made magazine
photo by joseph hammond
m a d e magazine
influence understood a note from the curator
made magazine is a way to showcase and understand the elements of individuals’ creativity. It opens the doors to why they are who they are and why they create what they create. This magazine explores the inspiration, hightened creativity, and influence behind young, up-and-coming people in the creative industries of art, film, and fashion. made is starting from the beginning. The backbone to this magazine is not just the profiles of these young and creative individuals, but demonstrates the overall idea of how we, as human beings, choose to spread and gather ideas and information. The way we collect and share all of this information and express ourselves with it is what makes us so unique. As we enter the digital age, it is no longer just past stories we remember or what we learn from magazines, books, and walking down the street. We would pick up a magazine from a store and look forward to feeling the pages flip between our fingers. We were able to take in and have the ability to keep a tangible piece of artful layouts and ideas on our bookshelves. With the constant need to have everything at our fingertips, the shift from tangible magazines to iPads, and other electronic devices is becoming ever more popular. made magazine is intended to demonstrate and explore the changing relationship between the reading experience and the form of magazines in print and digital form. Does the medium of the magazine affect the reader experience, how information is perceived, and how it is understood? Does authentic experience play a role? I have always been intrigued by how individuals gather inspiration and how they are influenced. A person’s background, where they grew up, and what they were surrounded with plays a role in anyone’s creative process and aesthetic. made magazine uncovers the details behind the finished product by speaking with six aspiring creative individuals in three visually creative industries to bring a new perspective to how we look at art, film, and fashion. Enjoy the magazine.
- Stephanie MacDougall
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made magazine
first print edition spring /summer 2014 Copy
of 9
All copy and images for the magazine were produced by
s t e p h a n i e m a c d o u g a l l unless otherwise specified. more from the curator
www.stephaniemacdougall.carbonmade.com
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contents 5
Influence Understood: a note from the curator
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Guest List Art
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Through the eyes of: Izzy Mink
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Understanding chaos wit h : Nikki Peck Film
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Laughing wit h: Dani elle Roney
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Learning with: Aidan Shipley Fashion
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A conversation wit h: Yuki Barton
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An adventure with: Eva Parrell
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guest list izzy mink Vancouver, British Columbia Izzy is an aspiring, young artist who experiences and feels the world with a need to turn her emotions into something visual or written. Using painting and song writing as a way to express herself, creating art out of her experiences and emotions gives her a sense of independence and relaxation. With strong musical influence, she often forms a connection between how she feels and something a musician is conveying in their music. She tries to use the information she is given to create something visual.
nikki peck Montreal, Quebec
A young, abstract artist, Nikki Peck has acquired a profound appreciation for Canadian Northwest Coast aboriginal art and incorporates these themes into many of her paintings. Chaotic, abstract, and conceptual are the words Nikki uses to describe her painting style as she regularly works with paradoxes and the challenges between being free and being constricted. Each of her paintings will uniquely show the chaos and energy she was feeling from a certain experience.
danielle roney
North Vancouver, British Columbia Growing up in North Vancouver, BC and recognized by one name, there are two people to compare Roney too: Tina Fey & Amy Poehler. With a strong interest in mocumentaries, Roney hopes to educate kids through laughing. Her inspiration is heavily influenced by her friends and growing up with her dad. Roney lives a life with the simple need to make people laugh (and maybe even be a writer or producer in a comedy series or mocumentary one day).
aidan shipley Toronto, Ontario
Having two strong influences from a young age in the film industry, and an actor since the age of 8 in Stratford, Ontario, Aidan aspires to one day make a living from either acting or directing. Over the last few years Aidan has began purseuing his love for directing, being involved with a number of short films, as well as consistently acting. Fascinated with the collaboration of art and technology being used to tell a story, he is and will continue to be an active member of the film industry, especially after his last film entitled Dorsal.
YUKI BARTON
North Vancouver, British Columbia Creating a jewelry collection inspired by Ancient Egyptian symbols and jewelry making techniques, Yuki is drawn to jewelry design because of it’s diversity and open endedness. After taking an art metal class in high school and interning with a local Toronto jewelry designer, Jenny Bird, Yuki continues to add ideas to her big list of pieces she hopes to create in the future with the technique of wax casting.
EVA PARRELL Toronto, Ontario
With travel being Eva’s biggest inspiration, she found herself taking part in two trips to Maasai-land, Kenya and working with the women in the Ioodariak village with their traditional craft of beadwork. Through the foundation Supamaasai in Toronto, she helped provide income for the families in the village by selling some of their designed jewelry pieces. She later returned to the village of Ioodariak, bringing her newest collection to work on with the women in the village. Eva not only has a love for designing and producing clothing but through the inspiration the Ioodariak community has given her, intends to illustrate a story about their community and culture through her collection.
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art
“I feel a lot and I always think, well how can I get this out of me because other people around me don’t feel thing’s or do thing’s on that level so I try and paint emotion. When I feel something really strong I’ll paint it. It comes out of me almost, if that makes sense. I experience the world and I feel it, I just have to turn it into something, which is usually paintings and sometimes music, actually.”
