happy with where it is?

OU: Well I always say that my best work is my next one [laughs]. I started drawing with ballpoint in 2014 and since then I’ve always tried to develop my skills and talents so I can make them come alive on paper. Ever since then, I’ve tried to improve on my skills with every piece I make.

RC: I guess this is a ‘practice makes perfect’ kind of situation!

OU: Yea [laughs].

RC: A big question I had for you was what kind of message do you want to convey through your art? You’ve spoken about wanting to represent true Nigerian identities, are there other societal issues you want to talk about through your work?

OU: Most of the ideas I like to work with are related to African identities, socio-political and gender issues and the way they all come together to shape our identities of the African experience.

RC: Do you ever see yourself drawing people who aren’t from Africa?

OU: Well I would say that most of the concerns I have right now are related to identity, so for now the people that require most of my attention are Africans living in Africa...

[vsionvry]

Patience, Expression and Appreciation - A Conversation with Turkish Marble Artist Gökçe Tercioglu

After walking the streets of downtown Copenhagen in search of Irish born Turkish artist Gökçe Tercioglu, I discovered her in her studio and exhibition space by a park. Inside was a table of mixed paints, plastic sheeting, and metal trays filled with what looked like water. Along her walls hung what she is best known for: the traditional Turkish art of Ebru or marbling. It is an ancient technique originating from over 800 years ago that Gökçe reimagines to fit her minimalist and modernist aesthetic. These images resemble multicolored ripples of water and mimic waves. Gökçe draws from her multicultural background and surroundings to create her unique pieces.

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A post shared by Gokce Art (@gokceart) on Nov 20, 2019 at 12:16pm PST

Her artworks are a testament to patience, letting go, and enjoying the small moments in life. They hold a deep appreciation of nature, from what inspires the paintings themselves to what they’re actually made of. It was one of the reasons I was excited to speak with her on her creative process and journey as an artist. After aweing at her framed paintings in the studio, I sat down to speak with her about culture, women’s rights, positive energy, and using art as a tool for expression and self-reflection.

RC: Thank you so much for inviting me to your studio! First off, how do I pronounce your name?!

GT: I’m used to people saying it wrong and in different ways [laughs] but it's pronounced “g aw k ch eh”.

RC: Okay perfect, I have the same problem sometimes especially when I move somewhere new. I read that you’ve lived in 7 different countries. That’s a lot!

GT: Having lived in so many countries throughout my life, the world starts to feel tiny sometimes. I was born in Ireland, and have lived in Moscow, Stockholm, Prague, Rhodes, Turkey, and now I’m in Copenhagen, Denmark.

RC: So after living in all those places, what made you settle on Turkish Marble Art?

GT: I've always been into art from a young age and I've tried a lot of different mediums but it was only in the last three years of high school in Turkey that I came across it. I knew about Ebru already, because it's a traditional art technique in Turkey that is a large part of Turkish culture. But I found that we only learned about it as decorative motifs or 2D patterns. So it wasn't very interesting for me to see the same design in different colors. But when I went to Turkey, one of my friends was going to an Ebru workshop and asked if I wanted to join her. I said, 'Sure, why not? Let's give it a try!' [laughs]

RC: So it was purely accidental?

GT: Yes! When I went to the workshop and met the teacher, he quickly became my favorite artist. I feel lucky to know him since he inspired me to pursue this passion. It was his openness to try new things and his approach to teaching that made me feel like he was showing me something new. He allowed me to experiment and told me ‘It's your own world and you can do what you'd like’. It was almost like therapy after school, I visited the workshop every weekend for years!

RC: You’re really lucky to have gotten a teacher that understood that you didn't want to recreate the same images. Do you have a certain personal style that you aim for each time you create something?

GT: At that first workshop I went to, everyone had their own approach to the art, so I learned how to approach this art in a new way. Most of the people in the workshop were retired, so they were doing this as a hobby, which was a different mindset from what I was used to. I was influenced by them because they made me feel that they had experienced life and were doing this art now -

RC: And you were doing it with them!

GT: [laughs] Yes! So you could tell, person to person, that each style was different. What I try to do with mine is to focus on minimizing and modernizing the details by focusing on one color at a time. It lets me focus on the movement and patterns in the paint itself, rather than lots of colors. I also like to use the color blue. [smiles and points at the blue artworks hanging up in her studio].

RC: [laughs] I noticed that!

GT: Blue is my favorite color and my name actually means 'sky blue' and 'sky goddess', so it fits perfectly! Also in this art, blue is the kind of color that you can vividly see every detail in the painting. So for me, the color blue really lets me explore my mind.

RC: When I saw the blue in your paintings, I wondered if you were trying to recreate waves or elements from nature. Is that something that also inspires you?

