Creative Collections Zine Vol.7 'Hope' March 2021 by collectivemagcreations

MARCH 2021

THE COLLECTIVE MAGAZINE'S

Creative Collections

VOL.7 'HOPE'

Meet the Team

Meg Shepherd CREATIVE EDITOR

HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY

With a Foundation Diploma from Arts University Bournemouth and an English degree from the University of Exeter, Meg has a passion for all things creative. As well as illustration, fine art, and literature, Meg was also widely involved in student theatre whilst at university and enjoys sketch comedy, and films.

Lily is a recent photography graduate from Plymouth College of Art. With a career and hobby combined she enjoys photographing events and products as well as focusing her personal work on photojournalist and documentary style photography. In her spare time she loves to spend time in the Devon countryside with her family and 5 dogs.

Meg oversees the Creative Writing and Visual Art sections.

Lily Newman

Lily oversees section.

the

Photography

'Hope' A WORD FROM OUR EDITORS

'In the wake of some much uncertainty, we felt that 'Hope' was a fitting theme as we entered the month of March. We had a wonderful variety of submissions each completely unique in their response to the theme which we're excited to show all together in this collection.

'Hope' was the prompt I was most excited to see the responses for because it could have been interpreted in so many different ways, I think I was most excited because I felt it was a prompt for people to express their feelings about slowly coming back into 'normal' life whatever that entailed.

A massive thank you to all of our contributors for submitting their work this month, allowing for this beautiful collection of 'Hope' inspired creations.

As always we had such a variety of submissions which I felt every single one showcased a completely different feeling of hope.

I'm looking forward to next month's theme of 'Harmony' as we enter a new season, new freedoms and try to find harmony in a society currently so fraught with divisiveness.

Next month's theme is 'Harmony' which I feel will really fit with our new freedom and with the country coming into spring and finally more sunny and brighter days.

Meg Creative Editor

Lily Head of Photography

Contents 06

MILLICENT STOTT'S LOCKDOWN POETRY 'Fairy', 'A Year Since', 'The Moon & The Biopsy'

MOHAMMED ADEL Artist Spotlight & Interview

GOOD SOULS NEVER PERISH Aishwarya N. Murali

DON'T WORRY BE PURPLE Tanaka Chingoka

'NADELIENE', 'HOPE' & 'CHAOS' Paintings by Niko Garcia Jimenez

OPIA Simran Kaur

CRISTINA OCEJA Intricate Ink Drawings

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: ELLIE HEGARTY

Aina Fontich

Graphic Designer and Illustrator

TRACKING Billie-Jane Bauer-Crier

MASCARA, INDOOR LIFE & A THOUGHTFUL PRESENT

APRIL'S THEME How to Submit

INSPIRING WOMEN Rupinder Jawanda

ANISSA AOUAR Artist Spotlight & Interview

FLUORESCENCE Olivia Brisset

LOUIS DELBARRE Artist Spotlight & Interview

HOPE, SAPPHISM & SPIRITUALITY AYSHE-MIRA YASHIN |

MILLICENT STOTT'S

Lockdown Poetry AMillicent Stott (@millicenteve_) is a first year English Literature student at Durham University. Her poems ‘A Year Since’, ‘Fairy’, ‘The Moon and the Biopsy’, & ‘Another Time’, were all written during the current U.K. lockdown and reflect on a variety of personal themes. MS: “I wrote all of these poems during the current UK lockdown, where I have had plenty of time (too much possibly) to reflect on the part of my life which has ended now I have started university. The pieces reflect varying feelings around past and present relationships, hope, |

and the bittersweetness of leaving your past behind. My favourite recent piece is ‘The Moon and the Biopsy’, which was a cathartic release for me! It focuses on a serious health scare I had last year, and the idea that I have never been able to explain my feelings about that time to anyone because I didn’t think I reacted conventionally. I used the poem as a way to explore the lingering fears and distress this experience caused me as I find it hard to express out loud. Writing poems has been such an important coping mechanism for me this year – I love that there is no judgement in poetry, and I hope some of my words can relate to other people!”

A YEAR SINCE

FAIRY

Another day without life and I touch lips, lashes tender against the cold glass as though pressing them against a lover, one I cannot reach across the smoke the seagull mews in the breeze fresh flowers, I hear her soft breath down the phone my whisper, might it all be okay? Then wait as though for a response from the suburban wilderness. I am waiting. And answer me, mightn’t it?