IZZY MINK
through the eyes of
is an aspiring, young artist who experiences and feels the world with a need to turn her emotions into something. Using painting and song writing as a way to express herself, creating art out of her experiences and emotions gives her a sense of independence and relaxation. With strong musical influence, she often forms a connection between how she feels and something a musician is conveying in their music. She tries to use the information she is given to create something visual. When did you start painting? Probably as soon as I could hold a paintbrush. I have been painting my whole life, but I used to be much more of a drawer or sketcher and it kind of transferred more into painting as I got older. Why do you like painting? It is very therapeutic and something I am really good at, I guess. I think the main reason is because it is figuring out something completely on your own, if that makes any sense. You develop your own style and it is almost intellectually stimulating just as much as it is relaxing and therapeutic. It works your mind and you have to think about layers and how things are going to look. It is all you and it comes out of something where people do not often see the process; people see the finished result. You go through this long, creative process where your piece of art is constantly changing and people never know that it may have looked like three completely different paintings along the way. It just keeps evolving. I guess in short, mainly because of the fact that it is something you do on your own and figure out on your own. It is very liberating to be that independent on something. Can you explain your process of “layering”? You block it out. When I started painting, I used to paint like I would draw. I would start using my fingers and smudging everything, which I found out was not a very good technique for me, unless I am using a certain kind of paint or surface. When you learn to actually work with the paint as opposed to pretending you are drawing, you go in layers. So for example, I use my fingers to figure out dimension, you know, the classic artist thing where you try and block out where everything is and then I would fill it in and go from light to dark. If you go from dark to light it gets this weird grayish tinge. You get a much fuller colour if you go light to dark. I do two Chesto layers first, then I do a whitish cream coloured layer, then I have the best colour ever called Titan Buff or something — but I sometimes call it “Buff Tits.” It was this running inside joke in high school. I am pretty sure I have labeled every container of that paint with that name in my high school art room. It is a really great colour. I mix it with everything and it just helps blend all the colours in. Light to dark is my rule; at least that is how I taught myself.
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Do you have a favourite painting? Oh god, there are so many. There is that famous one by Gustav Klimt called The Kiss, but everyone knows that one. I saw this amazing painting, when I was in art class once, that I love. It is by Paul Gauguin and it is called The Wave. I like his style too — it is very expressive. There is just so much going on right now in the world of art, I would never be able to pinpoint one favourite. It is like when someone asks you what movies you like and you blank because there are so many.
Is there a certain band that you like to listen to while you paint? I have a very broad range of music that I like. When I am painting commissions, it is usually on shuffle. When I am painting something emotional, it is based on what kind of mood I am in. If I am sad, I will put on some sad music. It just happens naturally. Do you have a favourite band? Yes! My favourite band right now is Half Moon Run. I have classic favourite bands too, but it is the same as favourite paintings or movies, I cannot really name all of them off the top of my head. I like a lot of folk stuff, rock stuff, and alternative stuff but then I will also go into electronic stuff if I am having a good time. My dad is a musician and I think I get a lot of my interest in music from him. My dad, along with Leo DaVinci, on the artistic level is an incredibly inspiring human being. He did not even finish high school, he just went on tour. He was always smart but also extremely passionate about what he does, so that is really inspiring.
How do you get inspired if you are not painting for commission? Well lately I have been doing a lot of commissioned work because I need to get some money for my traveling. I feel like I am such a young artist and I have not really found my niche yet. It has been mainly developing my technique. If I could gage where my inspiration comes from I think it comes from a need to express emotion which could possibly be related to the fact that I went to a private school where emotion was not a thing. You could not express yourself, really. Everyone there is shut down and even in Vancouver, the atmosphere is very polite and a little superficial. It is a bubble. I feel a lot and I always think, “Well how can I get this out of me because other people around me do not feel things or do things on that level,” so I try and paint emotion. When I feel something really strong I will paint it. It comes out of me almost, if that makes sense. I experience the world, and I feel it, I just have to turn it into something, which is usually paintings and sometimes music, actually. After I graduated high school, I started writing a whole bunch of music and it just started happening. Music is another huge thing for me. I feel like now I write music almost as much as I paint.
Do you have a creative process? This is going to sound really weird but aside from listening to music, it also depends a lot on what I am wearing. I have different outfits that I wear when I paint. Sometimes I wear nothing but a t-shirt and thigh high socks and then sometimes I will be completely naked (now that is an amazing thing!). I will usually be bare foot and sometimes I will wear a robe, but my hair always has to be up. My hair cannot be down or I cannot paint. There is a whole zone I get into. Music is very important. But I also feel like I am too young to have a routine sorted out, have a style, or know how to express it properly. I also think I just need to move out, have experiences to turn into art and go travelling, because at the moment there is not a lot of inspiration happening.