GT: Yes for sure, the technique is completely organic. The paint is homemade and I bring all the pigments from Turkey. The pigments are basically crushed stones turned into powder or sand [shows some bright colored bottles] This is the concentrated version, it's like powder, which I buy and mix myself without measurements so the paints I make are always different. When I'm painting, I am inspired by nature because I'm closely working with it, which makes me feel like I'm one with nature. So all my paintings are made with natural materials and are a recreation of nature.

RC: It's a full circle kind of cycle…

GT: Exactly! It’s funny because the technique inspires me, but at the same time, I'm inspired by what exists around me. The textures I see on the surface of the water resemble things in real life. It's like looking through a microscope because everything I see actually exists in nature. It just happens to be the kind of things we don't see in our daily lives, especially being surrounded by concrete and buildings.

RC: You’re super lucky to have your studio beside a park then!

GT: Definitely. [chuckles]

RC: This makes me think of it as a therapeutic meditative process.

GT: That's how I feel. My teacher said that the water absorbs your energy, so when I'm nervous, angry, or frustrated, it reflects in my paintings, and I don't like anything I make. For most artists, feeling grief or pain is an inspiration, but for me, feeling happy and energetic is the source of my inspiration. So all of these paintings on the wall here are diaries of when I'm feeling really good.

RC: Art definitely is able to reflect emotion and I think people can tell. What do you hope people take away from your workshops?

GT: So there are two main things I want people to experience when they're at my workshop. This is not just art, but it's a way to develop your personality. I know when I started, if there was a minor detail I didn't like, I'd throw the whole painting away and get quite frustrated. So with my workshops, I really want them to free their minds and understand that they can't control everything.

RC: That's definitely a useful lesson to learn. I imagine this is the kind of art where you can't make alterations - once it's done, it's done. Love it or hate it, it's there. [laughs]

GT: Definitely, another thing I hope to do is create a comfortable space for people to be themselves and explore themselves. I try to get them to relax their mind and realize life is not all that bad: a kind of mental vacation for a day. It can be challenging when I'm not in the mood and have to shake it off. But that's a good lesson too, and I enjoy being around other passionate people.

RC: That's interesting since people come here expecting to learn only one skill and they come away with some big life lessons. [laughs]

GT: [laughs] Exactly! It's linked to another thing I try to show people while they are here; that there are so many things out there that we haven't seen. We should still keep exploring.

RC: And now one technical question, if someone has never heard about Turkish Marble Art. How would you explain it?

GT: I would describe it as a technique that uses water as its canvas. The paint is a mixture of water, earth pigments, and cattle gall. The water we paint on is mixed with a plant substance to make it denser. Its an art technique that stylizes nature: the same way you can't see the same patterns or colors in the sky, you can't make the same thing again in this art. Even if you tried to make it identical, there is no way a painting can be replicated. Marble art has its origins from way back in Asia, a little similar to the Japanese art Suminagashi. The main difference is the choice in materials. I've been doing this art for 7 or 8 years now, and through the years, you learn how to work with water: you learn how to control it and what kind of hand gestures will create different movements and textures.

RC: So this process definitely  involves a lot of experimentation?

GT: Yes! I have a vision in my mind of what I want to create, and I see what color works that day. I usually spend the whole day using the same color and repeating the same gesture to try and achieve an idea. Sometimes it takes a week to get the results I'm looking for. So you have to be really patient, it's not about wanting to make something and creating it. You need to be patient and gentle with water to get it to work with you.

RC: That's a really good takeaway for people today who move so fast; to take it slow, be patient and let go. It feels a little like artistic therapy.

GT: When I look at my paintings, I remember the day and what I was trying to achieve. For many of them, I try to use the traditional tools in a completely new and different way, to the point that you can't tell what tools I was using at all. It's a very different process from other art techniques, where you tend to have an idea and then stick to it. Here, your initial idea changes since you end up being inspired along the way.

RC: So it sounds like your artistic journey has involved lots of innovating and experimentation.

GT: I knew I wanted to pursue art for a very long time, since I was seven and made a booklet about wanting to be a recognized painter. My family has always been huge supporters of me being creative and when I realized I wanted to become an architect after all my travels, I found that I didn't want to let go of this art. So now I’m working on bridging my two interests by designing a building on the water first, and then translating the shapes into an organic technical structure.

RC: That's amazing, I can’t wait to speak to you again once you’ve designed a building! [laughs] On a broader note, what kind of message do you hope to get across to your audience? I feel like part of your message is about learning to take it easy and learning to be patient.