I like the way her hair curls around my tongue and the earth sweet scent of her sweat on my lips I like the way she never sleeps and her laugh is airy graceful balm to rub into my temples I like her stretch marks purple as fresh plums on her thighs which dip and dive and devour trembling mid-air like dangerous, sleeping swans she is a herb garden of memory rich rosemary and parsley growing but smelling of mint after her shower

ANOTHER TIME In another life we were the married couple on the lawn with the black Labrador late 50’s and the sun is glistening like a golden torch scorching the bonnet of our car I sit on the bench where you dropped me off this afternoon watching the people go by with eyes like yours and think that you could have eased my pain, some other place at the end of us there will be no museums no monasteries desecrated just the coastline left sacred with your touch

THE MOON & THE BIOPSY Excuse me, are you the right person to talk to about this? I guess I just wanted to tell someone that I still play the song I listened to, way back when in the hospital, remember? They juiced me for all I was worth and at night I lay depleted of flesh, oily, sanguine and I looked over at the clean ward opposite, with the soft cheese moon guarding sleepy pills, needles, vials of my dirty blood creeping their way towards… Towards? No, away, keep it away. Anyway, the song – when I played it I would lift up my arms to the moon I was 40 degrees, bruised, defiant and this was my arrogance, my jelly and ice-cream as I watched Doctor Who alone and turned it off when the angels scared me. But I was not afraid, not even of it. Not even when the doctor held my hand and everyone cried and the walls caved in. I just wanted to tell someone that.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:

Mohammed Adel Mohammed Adel is a painter from East London and recent graduate from Camberwell College of Art. His untitled piece is part of a larger oeuvre of work that is visceral, emotional, and deeply connected to his chosen medium. You can view more of Mohammed’s work by following him on Instagram, or on his website. Can you tell me a little about yourself and your work? MA: I am a recent painting graduate from Camberwell University of Arts London who is based in East London.

Coming from a Bengali, Muslim background I never really had any artistic influence so it has always been a question in my mind how I came into art, but here I am. My work has multiple strands as most artists at this stage probably do, I know it is advised in the collecting and selling world to stick to an aesthetic but I’m not much of a fan of that, I would like to be involved in multiple forms of art from performance, installation, wherever the concepts take me, however my practise in anchored by painting. My work ranges from dealing with ideas of the visceral, manifesting a sense of beauty.

What inspires you? MA: I guess its knowing I’m passionate about art and I like to think I make good work too. I want to be able to do something I enjoy for the rest of my life. I don’t have much of a profound answer, what inspires me artistically is a different question I guess. Artistically I’m inspired by everything, it’s almost like I see everything around me through art, always thinking about how I can transform something and pull something out of a subject that isn’t ordinarily there. Do you have any influences? There are a lot of artists whose works I love, some more relevant to my practise than others, for example one of my favourite painters is Caravaggio and one of my all time favourite paintings is Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Judith Slaying Holofernes’ but how much they influence me is different, I really do enjoy creating drama with light so perhaps there is an influence in that sense. Another all-time favourite painting is Ilya Repin’s ‘Ivan

the Terrible and his Son Ivan’, I do enjoy horror, less in a gory way but more so when the viewer can feel the emotion of a story such as Repin’s painting. I am a huge fan of Peter Doig’s work, the taking of an image and reimagining it through your hand is exactly how I like to paint and most of my contemporary influences are similar such as Michael Armitage, Hurvin Anderson, Reggie Burrows Hodges, Mama Andersson. I also look up to artist who have a ranging practise such as Francis Alys, his practise is so multidisciplinary but feels grounded in that there’s always an element of being relatable. It doesn’t feel too far gone. How does your work reflect your lived experience? MA: My work came through a mix of things, my landscape works started from a sense of frustration and an artistic block actually, I felt I was searching for something intangible, something on the tip of your tongue but couldn’t quite get. I rationalised the urge to create but having nothing

"Artistically I’m inspired by everything, it’s almost like I see everything around me through art, always thinking about how I can transform something and pull something out of a subject that isn’t ordinarily there". tangible by making the parallel of beauty and sinister. I collected imagery from places like Dover Cliff as I associated nature to emotion and also as something malleable, I could instil emotion through how I painted and my imagination, only using the imagery. However, I also draw from culture and my environment in other aspects of my works. I am currently looking a lot at my family photo albums, how a lot of people I don’t know exist in a personal space. So there is a range of ways my work relates to my lived experience, at times I am more so deriving from instinct and emotion while at other times it is more about pulling concepts from observation.

What do you wish for viewers to take from your work? MA: I don’t want my work to feel like it gives an answer but provides an experience, some works probably do that more than others but the open ended notion is important as it allows something to be taken with the viewer, whether it’s just an enjoyment of the painterly aspects or more than that. What is your process? MA: I often work with images but I move away from being too representational, more so interpreting the image into something else entirely.

