Symbolism channelling various forms of energy and making cosmological references. An extraterrestrial visual palate. This is what defines the work of makeup artist Kristina Nichol.
Describing herself as an alien, Kristina uses her own face and body, as well as those of models, as blank canvases for her out of this world looks. In our interview, she unpacks how her work is primarily inspired by emotion. “I use this to fuel my creativity,” Kristina explains, “I see and feel in colour. To me this is necessary as a makeup artist because I’m constantly coming into contact with humans and needing to transform/translate their energy as I paint their face.”
Fascinated with makeup and reworking the parameters of beauty, her practice actively unhinges the structures that dictate the purpose of makeup and the conventions for its application. This is directly communicated with her hashtags and professional Instagram account displaying the words ‘UNCONVENTIONAL BEAUTY’. Wild brush strokes, bleeding foreheads, and brightly coloured blush that is massaged into clouds on the skin. Gold shimmering eyebrows, and pink eyelashes. Models are injected with an alien glow.
For Kristina, presenting alternative and varied forms of beauty is a necessity. “I think it’s important because it makes people think. It’s not the norm, and as a makeup artist it’s important to use it as a tool to provoke and challenge the superficial mainstream ideals of beauty that we’re constantly held up against.” Having collaborated with recent Future 76 artist Boipelo Khunou, on a project titled ‘Subtle Care’, we see how this approach applies in an artistic manner. With shapes and colours being at the centre of the looks. Recently Kristina also took on the role of makeup artist for the latest Bubblegum Club cover, ‘Turn Up The Volume and Queer the dancefloor‘. This demonstrates Kristina’s versatility, while still keeping her signature touch recognizable.
“I feel like we’re constantly transforming, and changing. Life is a difficult experience, but I learn more with time how to find peace in myself, and this peace has allowed me to accept myself and accept how I see and do things.” With this in mind, Kristina is working on a series that deals with the human experience and will be collaborating with a writer (who will also be the model) as well as a young photographer. “I’m so excited for this series. it’s the biggest personal project I’ve worked on so far, big big things.”
To keep up with Kristina’s work follow her on Instagram.
“Beauty already exists within us. Don’t chase it, embrace it.”
An intuitive touch. Natural. Raw. Harnessing natural light. Embracing colour. Mirror and fabric come into play. Verging on surreal. Inspired by the sun and the ways in which light manifests itself.
Alix-Rose Cowie majored in Art Direction during her Visual Communication studies at the AAA School of Advertising in Cape Town. A frustration with the hunt for royalty-free stock images to ideate her concepts resulted in her taking imagery into her own hands. From this point, she began to style and shoot her own images whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Image from La Loba campaign for Selfi x Rharha (2017)
Sharing her history with the medium of photography, Alix states that her respect and enjoyment of photography originated in early childhood. Her father would occasionally allow her to take a picture on his camera and to change the spool of the device. These moments became a rather special occasion for her. Practice of the art of image creation as she approaches it today, made its way into her life when she was a bit older and started photographing dress-up sessions in the garden of her house. “It feels the same when I’m shooting fashion stories now: playful and explorative…”.
Alix attributes her photographic skills predominantly to experimentation and play though, she completed some short courses in the beginning, to kick-start her understanding of manual camera settings. “I have a great friend who had aspirations of being a stylist and we’d partner up to bring our off-beat fashion concepts to life – this was where most of my learning took place. The sensation of having a burning idea that needs to be realised.”
She describes her passion as one of image creation, with photography being an accessible avenue through which to explore. In image creation, Alix finds delight in other photographic outlets outside of fashion such as food styling and still lifes. A choice to solely work with natural light shows her appreciation of the challenges that light can present as well as a fondness of the play of light itself.
Alix’s photography translates into work created for fashion labels and culture focussed publications. Journeying into the world of photography as a fashion photographer, Alix’s interests have grown to encompass photographs of a variety of subjects and material that can be summed up as “Food. Fashion. Flowers. Faces. Things.” as her website articulates.
Image from FW18 Talisman for Rain campaign for Pichulik
Inspired by looking through publications such as Gather Journal and The Gourmand, Alix began to examine the possibilities of food photography. With an artistic approach her aim was to turn the genre of food photography “on its head” – a task that she has certainly been successful in. This success can be followed on platforms such as Chips!, a food and culture magazine for which Alix does not only photograph the conceptual editorials but edits content for as well.