GT: I would say that. It is something I always tell myself as well, but I don’t live in this mindset every day [laughs]. In my daily life, I use my art as a tool to appreciate the small moments, but I do sometimes use art as a tool to express my views, just like with my first exhibition in Turkey. Culture played a big part in what I decided to present. I portrayed women from all kinds of backgrounds and ages to show that we all exist, and all of us should be appreciated. I think art is the best and most peaceful way to communicate with people. They have the chance to look at something and think, before speaking aloud. That exhibition revolved around women and had paintings and nude sculptures of women. For Turkey, my exhibition was considered racy and controversial, even though I feel like women's rights and feminism aren’t political.

RC: That was a very powerful message to share...

GT: That exhibition strongly reflected my inner thoughts and anger in Turkey at that time. I wanted to make my message come across stronger so I created  a sculpture of a strong postered woman covered in wires out of the image of a woman I saw in my marble painting. It was a way to bring the painting alive by making it into a sculpture. And that, for me, was the place of women in society at that point. No matter how strong we were personally, we were being caged up.

RC: I feel like these themes are very timely, because right now there are reports of femicide and gender based violence in Turkey. It feels like you should just copy and paste your exhibition since it's still so relevant.

GT: Exactly! When I had that exhibition in Turkey, I remember talking about it and I could see the faces of some people. They were very intimidated by the topic. I could tell they were thinking: ‘where is she going with this?’. I went with it anyway, and it turned out that people that I would not have expected, really appreciated it. People think themes like these are very political, but they aren’t political to me. It’s about human rights.

RC: I think something nice that you do as an artist, is show a different side of Turkey. Often the negative news that we hear about a place overshadows the other more positive sides. Or we tend to hear only one dimension, and the rest rarely get discussed or celebrated.

GT: I think that's true. Even though I was raised in different countries I can feel the Turkish roots in me, which is what I want to keep alive with this art. It's the most beautiful thing I can teach to others from my culture. We are always talking about Turkish politics and I feel that I don't have enough power to change anything yet, so I can only do my best to make the people around me aware.

[vsionvry]

Toyin Ojih Odutola Is The Nigerian Born Artist Reimagining Black Portraiture

Nigerian-born artist Toyin Ojih Odutola is known for her large-scale multimedia portraits on paper. After leaving Nigeria as a child, Odutola lived in Alabama before moving to work in New York. Her style is distinctive and involves a careful combination of layers of materials and renderings. She blends and shades pencils, pastels, and charcoal to create soft portraits that reimagine traditional ideas of portraiture. Through these large scale portraits, she unpacks complex notions of class, color, race, and identity through her bright detailed illustrations.

Her portraits are luxurious depictions of the lives of fictional Nigerian families. They offer an intimate peek into their world of abundance and domestic routines. Using a mixture of materials, she creates an intimate space for viewers to read into and explore an interconnected fictional story. Toyin’s process for creation is a long one. Much like an author, she spends months imagining the stories behind these fictitious characters. Her artworks act as large scale visual chapters, which often follow a set of characters through their story. They act as fragments of an imaginary life set in a decadent domestic setting.

This idea of storytelling is something that plays out throughout all of Toyin’s artworks. For her, the pens she uses to draw some of her portraits are a tool for writing first, and a drawing tool second. The black ballpoint pens she uses adds texture and detail to the skin, and it goes beyond the visual effect. Toyin layers ink in a way that can describe the multiple dimensions of identity. She treats the skin of the portraits she creates almost like a map or terrain where she can document their experiences of the world. In this way, she explores the complex ideas linked to ‘looking or being perceived as Black’. Part of this exploration is rooted in the fact that not all her subjects are of African descent, even if they are illustrated with black ink.

Beyond this use of black, Toyin uses color freely. Her artworks embrace pastels and vivid shades to bring to life the stories of the people she illustrates. She relies on pastels, charcoal, and pencils to create rich textures, detail, and bold patterns. This focus on surfaces is informed by both African textiles, and a study of past representations of Black subjects in portraiture.

Her life-size portraits are mysterious, stylish, and elegant. The artworks go beyond simply documenting a moment in time, they capture a larger discussion on race and identity. Toyin draws from her own inspirations which span personal experiences of culture, migration, and history. Popular culture is also a key inspiration that shapes both the figures she draws and their backdrops. She constructs detailed backdrops that focus on architecture and form that range from the lush interiors of grand mansions to wide outdoor landscapes. They offer the perfect setting for her to engage in her unique version of visual storytelling by focusing on interconnected narratives and representation.

[vsionvry]

Annette Labedzki Speaks Gourmet Cooking, Paint Mixing, & ASMR

It’s likely you’ve come across a video on your timeline that has led you into a strange but soothing trance. And it’s very likely that it was one of social media’s #oddlysatisfying sensations, Annette Labedzki.