This allows me to use all kinds of imagery, found as well as images I take, nothing is off the books. I try to be organic and let the work lead me, starting from something small and my curiosity and overactive mind does its job. I like to let concepts drive the direction of a project and work in a way that satisfies the ideas. How did you develop your style? Originally I was very representational and that still plays a part in dealing with technical elements of my works but I let my instincts drive me. I felt as my practise progressed I became less patient in certain ways and so allowing myself to stray in how I apply paint, how I deal with elements of light, figures and such. I think I am still developing an artistic vocabulary so things will vary a lot and am still developing my style. What’s next for you? MA: I want to sustain a studio practise and put on more shows while finding more work experience in the art world, that first step is difficult as it seems like everyone is looking for already experienced people. want to also be able to find ways to encourage people from a similar background to be more involved in the arts.

I I am looking forward to creating a consistent body of work and resolving the direction of my practise. Any advice for artists starting out on their creative journey? MA: The most relevant advice at the moment would be to not be pressured by social media. Time works differently on social media, you can find yourself expecting a huge change in a week on social media and that can kill your morale whereas in real life a week is nothing. Being so caught up in something that’s constantly in front of you is easy, social media has its advantages but the real world exists, work to your own timetable and pace and look to identify the negativities something has before using it. Also look to be involved, it may sound like everyone who is ahead of you has lucky breaks, and at times it is true, some people have links, however opportunities come through being constantly involved, it cultivates an environment that works to provide you with opportunities. Lastly, get used to rejection, take on the mindset that the goal is to apply to opportunities not to always be successful, set aside a day a week to apply to all your opportunities, that consistency increases your chances.

Good Souls Never Perish AISHWARYA N. MURALI Aishwarya N.Murali is a 17-year-old poet based in Kerala State, India. Her piece ‘Good Souls Never Perish’ is inspired by “the need for humanism in our society, so many people are suffering in our world, they need our attention towards them”. Aishwarya’s poem is a stunning reflection on the current state of the world and a sense of hope for a better future. You can find more of Aishwarya’s work on her Instagram.

GOOD SOULS NEVER PERISH There was a time, when I was in dark. There was a time, when I was abased. There was a time, when I had no power in my words. At all these times there did live Good souls; To wipe my tears, and abscond my fears, To smile which joyed me for a mile. They do live, the good soul who will never perish.

Don't Worry Be Purple TANAKA CHINGOKA

Tanaka Chingoka also known as Tanaka Travels is a 2019 Accounting and Management graduate from Kent University. You can find her work on her website and her Instagram.

‘Don’t Worry be Purple’ TC: “As an obsessed new experience collector, my passion is to slowly explore North London and beyond. For me, this often means solo. Here I take my audience with me on a journey of style, photography and adventure. During the course of my solo adventures I developed a skill and love to photograph my surroundings and others. Summer 2019 I took a leap of faith and ran my first test shoots at Hitchin lavender field, hence why ‘‘ don’t worry be purple”. The nervousness of owning your talents, sometimes manifests into imposter syndrome. Over time I have gained confidence in my art, understanding; if people love your art, believe them. Give yourself permission to love it too.“

Tanaka's Instagram: @tanakatravels Tanaka's website: https://www.tanakatravels.com/

‘Nadeleine’, ‘Hope’, & ‘Chaos’ NIKO GARCIA JIMENEZ

Niko García Jiménez is a graphic designer and visual artist who studied Graphic Design, Illustration and Visual Communication at West London University. His pieces ‘Nadeleine’ and ‘Hope’ are from a Covid series “where [he] represents some of the moments and feeling that we are experiencing during this Pandemic.”

‘Nadeleine’ |

‘Chaos’ |

‘Hope’

Simran Kaur is a surrealist still life, product, and creative portrait photographer an artist who you’ve probably heard of before as she has recently submitted her project ‘Fogged’ and ‘Reverie’ which I would highly recommend having a look at if you haven’t already. You can find more of her work on her Instagram @simran_k_01 and on her website.

Opia SIMRAN KAUR

“Opia is a sequel to my creative portrait photography project titled ‘Fogged’. ‘Fogged’ was talking about my experience with selfisolation and how lost I felt at some point in those 2 weeks. Opia, the sequel, instead showcases me finally coming back to reality after those 2 weeks. Coming back to reality still doesn’t feel real, it feels like you are still in a dream but you did realize that this is reality by the slow passing days of January and then the start of February. You don’t want to come out of your dream because that became your comfort zone and the reality doesn’t taste good to your eyes, ears and even taste anymore, but you are forced to come back once more in order to fulfill your actual dream, the dream you can live in reality. I’m submitting this work because I want people to understand that is fine to feel lost time, it is okay to feel like you don’t know where you are going, it takes time to realize where you want to go, it takes time to discover your identity.”