Is there anyone who influences you the most? Actually, yes! I am kind of influenced by music in my art. I find I can extract a lot of emotion from musicians that I really admire. I form a connection between something I feel and something they are conveying in their music and then I try and make it something visual. I feel way less connected with other visual artists than I do with musical artists, whether that is because I do not go to galleries and stuff, but there is one human being who has inspired me more than anybody else and that is Leonardo DaVinci. He is a BAD ASS! He does everything and at such a high level. He has such a well-rounded picture of the universe. He is scientific and he is kind hearted (from what I have read about him). He is just an amazing human being and an incredibly influential painter, so Leo DaVinci is kind of my god.
How long would you say you sit and paint for? I could sit all day painting and forget to eat. With commissioned work, it is more frustrating so after half an hour I will need a break but with something self directed, if I am really into it I can sit there even in an uncomfortable position and get really obsessive. It is a very artistic trait. I just want to have an interesting life and like what I am doing.
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art Izzy Mink
Would you say you have a theme you go for when you are painting? I guess the emotional theme. I am not really into dissonant modern art just for the sake of the shock value. That is not my style. I want someone to look at it and think, “Wow that is so beautiful and thoughtful.” I guess thoughtfulness is something too. It is very hard to pinpoint themes because I have not fully evolved as an artist yet, but in the future you will probably be able to see changes throughout my paintings in different years. I am such a young gun right now! Is there a favourite memory that relates to your art? Yes, actually. Patrick Watson is this musical group and he is the front man. I love their music and have loved it for a very long time. They came to Vancouver once and they were super chill and are relatively well known I think. Before the show he came out on stage and was testing the piano out himself, which is what the roadies usually do. So people were going up and giving him flowers and Polaroids and stuff like that. I made him this picture of this tree, which I drew in ink. It was the first picture I had actually drawn in a really long time. This was in grade 11 when I did not take art — that really screwed me over. It was probably the worst year of my life. I actually did a painting about grade 11 because it was so terrible. Anyway, I had not drawn in so long and thought I should give it to Patrick Watson. I ran up to the stage and said, completely star struck, “HI! I made this for you!” What was so amazing was he put it up on his piano the entire show and he referenced it later on. It was just such a connection from this artist that I respected and he respected me, at least a little. It was the best! Then when I was in Montreal, which is where he is from. I was at a party and we were on the same dance floor and I had no idea. My friend told me later on and I lost it. That was a missed opportunity, but to have him put my painting up on his piano to look at the entire show was a very gratifying moment. Another memory though, was one of the first commissions I had painted. The painting was of these two young girls and the owner sent me a picture of the girls with the painting I did for them after. They were so happy and had the biggest smiles on their faces. That was another really gratifying moment.
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art Izzy Mink
“ I find I can extract a lot of
emotion
from musicians that I really admire. I form a connection between something I feel and something they are conveying in their music and then I try and make it something visual .�
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NIKKI PECK
understanding chaos with
A young, abstract artist, Nikki Peck has acquired a profound appreciation for Canadian Northwest Coast aboriginal art and incorporates these themes into many of her paintings. Chaotic, abstract, and conceptual are the words Nikki uses to describe her painting style as she regularly works with paradoxes and the challenges between being free and being constricted. Each of her paintings will uniquely show the chaos and energy she was feeling from a certain experience. When did you start painting? I started painting in my last year of high school. I took the AP Studio class. Originally my teacher told me she would not accept me into the class because I only took art once in grade 9. She basically said I was not good enough, which made me even more determined to get into the class. Why do you like painting? Ah I love painting! I do not know — it can give a texture and pigment that no other medium can give. I love it! It is so unique. You can give so much detail or give nothing at all and it is just so seductive. Why would you say you like art in general? It is a creative outlet, I guess. It is so therapeutic and it has always been my passion. I have always been really creative and it is been something that I can always grow with. Do you have a favourite artist? That is a hard question. I really like Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun’s paintings. He is from Vancouver and a Coast Salish artist. He is amazing! There are so many painters I like, it is hard to decide. I mean, Kent Monkman is a native artist that I have been really into lately. He likes to incorporate queer and gender themes into his landscapes. I also love any abstract artist. I could name a billion of them. For the classics, Cezanne is great. He is better than Picasso in my opinion. A lot of your paintings are abstract. Do you have an idea of what you want the painting to look like at the end? I have a whole process. With my artwork it is not really about the destination or outcome of the painting, it is about the whole process and what I get out of every stage of it. There are so many steps to how I do my work.
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art Nikki Peck
Is there anything that has influenced you in painting? Travelling, languages, and culture have definitely influenced me as a painter. I think taking pictures of the places that I travel to have really opened my eyes to a lot of artists, artwork, and culture behind a lot of places. From everywhere I go, I have managed to gather a lot of ideas and different colours that have really stuck with me and I try and incorporate that into my paintings.
paint moving. I usually take different materials and put it into the paint to make different designs as well, and then I will take a paintbrush and manipulate that. The whole process does not really take that long but I am so involved with what I am doing that nothing else matters. I am so in my head and focused when I start painting. It is almost like a high. I get so involved with the paint. Then I will just set it aside and let it dry, but I never go back and fix anything. I will leave it. If I want to do something different then I will start the whole process all over again and make another painting.
Do you ever paint while you are travelling? I went to Italy for a month and I did art there. I did a lot of figurative, charcoal drawing on the mountains.