Throughout Annette’s 30 years as a working artist, the color master has developed various techniques for creating hypnotic color combinations that soothe the nervous system. Annette’s formative years in Vancouver, college years at Emily Carr University, love for gourmet cooking, and subsequent creative work all play a massive role in who she is and what she creates. Check out our conversation below.

AP: Hi Annette! How are you?

AL: Yes, hi, Ashley! I’m good, how about you?

AP: I’m doing good, thank you so much for hopping on this call with me, I appreciate it! I’m super excited to dive into your brain and get to know a little bit more about you.

AL: [laughs] Okay, let’s do it!

AP: Can you tell me a little bit about what it was like growing up in Vancouver and what the earliest memory of you realizing that you’re a creative person is?

AL: Yeah I was born in Vancouver and when I was four we moved to Winnipeg in Manitoba. I didn’t like it there very much so when I was about 19 years old or 20 I moved back to Vancouver. It was sometime in elementary school where I noticed I just loved creating collages and I’ve been painting for all my life, on and off, and the past 30 years it’s been pretty full time. 

AP: That’s amazing.. I believe as artists we tend to gravitate towards a multitude of tools and mediums to express our creativity. How did you come across choosing paint as your preferred medium? And are there any other mediums you’re looking forward to either experimenting with or just exploring?

AL: I think it’s in the genes, there were a few other painters in my family. Painting for me is like oxygen. It’s the most important. As far as experimenting, I always branch out and experiment with different mediums, you know, 3D, and some fabrics. Right now I feel like more of a performance artist and filmmaker while still using paint. So as long as I’m touching paint every single day -- then I can survive. [laughs]

AP: I was looking at your paintings and I noticed that they’re heavily focused on abstract figuratism and abstract impressionism, are there any particular artists or bodies of work that inspired you? 

AL: Pretty much all of the great masters, all the modern painters. There’s always something that’s very inspiring from every artist. I just love them all, basically.

AP: Yeah, I’m sure that you’re able to grasp inspiration from everything around you.. Color is everywhere.

AL: Yeah. Well, I need to live near the ocean. That’s the one thing I noticed. From living in the prairies to making the mistake of moving to Northern British Columbia, farther away from the water. I noticed how my work improved when we moved back to Vancouver. It’s really weird, I need to be near the water. It’s kind of like a feeling of space and freedom.. and the land. 

AP: Yeah, I totally get that. I also feel very connected to the water.. 

Can you tell me more about your creative process and what your day to day is like, how your pieces come to life?

AL: Right now, I’m making videos, and my passion, or my goal, is to merge my love for gourmet cooking, paint, frozen paint, and molds -- and somehow make it look like beautiful food. The whole food situation is really, really difficult, so I’m very occupied with that behind the scenes. [laughs]

AP: Oh, I’m sure! That has to be so much work -- creating all the intricate details to make paint look like food. What excites you most about the creative process?

AL: Everything. Everything does. Because it’s such a challenge and I think as an artist that’s what I really need. I need to constantly feel like I’m growing and learning every single day. I’ve always loved cooking! I have like 400 cookbooks and every cooking gadget you can think of, and to be able to merge those two passions together is really exciting and very difficult. I want to cry most of the time [laughs] it’s so hard, but at the same time, that’s what’s exciting, you know? To have something that challenges me everyday.

AP: Yeah, absolutely! That’s such an important part of growing as an artist. What do you like to cook? 

AL: I like everything, but probably baking. It’s a greater passion than a pasta dish [chuckles]. I think another thing I love about the world of cooking, and trying to merge that with my art is the learning and the creative process is unlimited. There’s no limit to learning cooking and the different cuisines from all around the world, the different ingredients, and it’s just so unlimited. I really love that! It’s the same feeling of living near the ocean, that feeling of freedom, you know? 

AP: Yes, absolutely. There’s been a recent trend online, where people create these everyday objects or even gourmet appearing dishes, but once you cut into them you’re surprised to find that they’re actually cakes! If your work was edible, what would it taste like? What flavors can you imagine?

AL: Ohhh, yeah, I’ve seen that! That’s so cool! Oh my god, I’ve never thought of that! I would be craving real food and the flavors would be amazing [laughs] but I’ve never really thought about it. What would it taste like? Well, that’s an interesting question. I’ve never really gone there because you can’t eat paint. A lot of my audience is probably really young so I wouldn’t want anyone running and tasting paint. Then I’m in trouble.

AP: Right, [laughs] that would be terrible!

AP: You mentioned earlier that you feel more like a performance artist. You’ve taken paint to a more performance level, rather than using it as the traditional ‘color on canvas’ tool. At what point did you see paint for being more than the traditional tool?

