I interviewed twin sisters Abigail and Claire Meekel about the playful and mischievous illustrations they create under the name Meëk.
Tell our readers about you and your creative practice?
Claire Meekel: I work with my twin sister Abigail Meekel to create ‘Meëk’. The way we come up with ideas is always spontaneous and comes out of nowhere. The thing that makes it special is if one of us gets inspired by a stupid idea and then we go off on a tangent where more ideas develop. We bounce off one another. I would say I am more into photography and animations. I have always had a fascination to reveal hidden things in trees, corners or buildings with a camera.
Abigail Meekel: I just pick up a pen or a pencil, when I’m anxious, bored, inspired, in class, on a roof, at dinner, at this bar called Kitcheners, upside down, under the bed, in a bath, on the loo, at home affairs, during an exam, while I drive and often in my dreams.
How did the journey for Meëk begin?
Officially I would say the Meëk journey began 2.333 years ago in Amsterdam right after our experience in Berlin. Meëk is a movement that is formed by a collaboration between Claire Meekel and Abigail Meekel but we love working together with other artists to expand the movement. We are excited to work with this up-and-coming artist called Kayla Armstrong, although this collaboration isn’t really ‘Meëk’. It’s 3 young artists coming together. We are having an exhibition at The Room in Maboneng soon. The exhibition is a collaboration with Kayla Armstrong and Meëk. We are planning to exhibit paintings and installations, and we want to come up with creative and interesting ways of advertising the exhibition. The exhibition will be at the end of October.
Expand on the idea of Meëk as a movement.
How do you like to describe your work?
Nonsenses.
Tell our readers about some of the work you have done. What are some of the projects you have created or been a part of?
We have worked on a few music videos through animating and painting backdrops. The music video that we worked on was for a band called We Are Charlie. We are busy working on a few exhibitions around South Africa, most of which are showcasing animations and prints on paper. We also design posters for events and paint murals on walls.
What are you working on at the moment? What can we expect from you this year?
This year we are working on some fashion things, as well as more exhibitions incorporating installation art and music videos. We will collaborate with some incredible young artists and continue leaving our mark everywhere we go.
Anything else you would like to tell our readers about you and your work?
There are definitely some Meëk drawings around the world that people haven’t discovered yet. They could hide in a corner or even under a table or on the hidden side of a rock on a mountain…
To keep up with their work and possibly get some clues about where their undiscovered drawings are, check them out on Facebook and Instagram.