You said you used a lot of different mediums to mix with the paint. What would you use? I sometimes use different wax and inks, as well as a lot of different textures like sand too. I have also used a type of latex or resin before. I usually just put everything out in front of me and go with it. It gets really expensive. In the summer my family and I go to my cabin on Sprout Lake in BC that is on a beach. I will set up everything on the beach to paint and end up just grabbing sand and throwing it on the canvas. I will literally use anything I can get my hands on. I also did this one painting where I collaborated with a friend who is a photographer. The painting is called A Portrait of Justin because the painting is completely white and it has all of these weird geometric shapes pasted on it. It is because his photography is very minimal and he uses a lot of geometric shapes. We were together once and this painting literally just came out of us. I could not even tell you what happened or how it happened.
Were you studying art in Italy or were you just there to travel? I was in a really intense art course, where I had to wake up at 6 in the morning and draw still life and proportional/representational landscapes with an isle in front of me, rain or shine on the mountains until 5 o’clock at night. Twelve hours a day of drawing! It was really intense. People would cry everyday. We would be on this mountain in the pouring rain with our hoods up, sketching these mountains for hours. Ugh after that I did not want to draw ever again. It was a six-credit course and twelve students were selected to be a part of it, so that was cool. I am an abstract artist too so having to do proportional charcoal drawing was a huge challenge for me. It was definitely a shock. What do you think inspires you the most when you are painting? I think music and the environment I am in. I guess it is what I am feeling at that moment, or movies I might have just seen that resonate with me, or music if I randomly put on a song and am really feeling it. It will just come out of me. I will be standing there, really into a song that is playing and all of a sudden I will feel the need to paint with a certain colour. I guess a painting will show the energy I was feeling from an experience, if that makes sense.
Would you say you have a theme that you paint? So far I guess my theme has been working with paradoxes or the challenges between being free and being really constricted, so having very chaotic paint flow and not being able to control it while having boundaries. I have worked with a few amazing aboriginal artists as well, so in some of my paintings I have tried to incorporate aboriginal themes. I also use semiotics or universal signs that everyone understands that I will incorporate into a painting. I have a lot of paintings like that. For example, there is one that has the outline of a stop sign on it but I have it in a space that is very chaotic with a lot of mixed colours in the background.
Can you explain your whole process or flow when you are painting something that is abstract? What I do is I lay everything down, put some music on which will start the whole flow or feeling that I explained before. I set up my canvas flat on the ground and I set up a bunch of different Styrofoam cups around me, then I start a whole mixing method. I will put a lot of colours down and mix a lot of mediums like ink and different types of fluid to get some lucidity with the paint. Then I will start pouring the paints on the canvas and I will watch how it all flows together. I will manipulate the canvas a bit by moving it different ways to get the
How would you describe your work? Chaotic, very abstract, and conceptual, I guess. I would definitely call myself an abstract artist.
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Is there a certain memory or story that has helped you with your painting? My English teacher in grade 12 let me do a painting piece, instead of an exam because I had a lot of stressful things going on in my life with my family. That year kicked me in the face. So he let me do my own art project and essay. He told me to paint my feelings and get all of my emotions out onto a canvas; basically to show everything that was going on inside my head. I had no idea how to do that! It was a really vulnerable experience because I was hiding in this shell and I had no idea how to tell people how I was feeling. I painted the whole situation, how I was experiencing it and how I felt about it, and then I wrote a ten-page essay explaining it. I painted my dog that had just died, my experience in Mongolia the past summer, and incorporated different parts of my chaotic life into it like my mom’s wheelchair. It kind of showed that I was in the eye of the storm, having everything so hectic around me, and feeling everything all at once. I guess that was the catalyst or breaking point for me getting into a lot of chaotic artwork that just makes me want to pour everything I am feeling out onto a blank canvas. Is there a favourite experience you have of painting? I did a series of paintings based on this curating job I had. I curated in a gallery in Vancouver about two years ago and met a lot of really cool artists that way. There was this one Canadian Northwest Coast aboriginal artist in particular, Beau Dick, whose show I curated. I was really interested in these masks that he had carved and I asked him if I could paint them and document them. The tradition in the Kwakwaka’wakw and Haida nation is that they have potlatches and what they do is they make these amazing masks and burn them. It is the celebration of giving back to the spirit. So I asked him, “Are you actually going to put these beautiful works of art into a fire?” and he explained the whole tradition to me. A long time ago potlatches were banned when residential schools were in place in BC, so now that they have gotten them back there are a lot of tribes that have made it a priority to keep the tradition going. At the end of the show he was going to Haida Gwaii, off the northern coast of BC, to set these masks on fire in this huge celebration, so I asked him if I could paint three masks in particular that I really liked and he let me. That was a really cool experience. Then I ended up painting this 6 by 5-foot piece of the experience and someone from Vancouver ended up really liking it and buying it. 25
art Nikki Peck
“I will start pouring the paints on the canvas and I will watch how it all flows together. The whole process does not really take that long but I am so involved with what I am doing that nothing else matters. I am so in my head and focused when I start painting.�
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art Nikki Peck
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film
“I think that was the most important lesson I could ever learn going into this very unstable industry: that no matter how daunting a project or role seems, everyone else is experiencing the same thing. There was something so refreshing about hearing that someone so talented and experienced still got nervous over something so seemingly insignificant like memorizing lines.�
photo by aidan shipley
DANIELLE RONEY
laughing with