CRISTINA OCEJA'S

Intricate Ink Drawings

Cristina Oceja is a freelance artist and illustrator based in Madrid, who obtained a Master’s Degree in Digital Art & 3D at Trazos, Madrid. Cristina creates both traditional and digital artwork and her pieces submitted for this month’s theme of ‘hope’ demonstrate her artistic range. CO: “The most commonplace I find inspiration is in nature; animals, plants and various creatures and the cycle of life itself, other topics that help me to create are fantasy, space and mysticism. I have always enjoyed working with simplicity when it comes to my traditional work, and for that working with inks suits me just fine. Working with a maximum of three colors, the white paper, black inks and golden details to direct the eye of the viewer. My digital work on the other hand is quite the opposite. I love using bright colors and contrasts as much as I can. I do still work with the same topics and try to touch as many styles as I can, from what’s close to realism and studies, to more stylized pieces. Animals and characters are what I usually end up working on, including not only original work but also fan art of various franchises I’m fond of. Overall my work sometimes seems to bounce between the topics I find interesting at a given time, but I create for myself so that’s completely fine.”

INDUSTRY INSIGHT:

Ellie Hegarty GRAPHIC DESIGNER For our first ever Industry Insight article, we interview Ellie Hegarty, a London based Graphic Designer who currently works as the Lead Designer at a non-profit social enterprise, Innovation Unit, who work to create change in existing services in the UK in mental health, education and children’s social care. Ellie gives us a glimpse into her life, her career, and offers invaluable words of wisdom to those wishing to undertake a career in the design industry. You can view Ellie’s work on her website.

Can you tell me a little about yourself and your work? My name is Ellie and I am a graphic designer. I currently work at a non-profit social enterprise as the only graphic designer in the organisation. I enjoy having the creative agency to develop my own practice alongside lifting up the organisation’s values and principles. I specialise in illustration, brand identity and publishing.

How did you get to the point you are at now? I studied Fine Art at Newcastle University and graduated in 2015. It was a great degree, but towards the end of my time at Newcastle I found myself being a lot more passionate and directive about how the degree show promotional material should be designed and presented, instead of the actual art I was supposed to be doing. After this, I knew that graphic design was something I wanted to do as a job, but I was very aware that I didn’t have ‘official’ design education and wasn’t confident in any Adobe programmes except Photoshop. It took a few years to decompress from university and feel ready to begin studying again to change paths.On a post-graduate-panic-whim, I moved to abroad to au pair, which was a disaster, I was fired twice and left four months later. The whole experience pushed me really far emotionally, as I

was doing something I really wasn’t good at, in a language I wasn’t good at, with bad employers. But since then I feel reassured that I don’t have to use all my energy to work on something that doesn’t feel right to begin with, and there’s no shame in letting things go, which is also a really good skill that I didn’t have before, so no regrets.When I moved back, I did a few freelance graphic design jobs, and started an internship at a luxury fashion brand. I heard about the temporary role through my sister’s friend. It was to do some photo-retouching of product photographs for two weeks, and after a very short interview, I started immediately. They contacted me again for the next season, and then after that my internship was extended, and I started doing other tasks within the production department. It felt amazing to be good at something and to be acknowledged as such, and my confidence came back quickly.

wBy building good relationships with a few colleagues there, it meant that when a vacancy came up for an assistant, I was able to get a full time job quite easily. Working there was a really positive working experience for me and helped me to develop high standards of working practice, a culture of assertiveness and ownership of my work, and to understand what was important to me in my career. The office was mostly women, and run by a woman, so it was really empowering environment in terms of using your voice and being heard, even in my assistant role. I loved working closely with people who were so passionate about the integrity of the brand, as well as material suppliers who had such refined crafts and skills. It was very inspiring.and my confidence came back quickly. In 2018 I studied at Shillington College, which is an intensive, 3 month course in graphic design. I didn’t want to go back to university to study for a year or more, so this felt like a good option for me. |

Each day is modelled on a working day in a studio environment and was fast-paced and intense. For a while you feel like nothing is happening and you’re not learning how to be “good”, and then one day it does suddenly click and it is a great feeling. The atmosphere there is very positive and encouraging, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to start graphic design quickly. After Shillington, I landed a job at a non-profit organisation as the only graphic designer which was amazing and I still feel very lucky to have gotten. When I got the job, they said my previous working experience, which, although was not design based, made them feel sure that I would work well in their environment as I had shown that I could work under pressure effectively and use my voice.

