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Preacher Co Partnership Natasha V. Jeffrey Alan Love Exhibit
January/February 2018 Twenty-Four Dollars commarts.com
NATASHA v. N O DAYS O F F BY DZANA TSOMONDO
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can’t draw. I can’t paint. Photography is the only thing I can really do with my hands,” Toronto-based still life photographer Natasha V. tells me as we work our way through a couple of small plates at Bar Isabel in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood. She is explaining her love for illustration and how important other forms of art can be for keeping her own batteries charged. “I really try not to look at photography because I hate to be influenced by what’s popular right now,” she elaborates. “You have to evolve and you have to change to survive in this industry, but you have to be you.” As I will learn, being Natasha V. means being in constant movement: always thinking, always driving, always willing to get in early and be the last to leave. It comes as no surprise to discover that she is an avid runner—not because of her lithe physique, but because of the energy in her voice and the restlessness in her eyes. V.’s aesthetic pairs a gift for conceptual storytelling with a deep palette, all with the aplomb of an artist who has mastered her craft. She has placed work in publications like Elle, InStyle and Red while building relationships with clients like EOS, Holt Renfrew and Hudson’s Bay. As president of Blu Design and Communications Inc., a New York–based design, advertising and branding agency, Liz Padilla has worked with V. many times. “The two that stand out in my mind the most are the Hazelton Lanes spring campaign and Beauty Underground for Hudson’s Bay,” she says. “These two projects gave Blu creative freedom, and with the help of Natasha, we were able to get the strong, captivating images that delivered… [Natasha] not only delivers on the proposed creative, but then goes one step further and puts her spin on it, giving you the shot that you usually end up going with.” There is a clarity to V.’s work that stands out in a field all but besotted with lush opulence. Whether of fashion or food, her photographs are effortlessly clean and elegantly simple, with crisp lighting and refreshingly cool colors; here beauty speaks for itself in soft tones, with no need to shout above the din. If all this sounds dispassionate, make no mistake: V.’s aesthetic
is nothing if not sensual. By nature, fashion photography is a study in fetishism. But her images have a palpable sheen, as if everything has just been wiped down but is still wet to the touch. Food is voluptuous, visual umami: pale squid backstroking in a lake of swollen orange segments, half-finished meals where disemboweled pies totter amidst crumbling wedges of rich cheese, fine napkins and sleek cutlery. V. and her agent, Jooli Kim of JK Productions, Inc., have been collaborating for three years. After hearing about her from an art buyer, Kim—who was struck by V.’s use of color and patterns—kept tabs on her for some time before the opportunity came to work together. “I think Natasha’s work is a standout because she can create the modern, unique, classic image,” Kim offers, before breaking that down further. “The classic quality is within her photographic approach, avoiding the overly retouched result and attempting to get most of the shot in-camera. The unique is [her] creative process ... [it’s] what inspires Natasha, making images new again. And the modern is her beautifully effortless aesthetic.” When I arrive at V.’s studio in Toronto’s east end, a shoot for Dauphine Magazine is already in full swing. The photographer is centered in the high-ceilinged room, circling her subject, a diamond-encrusted alligator necklace. V.’s assistant and a product stylist move about her in complementary orbits, the three of them acting as one; adjusting this, adding that, crimping and smoothing, and all the while shooting, shooting, shooting. At a table off to the side, a representative for the jeweler and an attendant security guard look up from their devices to watch this delicate ballet, which has been going on for hours. If V. feels any pressure, it doesn’t show. She greets me and is as affably unruffled as she was sipping cocktails the night before at Bar Isabel. And why not—this is her element. For all the activity, V. runs a lean operation and is more dependent on imagination and intuition than on gear. A cluster of grapes isn’t working as an accent to the jewelry, but a quick nibble turns it into a naked stem that makes the shot. “I don’t like using too many lights. I rarely have more than three or four
Right: “Cover of Air Canada’s enRoute magazine. The theme of this issue was Brussels, Belgium. I focused on its vibrant art scene while also paying tribute to the famous Belgian waffle.” Nathalie Cusson, art director; Air Canada, enRoute, client. 44
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DIGITAL MEDIA 1 Ana Gomez Bernaus (Venice, CA), designer Show Us Your Type, client “Show Us Your Type invites designers to illustrate names of cities with their signature style. To have my submission for Seoul show the mix between high tech and tradition that exists in the city, I created the characters with bubbles, which are organic and natural, but at the same time represent a marvelous material behavior.”
