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Artists
Contents
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who
feature:
Tyler
Reed
Your
Illustrators
Olivia Sophie
Patton Whatling
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Y. exhibition’s purpose is to open your mind to all things creative, in whatever form it may come. Art is not simply a painting, it is how you perceive something.
Tyler Reed
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WHAT FIRST MADE YOU WANT TO GET INTO ART? I had always had a little bit of creativity in me since I was young, nothing major though, just drawing cartoon characters or whatever when I was younger. But it was in GCSE art, when I first discovered the work of Robert Rauschenberg, where I realised that being creative and creating artwork is what I want to go on and do in my life. His style, experimentation, diversity and general work ethic heavily influenced me a lot more than any other artists work I had ever looked at. And still to this I can look at his work for hours. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEDIUM TO WORK IN AND WHY? I'm most comfortable working with charcoal - its dry, rough, dusty properties make it easily malleable on paper, and this suits my typical style of distortion and manipulation very well. It's also the medium that I use most often - however, recently I've drifted towards a lot of printing processes, such as image transfers and screen-printing, which are slowly becoming more primary in my work now. WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN INSPIRATIONS FOR YOUR WORK? Technique wise, and aesthetic, obviously heavily Rauschenberg influenced. But with regards to content, I think Antony Micallef, Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach etc are very big influences, with regards to distortion and manipulation. Moreover, concerning meaning and context, Raymond Pettibon would be a big influence in that category.
IS THERE A SPECIFIC ARTIST THAT INSPIRES YOU? Definitely not just one particular artist, I feel my work would stagnate a lot if I was to only take inspiration from one artist. There are the main influences that I develop ideas from as mentioned above, however every week I'm discovering new artists who will influence me briefly and give me a quick spurt of ideas. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK? Its gritty and raw - it's not precise or perfect. I would say it's very loose, it doesn't instantly convey obvious meanings or moods, however I try to explore themes around identity and realism. My work is my way of sort of gathering information, they are collections of my visual interests - whether that be a photograph or a drawing. I've also recently began to incorporate texts which interest me or I relate to in my work.
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HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE WORD 'ART'?
FUCK THE REST, DO WHAT YOU WANT. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOU AND YOUR WORK IN 5 YEARS TIME? I'm staying how I am, but in five years time I would hope that my work has changed and developed a lot. WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS ON THE ART INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE? Its changing a lot. For me, social media now plays the biggest part in promotion and exposure, as opposed to actual galleries or exhibitions. Not that they're not important, because they are extremely important, but social media is at its highest at the moment, and it is so easy for un-established artists to showcase their work, and gain an audience and a following and interest. Particularly among young people, it is much more convenient for them to just tap a follow button on Instagram than to actually attend a gallery. Social media is definitely the most important factor for me and appealing to my demographic. So far I've made amazing contacts through Instagram, and run projects and collaborative work with other creative's I probably wouldn't have done otherwise if I didn't have these platforms. The bigger institutions I believe are becoming a lot less important in contemporary art, as artists are being much more self sufficient now, and constructing their own platforms and events etc.
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Your Illustrators
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12 // WHAT IS YOUR MAIN INSPIRATION FOR YOUR WORK? Theres so much inspiration however recently we have been so inspired by Mike Dargas, the amount of detail in his work is insane! There isn’t any specific person that inspires us however we do like to look for inspiration via social media pages e.g. Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS TIME? In 5 years we hope to continue to be doing illustrating, expanding our store, at the moment we only sell personalised digital portraits. We would like to eventually be creating framed art work, cards, phone cases, bags, T-shirts etc WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE WANTING TO START ILLUSTRATION? Illustrating is very time consuming however its a lot of fun and will be worth it, keep practicing and dont be afraid to get experimental! WHAT MADE YOU FIRST WANT TO GET INTO ILLUSTRATION? From a young age I have always been interested in fashion and art. I first began digital illustration when my family first brought a computer which had no internet or programs such as adobe illustrator however it did have a program called paint, which I would use to doodle portraits of actresses WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? There are a lot of things we love about illustrating but mostly love creating portraits for our customers and there loved ones! and getting positive feedback from them. It is also very therapeutic!