Can you tell us about a role model who has inspired you? Not a designer, but Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. She is a woman around my age, has achieved so much, and I am always moved by her impressive public speaking. I aspire to be able to speak with as much integrity and power as she does. She is also is unapologetic about being a young, feminine woman in a largely male space. She doesn’t just ‘act like a man would’, she owns her femininity, wears makeup, uses Instagram stories for her work, does videos with Vogue, and has still created a significant space for herself in Congress, which is so admirable to me. She reminds me that being a young woman doesn’t mean you cannot achieve great things or be taken seriously, which is something that I do unconsciously think about often. When you were a child, what career did you see yourself having? It was a toss up between something creative (illustrator, artist) and something animal related, just because they are cute (zoo keeper or vet). I spent most of my time as a child quietly drawing animals, which was a happy middle point. I also played a lot on Photoshop, which turned out to be useful later on.

EFavourite cultural product at the moment? At the moment and always, National Geographic magazine. It appeals to my animal love, as well as having really impressive and beautiful designs in infographics and layouts. What do you think is the biggest issue today facing women in the creative industries? For me as an introverted woman, it has taken a while to find my voice and use it in a way that is successful. In the ‘real world’ my voice isn’t always received in the same way as I imagine it to be, and that, sadly, just behaving ‘like a man would’ has never worked well for me, as women have another hidden layer of prejudice to navigate. I don’t want to feel I have to shrink myself, but at the same time women have to approach conversations in a different way to achieve success, that involves other methods that aren’t spoken about, they are just learned over time. I think more needs to be addressed with young women at work on how they can navigate this male space successfully without changing who they are, and to be able to be taken as seriously as a man with the same level of experience as them.

Tracking BILLIE-JANE BAUER-CRIER

Billie-Jane Bauer-Crier is an architecture student with a hobby of photography and videography. You can find her videography and photography on her website. |

“This video was a result of feelings of friendship, relationship, solidarity and hope necessary to push through confinement. A liberation of guilt-free, humane vulnerability and self preservation. It’s got all the people closest to me in it and it combines aforementioned emotions with ideologies of comforting nostalgia which I cherish from my childhood – notably through the use of an old family camcorder and VHS effects.”

Inspiring Women RUPINDER JAWANDA In the wake of our International Women’s Day special, we’re carrying on the celebration with Rupinder Jawanda’s artworks of inspiring women. Rupinder studies Visual Communications at Royal Leamington Spa College. RJ: “I created these visual artwork pieces to coincide with International Women’s Day. I focused on these particular women because of their accomplishments, and their ambition and drive to raise awareness of important issues. They are women that I, as well as many others, look up to in awe of their determination and courage.” |

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:

Anissa Aouar Can you tell me a little about yourself and your work? I’m originally from Paris and now based in London. With a fashion background I’ve always been inspired by the social aspects of our bodies and ways of expressing ourselves with it and through our appearance. After studying fashion at the Antwerp Royal Academy and working as a fashion designer for a few years I changed career to focus on illustration.

P A| G 4E2 F O U R | J O U R N E Y

What inspires you? Do you have any influences? I’m a very visual person, I fall in love with images. I use a lot of photos, art history references, anything that catches my eye and gives me some sort of emotion as a start to create an image. I’m often inspired by things that touch modern feminism, surrealist and psychedelic arts, dreams and pop culture. I love as well just observing people, relationships and connections between us and with our world, animals and nature.

What is your process? I usually start with sketching the main idea, character and shapes and continue working on illustrator. I like to improvise and let myself do as I feel at the moment. Mistakes can bring interesting and unexpected adds up. Most of the time I build a first raw image and go back later to the artwork with a fresh mind and see things that I didn’t see before and improve it. I try to follow my intuition and not overthink it. How did you develop your style? Through my studies and in the past I’ve always been drawing things that were quite oniric and humoristic. Often using these types of pop colours, drawing mostly women and their bodies that I find so varied and so easy to work with. Before starting working as an illustrator I was sketching lots of people in the tube and public places with a simple black line and more recently started to experiment with vectorized images. It gives me such freedom and options seem infinite as I’ve just started exploring that. What’s next for you? I’ll keep focusing on my illustrations and develop a strong handwriting, showcase more and get more attention and hope one day I can fully live from it.