Growing up in North Vancouver, BC and recognized by one name, there are two people to compare Roney too: Tina Fey & Amy Poehler. With a strong interest in mocumentaries, Roney hopes to educate kids through laughing. Her inspiration is heavily influenced by her friends and growing up with her dad. Roney lives a life with the simple need to make people laugh (and maybe even be a writer or producer in a comedy series or mocumentary one day). Creatively, what are you hoping to do? I want to be a writer and/or a producer in a comedy series or in shorts, mocumentaries, that kind of thing. I have written a bunch of stuff, I just have not decided whether it is funny enough yet. That is a bad answer isn’t it? That is a terrible answer. I want to be rich and famous. I mainly just want to be rich, the famous part — whatever. You know what I want to do in the creative world? I want to do something that when I go to work, I am happy everyday and it does not need to pay that much. It needs to pay the bills and I need to enjoy what I am doing. I want to write something really funny. I want to make people laugh, essentially. That is what I want to do. How do you get your inspiration for the things that you write? My friends on television that I do not know but are famous. I just consider them my friends. Kidding. It is actually mainly my good friends. My dad has really been a source of comedy for me for a long time. The guy still makes me laugh, even though I do not want to admit it because then it goes straight to his head and God knows that is a terrible thing. My dad is probably my biggest source of inspiration when it comes to humour, as well as my best friends. My dad always told me to surround myself with people that make me laugh and who make me happy to be around them with lots of good vibes. No negative vibes, #nonewfriends, right? I am just extremely lucky to have friends that are incredibly funny and always great to be around. They will just say funny shit and I always find myself remembering it, or jotting it down and I plug it into a funny short. Really I am not funny, my friends are funny and I am just really good at taking it all in.
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film Danielle Roney
Are there any past experiences that you always draw from? You know what? There are a lot of drunken nights that I remember (but not really) and the next thing you know those nights are a little exaggerated. You remember the stories being so much funnier and bigger than they actually were but years have past so it always goes back to a, “Remember that one time?!” I always go back to drunken nights. Other memories are my dad just fucking around with my brother and me. In Vancouver, we used to play hockey when we were little kids. We would have to drive through farmland to get to practice in the early morning and my dad would drive us. As we were entering farmland he would say, “Roll down the windows, I farted” so we would roll down the windows and just go nuts because it would smell so bad (because of the smell of manure, of course)! Once we were out of farmland he would say, “Ok guys we are entering farmland. Close the windows,” and he would just let one rip. It would be an hour and a half of driving with this terrible stench of manure and my dad’s farts. It was terrible. What a terrible parent! What are some of the projects you have done? On the funny side of things, I do not have a whole lot worth sharing that is of quality. I usually just screw around and put things on YouTube. Nothing crazy. There is something genuinely worth showing people though: I like music. I am a huge fan of music and a friend of mine runs a music blog out of Kingston and it is called Break the Vault. They wanted someone to film local bands from where they are all from and my friend Kate and I wanted to get some Vancouver based bands to film. We would film them at venues and put them online. I just really like the way music and filming have such a cool relationship. I also did this music video once for a song called Fun Bags by Rob Thomas. It was a dream about this guy who has a box head, living in a human head world and his human head girlfriend leaves him. He is so depressed all day and the next thing you know this really happy go lucky girl with a box head shows up and they fall madly in love with each other at first sight. So that was a weird dream but the video turned out really well!
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film Danielle Roney
When did you know when you wanted to write and film? I was under the impression when I was younger that that was not something you could get paid for. I would watch Saturday Night Live and just think, “Wow these guys are having so much fun. I wonder what they do for an actual job! This is such a cool thing to do and everyone gets to watch them? That is amazing.� I later found out that a lot of these people get paid money to do what they love. I think I started watching SNL when I was 11 or 12, but secretly because I was supposed to be in bed. For a long time after watching it I wanted to be in front of the camera. I originally wanted to do sketch comedy and from there I branched off and realized that I liked the writing side of it, the producing side of it, the behind the scenes stuff. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are my favourite comedians on the show, obviously. They are big inspirations because they make me laugh so much. They do a lot behind the scenes too, like producing and writing and directing. That is where I got the idea that it would be kind of cool to do things on and off the camera and I think I knew that at a very young age. I started realizing that mocumentaries are such a great way to making people laugh and you can make it informative too, like education through laughing. Kids learn so much more when they are laughing and learning at the same time. Rather than just learning trigonometry it could be stand up comedy about how math sucks but this is how you have to do it. I always thought it was really cool having funny teachers in class. I would retain a lot of knowledge through that. That is a really big reason why I am also interested in going into mocumentary because I want to teach kids about relative topics as well, but at the same time make them laugh. Shows like The Office just make me so happy and laugh way too much so I think those kinds of shows have definitely inspired me. Do you have any upcoming projects? A friend of mine had this idea where I could document children all around the world about how they learn. I thought it would be cool to make it a mocumentary and make it very funny and informative enough that teachers could show kids in class in order to give children a better idea of how other children around the world learn. It might give them a better understanding of how the world works, because people are not going to have the same morals, ideals, or understanding of certain topics. Ideally, kids will grow up knowing that not everyone learns the same way they do so they should be open to new experiences and maybe new ways to learn. I think if I made it funny kids would retain all the information and knowledge a little better. That is what I want to do.