ENVIRONMENTAL 2 Pamela Rounis, designer Lisa Nakamura, associate creative director Ian Grais/Chris Staples, creative directors Kerry Bhangu, producer Endeavour Neon, production company Rethink (Montréal/Toronto/Vancouver, Canada), ad agency “We have a saying around the Rethink office: keep going. It means pursuing the best possible solution to a creative problem and never settling for anything less. We made three of these infinity mirrors to grace walls at all of our Rethink offices.”
3 Stewart West, designer Jason Johnson, art director John Johnson/Stewart West, creative directors Tami West, fabricator Qualtrics Creative, design Qualtrics (Provo, UT), client “We wanted the environment at the Seattle office of Qualtrics to be fun as well as productive. The Brewcade encourages our employees to get to know one another outside of their usual circles and to take some time every day to do something enjoyable and refreshing.” Typeface: Braggadocio.
4 Tyler Cristobal, senior designer Don Hollis, creative director Zack Wilkie, fabricator Hollis Brand Culture (San Diego, CA), design firm Brett Miller, Eat.Drink.Sleep., client “Nestled along the shores of Lake San Marcos, California, the sleepy Quails Inn restaurant sat vacant and in disrepair for nearly a decade before being reimagined as Decoy, a nature-inspired restaurant that celebrates getaway lakeside vacations, tackle shops, family cabin living and hearty hunting lodges. A feature wall of unexpected proportions invites patrons to ‘Get Lost’ in the forest and find their own path within a multilayered, hog wire, larger-than-life needlepoint tapestry. The custom type uses a cross-stitched metal grid pattern as the base, with a parachute cord to create the letterforms.”
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Display Extra Light Display Extra Light Italic Display Light Display Light Italic Display Regular Display Regular Italic Display Semi Bold Display Semi Bold Italic Display Bold Display Bold Italic Display Extra Bold Display Extra Bold Italic Display Heavy Display Heavy Italic Display Black Display Black Italic Text Light Text Light Italic Text Regular Text Regular Italic Text Bold Text Bold Italic Text Black Text Black Italic
TYPEFACE DESIGN 1 (series) Martina Flor/Jan Fromm/Phillipp Neumeyer/Daria Petrova, typeface designers Luc(as) de Groot (Berlin, Germany), type director “The typeface Koning originated as a high-contrast version of the Corpid family in order to satisfy a newspaper customer who wanted just a bit more difference between the thin and the thick strokes. The high contrast required a new shape language—and over time, a new name. Koning Display, with ten weights, has the highest contrast; Koning Text, with eight weights, has a medium contrast, which makes it work well in small sizes. Koning is Dutch for ‘king’—a king that represents elegance and prestige while still being in touch with his people, just like this typeface, with its display and text parts, is.”
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FRESH ABBY HADDICAN
Beyoncé. Art deco. The Golden Girls. With such an eclectic mood board, it’s no wonder that Abby Haddican’s work demands closer inspection. “I’m at my best creatively when I have a lot of different kinds of projects going on at the same time,” the Saint Paul, Minnesota–based designer says. Such gumption defines Haddican’s five-year career, which began after Haddican enrolled in art school with two years of experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine—but with no art background. That didn’t stop her from landing a plum postgraduate internship at Saint Paul–based studio Werner Design Werks, where you’ll find her today. Clients may range from a Chinatown-based beverage startup to an organic whiskey and bourbon distillery, but Haddican always finds a fresh way forward. “I usually have something loosely in mind—some sketches to light the way,” she says. “But more often than not, I just jump into Adobe Illustrator and move shapes or type or color around until something starts to click.” Sometimes she finds solutions that surprise even herself. abbyhaddican.com
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