Any advice for artists starting out on their creative journey? Be true to yourself, follow your intuition, don’t stay stuck in one style, especially at the beginning it’s good to explore. I find it really interesting to look at other artists’ work and see their process and how they’ve built their own style. However try not focusing too much on comparing yourself either. There’s a lot of talented artists out there and it can sometimes be quite overwhelming but don’t beat yourself down anytime you create something you don’t like or feel you’re not good enough. We’ve all been there, most artists have moments of doubt and are not just born like that and just make amazing stuff. It’s a matter of getting to know yourself better, trust your instinct, relax and enjoy mistakes and the process, because that’s what makes you grow. It is a slow process and requires a lot of patience and practice. Ideally drawing on a daily basis will help a lot, if you can make it happen. The more you do, the easier it will get to make stuff.

How does your work reflect your lived experience? My work often reflects my emotional state, it’s quite representative of my moods. It’s visible in all aspects; the character I choose to draw, his face, posture, the elements that surround it, it can be done in black and white or flashy colours. What do you wish for viewers to take from your work? I hope people get some sort of excitement or emotion watching it. I often hear varied interpretations around the same image and love the fact that everyone approaches it so differently. I like when an artwork ends up saying a story that belongs to them and shows something about them and their personality.

Fluorescence OLIVIA BRISSET

Olivia Brisset is a Music Business student at the Academy of Contemporary Music. Her project ‘Fluorescence’ is based on the sun beaming through at this time of year giving Brisset hope of a brighter future. |

“With the past few months devoid of warmth, it was enlightening for the first time this year to be able to bask in light beaming from the sky. Feeling the sun caress my skin and staring at the trees in fluorescence showed me faith in a brighter future. In 2018, I began studying photography at college while travelling for over four hours on the weekends to capture the raw emotion of artists at every gig in London I could get into. Starting to explore portrait photography the following year, my lens has ever since had a focal point on underground musicians off stage. Falling deeper in love with the medium everyday, I continue to explore styles of photography in and out of my home studio in Guildford, England. Encapsulating chaos and mystique with an ethereal outlook.”

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:

Louis Delbarre Can you tell me a little about yourself and your work? My name is Louis Delbarre, I am a 22 years old French Photojournalist and Documentary Photographer, from the North of France. I grew up in a city called Lille where I start to document my surroundings and the people around me. I Come from a political science and photography background. My activist and documentary approach creates a passionate work with politically engaged images, while always remaining respectful towards my subject. My practice combines political science theories, investigative journalism, the use of archival material and photography. Most of my work is based around personal stories that I put into a bigger context. I tend to tell stories that we don’t know about yet or that we don’t know much about.

P A| G 4E8 F O U R | J O U R N E Y

What inspires influences?

you?

It is very cliche but I think you should be passionate about your work no matter what, even making work for yourself without even thinking if it is going to be published or shown anywhere. Document what you like, what you think is interesting and what you don't see often in the mainstream media or online.

you

have

any

My first experience with visual storytelling was influenced by movies and documentaries. I always had a lot of respect to documentary filmmakers and I believed that influenced my work and the person that I am. On a strict photography point of view, I have always been admirative of the work of Edmund Clark, there is a mix of investigation and photography. It raises question about the making of images itself, the purpose of photography and the use of it. One of the first photobook that I bought was Tulsa, a Photobook from Larry Clark, documenting drug abuse and his youth with his friends in Tulsa, Texas. I think my main source of influence was a Belgium/French TV show that not much people know about called “Strip Tease”. It is a series of small video documentary, documenting the life of people that you would never see on TV. Most of those documentaries focus on the story of people living a simple life, caught in their everyday life, filmed the most simple and honest way possible. It is made in a very specific way where the documentary maker disappear behind the camera and gives a very honest view into people’s life. These pieces of documentary photography, film and investigative pieces of journalism really Influenced the way I think and how I create work. |

How does your experience?

work

reflect

your

lived

I come from a very politically activist side and I think it really shaped the way I work. I tend to understand and see the world through the prism of the society where people just evolve in it. Seeing how everything is constructed and how people react to a system that is bigger than them. What do you wish for your viewers to take from your work? I like focusing on issues that nobody cares about. I really wish that, by showing my work, people will start learning about the stories I showed or talked about. In a sense I want the viewer to feel the importance of those stories and the sense of urgency in my work and the stories that I am bringing to the public. I truly believe that anything we do is deeply political; I hope that people get that from my work.