AL: I think I’m still in that process. How far can I stretch this? What else can I do with paint that’s absolutely crazy, you know? I think everyday I’m still kind of bewildered. I think it started when I was mixing some paint and the videos did really well on instagram and everything went viral and crazy. Then I got an opportunity with a company here in Vancouver. I had no clue on how to deal with the colors and one woman suggested freezing the colorants for 30 minutes to help. So a couple of weeks later I thought, ‘What would happen if I freeze paint in some molds that I already have.’ And that just started a whole new thing for me. You know, what can paint do? Other than go on a brush and onto a canvas, what else can I do with it? What can I mix in with it? 

AP: Yeah I feel like you’ve opened people’s world with these videos and pushed their imagination and standard of thinking of what you can do with paint. Do any of the colors you use ever reflect your life, a moment, or your mood at the time?

AL: Probably. But I’m not sure. That’s something I’ll have to think about. It possibly does. Sometimes if I’ve used too many bright colors, I feel like I need to go back to pastels or be more gentle, and then I get bored with that, and I go back to really bright and vibrant. So it probably is a mood thing. 

AP: Yeah. I read that you stopped making tutorials for about 3 years and you picked up paint mixing, can you tell me more about your decision to pause, switch gears, and kind of dive into this new world. What was that like as an artist? 

AL: It was great because I’m still using paint. As long as I’m using paint. When I was making the tutorials I was still painting, you know? I was very productive. I would paint like 10-20 paintings per day, 8x10’s, 5x8’s. The tutorials and the video editing was self taught and was absolute hell, it was so, so much work. I was always incredibly exhausted. Finally, one day I decided to give up. I didn’t enjoy the tutorials so I just gave up on my Youtube channel and I just let it sit there. So when I discovered the paint mixing and my love for video, and those two things merged, I went back to Youtube and things started going really well. I learned that you should never give up. All of my experience with the tutorials and the video editing came in handy. Now I’m constantly teaching myself something and it’s really great. Everything is starting to really pay off.

AP: Yeah, absolutely! As we teach ourselves new things, we get to grow as artists and evolve  with all the new programs, softwares, and tools that get introduced. Has your intention with your art changed at all as opposed to when you first started? 

AL: It hasn’t really changed. My goals are always to work really, really hard. To be productive everyday. Don’t waste a day. Learn and grow, and do my best. Be true to yourself, even if someone thinks you’re crazy. Too bad. [laughs] Those things haven’t changed. That’s what drives me. Just the passion and the excitement. It’s a short life. Learning and growing and the rest is all gifts I guess. The other half of being creative is having an audience that gives you feedback, good or bad, you know? 

AP: Yeah, speaking of the audience. You kind of swept through social media with the oddly satisfying and A.S.M.R-type videos. Has that trend impacted the way you create and what you create at all? 

AL: No. Not at all. To me, that Oddly Satisfying is something that Instagram started. I remember in 2017, slime was happening at the same time I was making videos and all of a sudden people started calling it oddly satisfying. To me that’s someone else’s input or creativity, but it really didn’t change what I’m doing, you know? ASMR was also kind of strange. When I started to slice my frozen paint, people went crazy. I didn’t purposely make that sound, it was just a happy accident and people loved it. I guess it does sometimes sound like you’re slicing through ice cream or something [laughs]

AP: I am definitely drawn in by the videos, [chuckles], they’re incredibly soothing.

AP: Working as an artist can be an isolating process for some people, whether intentional or not. Has the ongoing pandemic and quarantine experience affected your creative process in any way? 

AL: It’s really weird. Yes. In one way, I’ve been really depressed a lot. Because the whole situation is depressing for me, for a lot of people, right? We’re all kind of in the same boat. But there is a good side to this Covid thing, I think. Because no one is really getting any sponsorships, any real work or getting tons of new followers, everything is sort of dull and boring; and for me there’s less tension, less worry about followers or to do this or that. I’ve been so focused on making new molds and foods. And so as an artist I’ve grown immensely, but behind the scenes. It hasn’t come together quite yet. Everything that I want to express -- I’m not quite there yet. But I’ve learned a ton since I’ve been forced to not worry about the business part of it, because there isn’t much business going around right now anyway.

AP: Right, we’re all kind of forced to self evaluate. 

AL: It’s been really interesting, in that regard, I’ve learned so much in the last couple of months.

AP: Your videos are very calming and have a way of soothing anxiety, I’m sure people probably tell you that all of the time. Did you ever anticipate your work crossing over to the mental health realm given that we’re experiencing such a weird time right now?

AL: Yeah, I always thought it would be so cool if my videos were in a therapist’s office or waiting room. I thought it would be really neat to have them on a screen somewhere, at a nursing home, or with Alzheimer’s patients. I’m wondering how that would affect them -- just looking at the colors and watching the transformation of the different colors. I think it’s very soothing to the brain but I haven’t been approached by any therapists or doctors so I don't know if that’s going to happen or not. [laughs] 

AP: I’m sure it will. There’s definitely room for that. I think art is therapy for most people so it would be super interesting to connect those videos with different people.