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film Danielle Roney
“I started realizing that mocumentaries are such a great way to make people laugh and you can make it informative too, like education through laughing . Kids learn so much more when they are laughing and learning at the same time.�
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AIDAN SHIPLEY
learning with
Growing up in Stratford, Ontario, having two strong influences from a young age in the film industry, and an actor since the age of 8, Aidan aspires to one day make a living from either acting or directing. Over the last few years Aidan has begun pursuing his love for directing, being involved with a number of short films, as well as consistently acting. Fascinated with the collaboration of art and technology being used to tell a story, he is and will continue to be an active member of the film industry, especially after his last film entitled Dorsal. What made you so interested in the film industry? I think what made me so interested in the film industry was the collaborative aspect of it all. The idea that everyone in the film industry, from the actors to the director or the editor to the cinematographer, all bring something so unique to each position, that when you put everyone’s talents together it can really make something extraordinary. I also find the mix of art and technology to be fascinating as well — just the idea that there is such a rapidly evolving technical aspect that is being utilized to essentially tell a story. If you could pick your dream job, what would it be? Honestly, getting to somehow make a living out of either acting or directing would be the dream. The reason both of these industries are so daunting and difficult to succeed in is because the people working in them love what they do and it is so incredibly rare to be able to make a living or succeed while doing something you love. My dream is not to be behind a desk on a consistent basis. I am way too ADD for that. When did you start acting and how? I started acting when I was 8 years old at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in a play called Medea. We lived about a block away from the theatre, and after my parents saw me desperately attempting to be the centre of attention in one way or another they thought that it might be a good idea for me to give acting a try. When did you realize you wanted to start directing? It was not really until the end of high school. It was always something I wanted to do but never really had that much experience doing. Once high-school was coming to an end, I had kind of narrowed it down between theatre school and film school, but because you were not allowed to be working in film or television while at theatre school, I decided to apply to film school because I needed the money from the acting gigs to pay for my tuition and such.
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film Aidan Shipley
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film Aidan Shipley
photo by joseph hammond
Is there anyone who has influenced you through your acting or directing? I cannot think of one person in particular. There have been so many people that have been incredibly supportive and definitely had a huge influence on me. My dad was an actor/ director when he was young and has now managed to make quite a career out of directing so I definitely look up to him as a role model. Peter Donaldson was an incredible actor at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and a family friend of ours. I remember after I received my first big role with heavy dialogue at the Festival, I looked at all the lines I had to learn and totally broke down. I was only about 12 at the time, but I remember thinking there is no way I could ever do this, that I needed to quit and give it to someone else who was more qualified. My mom asked Pete if he could give me a call, and I remember him calling and telling me that every actor breaks down and cries when they see their lines for the first time, even him. He basically talked to me on the phone and calmed me down. I think that was the most important lesson I could ever learn going into this very unstable industry: that no matter how daunting a project or role seems, everyone else is experiencing the same thing. There was something so refreshing hearing that someone so talented and experienced still got nervous over something so seemingly insignificant like memorizing lines. He was such an incredibly kind person and I remember idolizing him and wanting to be in the industry if it meant I could be someone like him.
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film Aidan Shipley
Can you explain the last film you have worked on and what inspired the idea? The last film I directed is called Dorsal. It is the story of Iris; a 9-year old girl who brings home an estranged man she believes is a reincarnation of her recently flushed goldfish. The film is inspired by a play written by Morris Panych called Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, which was the recipient of the Governor Generals award in 2003. I was reading through several plays at my agency, which represents several writers as well, looking for an idea for my film and stumbled upon this play that had such a strong character in Iris and such strong sub-text that I knew if we could find a way to turn it into a short film it could be something extremely interesting. Grayson Moore who wrote my last short, Bridges, tackled this challenge of converting a longer play into a short film and absolutely nailed it. We managed to get a great cast including Peyton Kennedy and Christine Horne, who I worked with in Atom Egoyan’s latest film, as well as Jonathan Goad who I met at the Stratford Festival and was incredible as well. Dorsal is currently in postproduction right now, getting colour corrected and sound designed, and will be first screening at RUFF, the Ryerson University Film Festival, on May 13th this year.
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film Aidan Shipley
photos by aidan shipley 43
film Aidan Shipley
photo by joseph hammond 44
film Aidan Shipley
“The idea that everyone in the
film industry,
from the actors to the director or the editor to the cinematographer, all bring something so unique to each position, that when you put everyone’s talents together it can really make something extraordinary.�
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fashion
“Seeing new things and opening my mind is the greatest inspiration — it can be direct inspiration from cultural dress, nature, the bustle of a city, or even the food I am eating. All of these factors and more stimulate my thought process, creativity, and design.”