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE STYLE OF YOUR WORK? We specialise in portraits however we would eventually like to do bodies, clothes and accessories. The style of the illustrations is lines and shapes but sometimes we like to mix it up and we try to add distort our lines, add colours, text etc
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ILLUSTRATING IS VERY TIME CONSUMING, BUT IT IS SO MUCH FUN, SEEING THE FINISHED OUTCOME MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT
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Olivia Patton
16 // HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE STYLE OF YOUR WORK? It isn’t commercial enough to be labelled explicitly as “pop” but certain characteristics would suggest otherwise; our songs tend to follow the traditional verse/chorus format and have hooks here and there. However it’s a bit more twisted in the sense that we delve into deep topics, vocalised in quite a vivd, poetic way, with dark instrumentation. Our band name (Cathect) means to invest all of yourself into something mentally and emotionally which is exactly what we do; try to recreate emotions in music form. WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I absolutely love writing lyrics. Everything about it is just so soothing. From the release of expressing locked up thoughts and feelings, to turning your experiences into poetry. I’m one of those people that sees beauty in the world, constantly taking pictures of everything, so imagery is very important to me which makes it really enjoyable to write about things I’ve seen when describing emotions or happenings. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE WANTING TO GET INTO A SINGING CAREER? Don’t give up. There are an awful lot of people trying to break the industry and many people who may not like your music - sometimes it can be disheartening. But you just have to remember to believe in yourself, because if you do then other people will too. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS TIME? The aim is to have built up a big enough fan base in order to be touring around the UK and internationally. Being able to connect with so many people would be so beautiful
WHAT MADE YOU FIRST WANT TO GET INTO MUSIC? When I was 13 I started to write songs as a hobby, but later discovered my true passion for it at 14 years old when I was going through some tough times. I found that lyric writing was a great emotional outlet and making them come to life, instrumentally, added to the experience. IS THERE A SPECIFIC PERSONTHAINSPIRES YOU? My inspirations are constantly changing as I discover new songs or artists, but at the moment I’m particularly inspired by Marika Hackman. Her work is ridiculously clever. She’s so underrated. I guess part of the intrigue is our similar song writing styles, amongst the interesting twists and turns that her melodies take and how her simplicity is so effective. DO YOU CONSIDER MUSIC A FORM OF ART? IF SO, WHY? Very strongly so. Anything that is self-expressive is art in my opinion. If it was created with meaning behind it or it provokes thought or feeling. That’s why I like my songs to have an element of ambiguity about them; because I want people to be able to interpret them in whatever way they wish.
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Sophie Whatling
22 // WHAT DO YOU OVE MOST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? i most love designing and being really creative with my print techniques HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK? My chosen specialism is menswear i would descrie my work as artistic and fun, i use a lot of coulour and print WHAT MADE YOU FIRST WANT TO GET INTO FASHION? i first got into fashion because of my music taste and loved the clothes my favourite musicians such as David Bowie and punk bands wore. IS THERE A SPECIFIC PERSON THAT INSPIRES YOUR WORK? ummm no specific person i can think of, that directly influences my work, as I try to keep it in my own style. maybe noel feilding as his personal style is amazing haha WHAT WOULD YOU SAYS INSPIRES YOU AND YOUR WORK MOST? my main inspiration is probabaly art for this project specifically i have been inspired by the artwork of jean dubuffet , fernand leger and also willem de kooning. i have also been inspires for this project by mens mental helath and diversity in male fashion WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELFIN 5 YEARS TIME? in 5 years time I would love to be working as a menswear print deisgner for one of y favourite brands such as henrik vibskov or walter van beierindonck WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE TO ANYONE WANTING T PERSUE A CAREER IN FASHION? My advice to everyone would bework hard, put the hours in and be prepared! but most of all love what you do and have fun with it
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WORK HARD, PUT THE HOURS IN AND BE PREPARED! BUT MOST OF ALL LOVE WHAT YOU DO AND HAVE FUN WITH IT!