AL: Yes, oh my god. For me it’s been a huge therapy!

AP: Thank you so much for speaking with me Annette! I have only one question left for you. Can you tell me what a visionary means to you?

AL: A visionary? Someone who has a vision and pursues it. Maybe a visionary is someone with a vision either great or small who pursues it and tries to execute the vision. That’s the hardest part, I think. We can all have ideas and visuals but if we just let them sit in our heads, it doesn’t really help anyone. It’s the execution and the journey of the vision and manifesting the vision.

Click here to see more of Annette’s #oddlysatisfying work.

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The James Turrell Museum in Colomé, Argentina owned by the Hess Art Collection.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ The museum houses art from the artist’s half-century career -- nine rooms devoted entirely to Turrell’s works. Pictured above is Unseen Blue (2002), an observatory with an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ To appreciate the skyspace’s maximum effect, it should be experienced during dawn or sunset. (at Argentina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy6yb5AcDP/?igshid=fl9kaeu4nwfk

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@beyonce photographed by one of our favs @a_kid_named_trav for her film #BlackisKing (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUqYl0gA6L/?igshid=ljerftfthwz4

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works by @kadirnelson (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDKVztRAnB7/?igshid=1ch4t141hz7bc

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Blackness is Non-Negotiable: The Art of Kerry James Marshall

Kerry James Marshall is a Chicago based artist who uses a variety of mediums to showcase the Black American experience. Marshall consistently challenges the marginalization of Black people in his pieces, using characters that are, in his words “unequivocally, emphatically black.” He reclaims the stereotypes associated with the community with his knowledge of art history and black folk art. 

Kerry James Marshall embraces blackness and uses it as his main signifier in his art to address the marginalization of black figures in the visual world. He uses black figures to “offset the impression that beauty is synonymous with whiteness.”Although Marshall’s style has evolved and changed throughout his career, one thing stands inevitably strong: absolute blackness. His color is entirely intentional. Check out our video on the incredibly talented Kerry James Marshall to explore some of his most famous pieces.

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A ‘Born Free’ Coming of Age Story Told Through Ilvy Njiokiktjien’s Lens

To be Born Free in South Africa means to be born into Nelson Mandela’s Rainbow Nation. It means being born into a country without the restrictions and oppression of apartheid and signifies a change in national mentality. Dutch photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien has spent almost a decade photographing and visualizing the Born Free generation. Ilvy is a multimedia journalist focused on social issues and current affairs. This project “Born Free – Mandela’s Generation of Hope” has been a long time coming, and is more than a photographic series. It includes a documentary, photobook, and a collection of stories.

The works revolve around the experiences of the young adults that were born after Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first black president and apartheid was abolished in 1994 - the Born Frees. Their lives shed light on the troubled, colorful past of South Africa while revealing the new and worn out everyday challenges of living in their country. In the past, South Africa was divided into blocks of colors: “Blacks,” “Coloureds,” and “Whites.” All aspects of life were segregated by color under Apartheid, from where you could sit, live, study, and swim.

The situation has changed drastically since then. There are no restrictions or formal rules dictating who can go where and when, instead South Africa is the Rainbow Nation, and the people living in it, finally free. But Ilvy’s photos show the curious colorful change that is occurring now.

Over ten years and several trips to South Africa, Ilvy began photographing the youth of South Africa. She traveled from city to city, capturing the good, the bad, and the ugly. In her images, you can see a daily fight and resilience to overcome poverty and youth unemployment. Her photographs suggest that almost 20 years after Mandela’s new nation, the original optimism of the Born Free generation is fading under the troubles of today. High levels of crime and corruption, as well as poverty and homelessness, are the main challenges facing young South Africans today.

However, Ilvy’s images aren’t meant to focus on that, instead, it only acts as a backdrop to showcase and celebrate the people who live and strive to overcome their circumstances.

'I want to show the world that there is this generation of young South Africans with such incredible willpower to reach their goals, sometimes even without jobs. They are getting things done, because they try so hard. I believe they will create a positive future for South Africa.'

(Ilvy Njiokiktjien via Source)

Ilvy seemingly manages to transmit the complicated stories of countless young South Africans through her photos. They explain a culture of perseverance and resourcefulness. In a story of education and female empowerment, Ilvy introduces us to 18-year-old Natalie de We who has saved up for months to buy a prom dress to celebrate her graduation.