What is your process? I usually do a lot of research before starting a project, books, articles and movies mostly and then I try to get in contact with my subjects. This is a very long process and the main difference between photojournalism and documentary photography, I guess. I usually spend a lot of time with my subject before even starting to take pictures. Getting to know people and getting their trust and understanding the subject before starting to get picture is the most important part. How did you develop your style? I think that I am still developing my style today. I just begun in photography documentary. My approach to documentary photography is very much trying to show and explain what I cannot do with words. I tend to work with the notion of presence and absence as photography is the best tool for me to tell those stories of absence. My studies in political science and my activist point of view really shaped what I want to talk about and how I am going to approach it.

What’s next for you? I kind of want to go deeper into the investigative journalism. I realized the importance of journalism in my work and my career. In the future I hope I will to create pieces of work that are visually impacting but also approaching subject in depth that most media or artist don’t talk about. I have a big interest for the stories that nobody talks about.

Have you got any advice for photographers starting out on their journey? It is very cliché but I think you should be passionate about your work and keep making work no matter what, even making work for yourself without even thinking if it is going to be published or shown anywhere. Document what you like, what you think is interesting and what you don’t see often in the mainstream media or online. You will find what you like to do on the way. Be patient, photography and documentary photography is a very long process. Everybody work at their own pace, there is no shame to take your time doing a project and doing mistakes, going back to take more picture or document yourself some more. Study the ethics of representation and picture making. Be aware of the power photography can have and the power you own while taking pictures. It is very important to create a work that is respectful towards your subject, not offensive and well documented. If you can transcribe how complex things are through your images, then I think you are in the right way.

Hope, Sapphism, Feminism, & Spirituality AYSHE-MIRA YASHIN Ayshe-Mira Yashin is an artist and poet from Istanbul, Turkey and Nicosia, Cyprus. based in Cambridge. We had the privilege to talk to Ayshe-Mira about her work, her life and what inspires her. You can find her art and poems interspersed with her answers below, follow her on Instagram, and buy prints of her work along with tarot cards, zines & stickers from her shop. Can you tell me a little about yourself and your work?

I’m a 17-year old lesbian MiddleEastern artist, poetess and witch from Istanbul, Turkey and Nicosia, Cyprus. I’m based in Cambridge, England, and am hoping to do an art foundation course in London later this year. .

My art is largely tied to my identity as a Middle- Eastern lesbian, but it is also part of my spirituality and occult practice. I also write poetry exploring similar themes of sapphism, feminism, healing and spirituality, and am currently working on editing my first self-published illustrated poetry collection. I have an independently managed witchy art shop (https://www.ayshemira.com/theillustration-witch-shop), where I sell a range of items, including my tarot deck, handmade bookmarks, illustrated poetry zines, signed art prints, handmade necklaces, and sun and moon stickers. .

LOOMING the patch of blond hair on your brunette head about which I did not speak, to you instead I picked you up just before midnight and spent the time between then and the witch’s hour lighting candles in circles and circles around you you extinguished them one by one, when in fact the sun was still looming above us I promise in that moment I recalled that midsummer day when in your garden you taught me how to dry roses you were the one who taught me that the petals are not truly dry unless they can be crumpled into dust

MILDEW take me with you through the mildew take me in your hands with longing I ache for your lips to my breast for your spit growing over my skin like mildew the lack of your touch on my skin to me feels like an August twilight which I cannot sleep through the pink scars like berries you left on my neck are fading away into purple and blue I touch them again and pretend that they’re fresh that yesterday they were placed on me by you

What inspires influences?

you?

you

have

any

In terms of influences, I am very instinctually driven and cannot always consciously trace my influences, but my spirituality is a huge source of inspiration, and I often consider the magical correspondences of plants, natural bodies or animals before drawing them or using them as metaphors in my poems. (E.g. jasmine corresponds with spirituality, love, and clarity of mind, so I might incorporate jasmine into a drawing in order to manifest these things.) My political views have also fed into my art at many points in my artistic journey, because I think that the artistic and creative mind can evoke empathy from people who might otherwise be apathetic. How does your experience?

work

reflect

your

lived

My art is very emotionally driven, so I often use it as a vessel to explore or express struggles and experiences in my personal life. I use art as a coping mechanism at times, either as a method of escapism or distraction. I especially use my poetry to work through personal struggles in my life, beginning through automatic writing, free-verse “word vomiting” or shadow work, and turning these abstract, messy pieces of work into more resolved written pieces. How did you develop your style? I developed my illustrative style through the inspiration of a wide range of tarot decks (namely the Pamela Coleman Smith deck), and through the study of illustrative artists such as Aubrey Beardsley. I used to do a lot of collage work using colourful paper, photographs and images from secondary sources, but this slowly transformed into the use of herbs and natural materials in collage, as part of my art magic pagan witchcraft practice.