YUKI BARTON
a conversation with
Creating a jewelry collection inspired by Ancient Egyptian symbols and jewelry making techniques, Yuki is drawn to jewelry design because of it’s diversity and open endedness. After taking an art metal class in high school and interning with a local Toronto jewelry designer, Jenny Bird, Yuki continues to add ideas to her big list of pieces she hopes to create in the future with the technique of wax casting.
Why do you like jewelry design so much? I think jewelry design is so diverse and open ended; you can essentially make it out of so many different kinds of materials. It allows you to get really creative and play with design. I really enjoy working on small pieces with my hands to create and build pretty things. How did you start designing? When I was little I would make beaded bracelets and necklaces for fun, but what really got me into it was a course I took in high school called Art Metal. We were lucky enough to have a large metal working studio with pretty much all the tools you could ever need to make whatever you wanted out of metal. We got to try welding, braising, forging, soldering, and casting and it quickly became my favourite class and took it for another two years. I mostly made rings and jewelry, but I also liked to make jewelry stands and small decorative ornaments. The teacher was an amazing jewelry maker and taught me everything I know. He has been a great influence and we have kept in touch over the years. When did you know you had an interest in it? I guess it would be when I took that art metal course for three years and fell in love with it. I always looked forward to being in that room, working on new projects and seeing sketches turn into real life jewelry. Was there any time you can pin point where you thought, “I really want to design jewelry”? I cannot think of a specific point in my life, but I would probably say it was when I realized just how much I missed the metal work studio when I went away for university. I also had the opportunity to intern for Jenny Bird, a local jewelry designer, in my second year and through designing with her I realized that starting my own business one day would be something I would love to do. Is jewelry design a hobby or something you want to strongly pursue for a long-term career? For now it is a hobby since I have not tried to sell any of it quite yet. In the future though, I plan to do it on the side and see where it takes me.
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fashion Yuki Barton
What would you say your biggest inspiration is when creating these pieces? This collection was inspired by Ancient Egyptian symbols and jewelry making techniques. Each one incorporates an abstraction of a symbol from one of their stories, and was created using the lost wax carving process. I love minimalist designs, so I have really simplified the shapes and use of semi-precious stones. I wanted to carve each piece by hand so that they are one of a kind, and then cast them in solid silver so that the wearer can hopefully have it forever.
my favourite producers and bands of the moment like Chet Faker and Mesita. Finding catchy new music is definitely a hobby for me; and a good song will instantly put me into a great mood.
Who or what has influenced you the most in your life and why? It is hard to pinpoint it to one person but my family has always been really supportive from the beginning with whatever I decided to do. As for the jewelry aspect, if my teacher for the course (Mr. T!) had not been so great, I doubt my passion for jewelry would have grown into what it is today.
What is your favourite piece of jewelry you have created and why? This changes all the time, but right now I would say it is the lotus ring with two raw amethyst crystals. Sometimes I begin carving with only a rough idea of what I want to end up with and slowly work on it until I end up with something I am happy with. My initial ideas for this one were quite vague, but luckily I ended up with something I really like! Yay!
Are there any other artistic hobbies you enjoy doing? When I am home I love playing the piano. I find it comforting since it is something I have done all my life since my mother is a piano teacher, plus it is a great stress reliever.
Do you have a certain creative process while designing? And why? Blasting some of my favourite music always helps with motivation and keeping me going through long hours of carving. It varies from BeyoncĂŠ to 50
fashion Yuki Barton
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fashion Yuki Barton
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fashion Yuki Barton
Is there a favourite memory you have while creating your pieces? Well the past month has been pretty great. This is my first cohesive collection that I have designed and made, and showing it to my friends has been really fun. I can get a little shy about showing it to people, but the reactions I have gotten so far have been really great and I love them all for it. It is reassuring to see and hear positive feedback, which helps motivate me to create more things! Are there any upcoming projects you are thinking of? I am always seeing things on the street or online that I love which I try to log into my memory, but Pinterest has been a useful tool for me for collecting inspiring images. I usually have a big list of things I want to try making in the future; everything from earpieces to large statement pieces. I have really enjoyed working with wax casting for this collection and plan to keep incorporating it into upcoming projects, hopefully creating some pieces that I can sell.
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fashion Yuki Barton
“I think jewelry design is so diverse and open ended; you can essentially make it out of so many different kinds of materials . It allows you to get really creative and play with design .�
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fashion Yuki Barton
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EVA PARRELL
an adventure with
With travel being Eva’s biggest inspiration, she found herself taking part in two trips to Maasai-land, Kenya and working with the women in the Ioodariak village with their traditional craft of beadwork. Through the foundation Supamaasai in Toronto, she helped provide income for the families in the village by selling some of their designed jewelry pieces. She later returned to the village of Ioodariak, bringing her newest collection to work on with the women in the village. Eva not only has a love for designing and producing clothing but through the inspiration the Ioodariak community has given her, intends to illustrate a story about their community and culture through her newset collection.