Her images also show a side of South Africa not familiar to many. They reveal the underbelly of opportunity, color, and privilege. In one powerful image, she captures the silent unnamed black maid that has been working for the same white family for years. They do not know her name and never bothered learning it, instead, they summon her by saying ‘Tss tss’.

Ilvy’s  images reveal the coming of age story of many Born Frees. It is a story of hardship and disadvantage in many cases, but her photos also shine a light of hope by celebrating the good times and the moments of success.

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Storytelling Through Thread - The Silent Power of Costume Design

To make a film is to commit yourself to tell a story. It means dedicating yourself and a credits-worthy list of people to organize, create, refine, and put the finishing touches on transmitting a message to an audience. There are the actors who we immediately associate as the faces of a film, the directors who pull it all together, the screenwriters who dream up the words, and the cinematographer who envisions the final images. Beyond these familiar tasks are the people who create the scope for storytelling, they are the people behind the scenes that work to communicate a character, an era, or a landscape without words. Costume design is essential to this. In fact, it has the power to set the stage before the actors have even begun talking by situating a viewer in a time and place. It is the most subtle way of filling in the blanks between dialogue so a character has depth, soul, and most importantly a story.

In the best-case scenario, costume design has been able to transport us into imagined futures or locations and teleport us back a few hundred years to relive the past. We have put together a shortlist of four films where costume design did just that.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a film based in the fictional Eastern European Republic of Zubrowka in between World War I and World War II. It's a film that is mostly centered on an extravagant hotel resort in the mountains. Therefore costume designer Milena Canonero had the grand task to create hotel uniforms for a fictional hotel in a fictional location. She drew on a wide array of different sources to help her which included obvious references to 1930s uniform design and looking into photographs from that period. Canonero also drew on painters like Gustav Klimt and Kees van Dongen as references. You can see this most clearly in the character Madam D, the old wealthy dowager.

Credit (Left): Still from the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel - Source / Credit (Right): Gustav Klimt - Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I , 1907 Oil, silver and gold on canvas- Source

Through her immense amount of research, Canonero brings to life an eccentric, highly saturated world of bright color and detail through her costume design. Since the location is fictitious and the story is told through memories, she had a lot of free reigns to be creative and inventive with the designs while still remaining true to the historical period. The easily recognizable purple hotel uniforms were dyed in Germany and created in the costume workshop by Canonero and her team.

Mad Max Fury Road (2015)

Writer and director George Miller spent over a decade developing an Australian post-apocalyptic version of the future. The movie is based on Brendan McCarthy's graphic novel, Mad Max: Fury Road. It is a story of survival. Jenny Beavan was the costume designer in charge of outfitting the desert-bound cast. In true apocalyptic fashion, her approach to costume design was to reuse and recycle discarded items and rubbish. When she arrived in Australia for filming, it was with 200 boxes of junk; she had everything from old cutlery, goggles, scrap metal, car parts, and ammunition.

Each character’s outfit was completely unique, made with sourced everyday materials that were no longer useful in their original applications in this new world. Masks, armor, chains, and old belts were used throughout, each item with its own story and past. Viewers watching were already clued in to the way of life and resourcefulness of characters by the way their clothes repurposed junk and random objects. The costumes became an eccentric functional mixture of fabric and metal that you could easily imagine as being the wardrobe of the future.

Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther is an action-packed superhero film based on a Marvel Comics hero and set in the fictional country Wakanda on the very real continent of Africa. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the movie is a mixture of traditional and modern design that uses bright fabrics and extreme detail to bring to life the country of Wakanda and the people who live there. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter had a lot on her plate, and with her team created over 1500 different costumes to carry through the essence of an entire continent and a fictional country. Wakanda is innovative, regal, and technologically advanced, and Carter’s costume designs reflect that. She weaves in jewels, intricate beadwork, and even uses a 3D printer to create a reimagined version of a Zulu wedding hat for Ramonda, the queen. This iconic headpiece was made by fusing layers and layers of powders together.

Credit (Left): Still from the movie Black Panther - Source / Credit (Right): Maasai Warriors - Campi Ya Kanzi/flickr

Ruth’s process was based largely on research. She studied different African tribes and explored their styles of adornment and uniforms to create costumes that were inspired by and celebrated Africa. Some of the tribes she studied were the Surma people from South Sudan and the Maasai warriors in Kenya. It was here that she was inspired to incorporate the bright red and beadwork into the iconic Dora Milaje, who are the elite female bodyguards in Black Panther.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Set before, during, and after World War II in Japan, Memoirs of a Geisha tracks the tough life of Chiyo Sakamato’s journey to become a geisha. For this film, historical accuracy was as important as understanding the attitude of the characters. And for costume designer Colleen Atwood, designing an outfit for a character is about understanding them. Colleen spent five months studying the intricate art of kimonos from books, exhibits, and talking to experts in the field. Her designs are based on traditional Japanese designs but are simplified for a modern telling.