My poetry, on the other hand, is very instinctive (as opposed to stylised), and is often a collage of my thoughts and ideas and images that arise in my consciousness. I developed my writing style through years of practice and study of poetry by reading, my favourite poets being Leonard Cohen (guilty pleasure), Sappho, Sylvia Plath, Audre Lorde and Joy Harjo. What is your process? For my illustrations, I often begin with an idea of symbolism or imagery that I want to incorporate into a piece, and then work around this by filling in the composition. I consider the connotations and implications of a range of sigils, archetypes and symbols that I might incorporate into a piece, and follow this with intuitive and personalised illustrative work in my own style. For my poems, I carry around a small handmade notebook with me everywhere I go, and write down phrases and ideas for poems that come to my mind throughout each day. When it feels right to me, I take some time to write out these phrases on my laptop or into another notebook, and combine a range of phrases and ideas with stylisation to transform them into more resolved poems. ow does intersect?

your

written

and

visual

work

My poetry-writing and art-making tend to take place separately, though both arts come from the same part of me. That being said, I often find parallels between my art and my poetry (not necessarily deliberately created). I find that my poetry often feels incomplete when not accompanied by an illustrative expression of the poem, which is why I always end up illustrating my poems. I have also recently experimented with a narrative structure, telling a story through my drawings, or combining imagery with words or extracts of poetry in an artist book.

CRICKETS the summer slipped between my fingers it was only yesterday that I woke to the chirps of the crickets to ankles swollen with mosquito bites to sunlight emerging through window cracks to jasmines woven tightly round my neck in the arms of my lover only yesterday the crickets were chirping at the window and I was enveloped in my lover’s embrace but now there is nothing left of the crickets but shells and now there is nothing left of my lover but hollow space the summer slipped between my fingers like how the loss of my lover became the loss of myself

WET SOIL It was raining in your garden on that last day when you allowed me into your presence. I remember how you were bound to your bed because everything was heaviness to you so I carried wet soil into your bedroom I held the soil in my palms (the worms crawled against my thumb) and I held my palms to your face so that you might smell the rain

Artistically I’m inspired by everything, it’s almost like I see everything around me through art, always thinking about how I can transform something and pull something out of a subject that isn’t ordinarily there. What do you wish for viewers to take from your work? I have found that there is very little representation of artists and poets who come from intersectional identities. I hope that my work can act as a small example of the experience of living as a Middle-Eastern lesbian. Also, I hope that my body-positive depictions of the female form can help women and non-binary people work through internalised misogyny by highlighting physical features that are often demonised in the media, as a statement against the mainstream symbolic violence that is wrought upon women through their representation in ways that would appeal to the male gaze, and ways that reduce them to only responding to that gaze. My representation of women aims to give them the power and self confidence with which to feel at home in their bodies, in the many shapes and sizes in which they exist, without the demonisation of natural and common (more so than not) features such as body fat, body hair, cellulite, stretch marks and scars.

What’s next for you? I’m still in the application process for art schools in London, and will hopefully start building a life for myself soon. I’m hoping to complete my 78-card Tarot deck over the summer, as well as working on my poetry more extensively and self-publishing my own collection of work. I am also trying to expand the range of media that I work with, hoping to explore papier mache, paper-making, inkmaking and sewing. In terms of my shop, I am at the beginning stages of working on some new products, including ouija boards/spirit boards, poetry zines, handmade grimoires and sketchbooks, and handmade earrings! Any advice for artists starting out on their creative journey? I feel that I’m only just starting out my journey myself, since I’m very young and have only been a published artist for a few months. But some small words of advice (from a very unqualified artist!) might be to continuously seek out inspiration and surround yourself by inspiring people, and also not to monetize your entire creative practice

Mascara, Indoor Life & A Thoughtful Present AINA FONTICH

InAina Fontich (@aina.tv) is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer from Barcelona based in Manchester. Aina studied Arts and Design at EINA Barcelona and her pieces ‘Mascara’, ‘Indoor Life’ & ‘A Thoughtful Life’ were submitted as part of this month’s theme of ‘Hope’. You can view more of Aina’s work on her website.

OUR THEME FOR APRIL IS

'Harmony'

TO SUBMIT CREATIVE WRITING OR VISUAL ART, EMAIL MEG: creative.thecollectivemag@gmail.com TO SUBMIT PHOTOGRAPHY EMAIL LILY: photography.thecollectivemag@gmail.com AND FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @collectivemagcreations

THE COLLECTIVE MAGAZINE