When did you start designing? I guess I am not sure exactly when I started. When I was a kid I used to draw out little outfits and show them to everyone – so I guess it was back then. Actually designing clothes? That was in high school. I went to a high school that had a big student run fashion show every year and it was when I decided to get involved in that that I actually began designing and producing clothing, not just sketching them. Do you have a favourite designer? Of course! I love so many designers, but right now I really love kenzo and 3.1 Phillip Lim. They are huge inspirations to me. Is there anyone who has influenced you the most in your life, whether it is in general or directed towards your designs? Well I guess in terms of my whole life I would say my dad. He is a very creative person and pursued his creative dreams and has an amazing career because of it, so that is an amazing influence and as cheesy as it sounds, gives me inspiration to follow my dreams. For this collection that I am producing right now, the lovely women who gave me the opportunity to work in Kenya with her community and family, Teriano Lesancha, has been a huge influence on me. She has an extremely inspirational story growing up in rural Kenya and being the first person in her village to go to university. Now she runs a foundation, called Supamaasai, to support her community and family in Kenya. Without her this collection would not be possible. She has opened up my mind and my world by inspiring me so much beyond just design. Is there any other artistic skill or hobby you have or enjoy doing? Anything creative is enjoyable to me, but I would say outside of fashion I love photography, graphic design, and cooking.
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fashion Eva Parrell
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fashion Eva Parrell
What inspires you the most? Definitely travel. Seeing new things and opening my mind is the greatest inspiration – it can be direct inspiration from cultural dress, nature, the bustle of a city, or even the food I am eating. All of these factors and more stimulate my thought process, creativity, and design. Do you have a specific creative process? No I do not. Everything I design is done in a different way. Sometimes the design will just come to me, and others I have to work on more to create something I am fully happy with. Something I always do is think through each design in great detail before my pencil even hits the paper to sketch. I will keep the idea in the back of my mind for the next few days, always coming back to it and seeing how it develops until I have an idea I am really excited about. How would you describe your designs? I would say my designs are focused on street wear. I like to design and make clothes that women can wear casually to work, on the weekend, out to a bar, or to brunch. They are casual but exciting and unique.
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The Maasai tribe in Kenya inspires this collection I am working on right now. The inspiration is seen in the drape of the tops, the light layers, the prints and the beadwork. The printed fabric is all sourced from Maasai-land in Kenya, and the beading was all completed by Maasai women in Ioodariak, Kenya. The clothes are meant to be more than just that though. They are a story about a community and a culture. Is there a certain memory that tends to inspire you in your designs? Of course! My favourite memories of this collection all take place during my two trips to Kenya over the last year. Working with the women was an amazing experience. The first trip was what inspired me the most so the memories are exciting: arriving in the village, drinking the tea, and struggling with the language. Then the second trip to the village, when the actual beading was completed, is a great memory working alongside the women and collaborating on beadwork designs. Seeing the clothes come to life was incredible.
fashion Eva Parrell
What can you tell me about your work with Supamaasai? Supamaasai is a foundation started by Teriano Lesancha. She is a Ryerson University graduate who grew up in Maasai, rural Kenya. She started this organization to help her family and community in Ioodariak by promoting education, health, social enterprise and experiential learning. I was lucky enough to travel the first time through the experiential learning program to work with the women in her village on beadwork, which is a traditional craft in Maasai culture. While in Kenya, we made jewelry designs to sell through Supamaasai. These pieces helped to provide income to the families. After this trip, I continued to work with the foundation in Toronto and then returned to Kenya with them, this time for my women’s wear collection. Is there a certain memory that stands out when you went to Kenya? Arriving in the community for the first time. Although there was culture shock, the warmth and love from the community made me feel right at home. It is amazing how much people can communicate without words. That was one of the many things I learnt while in Ioodariak. How can you explain your experience there and with Supamaasai? The experience was incredible and I hope this is not the end of my journey with Supamaasai and the Ioodariak community.
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fashion Eva Parrell
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fashion Eva Parrell
“The printed fabric is all
sourced from
Maasai-land in Kenya, and the beading was all completed by Maasai women in Ioodariak, Kenya. The clothes are meant to be more than just that though. They are a story about a community and a culture.�
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fashion Eva Parrell
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thank you Grahame Lynch Don Taylor Izzy Mink Nikki Peck Danielle Roney Aidan Shipley Yuki Barton Eva Parrell I could not have done it without you.
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made magazine
first print edition spring /summer 2014 Copy
of 9
created by Stephanie MacDougall +1 604 809 4777 stephanielindmacdougall@gmail.com
hand bound by Don Taylor 176 John St. Suite 511 Toronto, ON M5T 1X5 +1 416 591 8801 dstbook@gmail.com www.dontaylorbookbinder.com
printed by Print Zone 191 Dundas W Toronto, ON M5G 1C7 +1 416 204 9292
a special thank you to Grahame Lynch for your patience and incredible guidance. My friends and family for your continuing support and love.
more from the curator
www.stephaniemacdougall.carbonmade.com
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made magazine
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