From there, her approach to telling the life story of her characters rests within the detail. The choice of material, color, motif, and embellishment were essential. When Chiyo is poor, her clothes are simple, gritty, and dark cotton but transform later into delicate pale silks to mark a change in circumstance and status. Each geisha in the film had a set color palette that reflected their personality, for Chiyo her kimonos were white hand-painted silk to reflect her pure, innocent nature. Collen plays with the significance of color and texture by using our everyday associations to give the characters a sense of spirit. In this way, viewers already understand the essential characteristics that make up the cast and are continuously reminded that every costume change reveals the true nature of a character..

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Big Chief Energy ⁣ by @larryeverage ⁣ (at New Orleans, Louisiana) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCePgK9ALKL/?igshid=133llrhavjr1z

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Why Weren’t We Told - Four Films That Explore Indigenous Australian Experiences

Indigenous Australian representation in film has not always been excellent, in fact, it's been a rocky road from the start. The history of it, much like the representation of other peoples of color in film, is narrow, if non-existent. If featured, Aborigines tended to be framed as strange or uncivilized, a people set completely apart. Early films such as Bitter Springs in 1950 directed by Ralph Smart did not help destroy these stereotypes, instead, they reinforced them. These negative and degrading portrayals of Indigenous Australians are unfortunately unsurprising considering that by law they weren’t recognized as ‘people’ till the year of 1967. Till then Indigenous Australians were legally classed as flora and fauna. Other popular Australian films like Crocodile Dundee I��and II from the 1980s marked a kind of turning point, where Aborigines began to be seen as capable knowledge holders that were experts on Australia’s rough unforgiving terrain. But even then, these are only brief supporting roles with brief appearances on screen. However, thankfully much has changed since then. This is in part because of the rising interest in rediscovering the harsh truths of Indigenous Australian experiences in the past. That is why we’ve assembled a list of a few essential Indigenous films that can help uncover a complicated past.

One thing that's important to realize is that a central theme in many of these Indigenous films is the Stolen Generation. To many people outside of Australia the Stolen Generation is something that may seem unfamiliar, but to Australians it is the name used to describe the policy that allowed for the forced removal of generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Even now it is a part of history often overlooked or sidelined. Throughout most of the early 1900s to the late 70s, the Australian government sanctioned the removal of the children to church missions or resettlement institutions. The aim of these places was to assimilate the children into white culture, it was here they were forced to reject and unlearn their culture and adopt a new identity. This tragic series of events and the long lasting effects for the people known as the Stolen Generation and the families that were left behind, sets the stage for many of the discussions brought up in recent films about Indigenous experiences.

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

Based on the book ‘Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence’ by Doris Pilkington Garimara published in 1996, Rabbit-Proof Fence is based on real events. Directed by Philip Noyce, the film tracks the journeys of three mixed-race Indigenous girls: the author’s mother Daisy Kadbili, her sister, and a cousin as they escape the assimilation camp known as Moore River Native Settlement. The three girls travel 2400 km to try and find their home after being forcibly taken. It is another haunting story of the Stolen Generation where the girls struggle to reunite with their family and try to evade the authorities that track them down.

The Sapphires (2012) 

Directed by Wayne Blair, The Sapphires is one of the films that describe the effect of the Stolen Generation and the potential for a happy family reunion, it does all this as a comedic musical set in Australia and Vietnam. Based on a true story, it maps out the journey of an all-female Aboriginal Australian singing group from the same family that is discovered by an Irish scout. The Sapphires is a story of sisterhood and resilience based on the real accounts of the group.

Ten Canoes (2006)

This film was created in collaboration with traditional communities living in Raminining in Australia’s Northern Territory. It is the first movie to be filmed entirely with different Aboriginal dialects. Ten Canoes tells the story of traditional Arnhem Land before Western influence. In certain versions of the film, there is an English speaking narrator who guides viewers through a hunting expedition of a group of Aboriginal tribesmen and a story of kidnap. Director Rolf de Heer transports us through time by filming in color and black and white to mark the passing of time and place. Ten Canoes embraces the beauty of language, symbolism, and storytelling.

Sweet Country (2017)

This film is a dark period drama that transports us back to the perils of colonial Australia for First Nations Peoples in the 1920s. It is inspired by real events and follows the lives of an Indigenous man and his wife who are on the run across the Northern Territory after he kills a drunk abuser. Directed by Warwick Thorton, Sweet Country is the first film directed by an Indigenous Australian to win Cannes Caméra d’Or. With debut actors, Sweet Country manages to accurately describe a struggle for justice and portrays the many forms of exploitation and oppression of Aborigines back then through stunning visuals.