With a keen focus in the world of magazines stemming from her background in independent publishing, Alix shares her aspirations of working with more indie publications in the future. “I love the alchemy of great imagery combined with words,” she states. Branded content is another subject in which Alix finds interest expressing that she would like to work with “forward-thinking brands who are open to creative expression and visual experimentation.”
Her photographic work is something to marvel at rather than to critique as it takes a rather unique individual to be so multi-versed in various genres of photography. What can be said, however, is that she has a distinguishable visual language that is drawn through all of her images. Traditional composition and intuitive play meet with a harnessing of available light, creating soft images with the appearance of being gently, and more often than not, evenly kissed by sunbeams. Beautiful, dreamy, inviting and an embrace of colour.
Alix’s recent bodies of work include: A La Loba campaign for Selfi x Rharha done at the end of last year, FW18 Talisman for Rain campaign for Pichulik, colour-blocked still lifes for adicolour x Between 10and5, the openers for womenswear, menswear and homeware for the latest Superbalist magazine and the photographs of flowers for the next issue of The Carnation zine released at the end of June 2018.
To keep up with Alix’s work (not just her photography) visit her website.
Image from La Loba campaign for Selfi x Rharha (2017)
Furniture designer and LCC Surface Design graduate Kusheda Mensah‘s bold debut collection Mutual enunciates a maverick approach to both design and human interaction. This concept was originally that of Verner Pathon one of the designer’s strong influences amid 70s design sensibilities.
During her studies at LCC, she became mesmerized by the designs of Pathon and the interactive spaces he created during the 1970s which made her question why people don’t sit like they used to anymore. Using her craft as a means of channelling her unfiltered emotional discontent with the way in which people interact socially as well as empathy, the young designer has created furniture to improve human relationships.
As someone who has had experience with depression, Kusheda is of the opinion that creating designs to encourage intimacy could be critical to bettering everyday encounters that affect our mental health. “I really do want my furniture to be for everyone. When I first made the product I was thinking about how we can all better socialise. When we’re kids we’re told to play with toy blocks – it helps us develop socially and mentally – but why aren’t we doing that now?” she expresses in an interview with Another.
Mutual is a collection that is still in its progress stages. The aim of the collection is to diversify the ways in which space is used at work and at home. The fluid designs can be easily arranged, swapped around and added to. Visually the collection presents an aesthetic evoked by Jenny Saville’s exploration of form, the use of colour for the collection is inspired by Ellsworth Kelly and composition choices are driven by Joan Miró. This collection characterized by its unconventionality stands to challenge our acceptance of impersonal design creations.
Kusheda has designed her debut collection to mimic the human shape with its curves as she believes that this is more of an accurate definition of modular design as opposed to rectangular and circular shapes.
Vividly coloured wardrobe hugs the bodies of models, embracing static, powerful poses. And it is as if the viewer is looking at non-human entities, statues or mannequins perhaps – artworks in their own right. But the 23-year old image maker from New York pushes her already existent art pieces into another medium by photographing her human “colour statues”/ “creatures”.
Moving to South Carolina for high school, Arielle was soon overcome with a depression that lasted for five years. Her release came by chance in the form of a placement in a digital imagery class the high school offered where she was introduced to the various aspects of photography. It is here where Arielle found a form of cathartic release that helped her in her battle against depression.
“…when it comes to photography I’m always looking for photos that make me ask why? Or how?” Arielle prefers to see the subject of her image as a shape. She then takes this shape and forms it to become a part of a larger composition, straying away from the face as a focal point in her work. She expresses in an interview with Its Nice That, that colour is central to her practice as her life was characterized by its absence for a long time. Experimenting with colour is her expression and acceptance of the playfulness she currently experiences in life.
From the conceptualization of a project to its execution and completion, Arielle is open to let her imagination and chance take the steering wheel. Often starting her process by seeking inspiration, she hunts in thrift stores and drives around to find fabrics and landscapes that captivate her mood at that time. The poses her models inhabit generally take place in an improvisational manner and she expresses that the outcome of her work is not always what she expected, but that she embraces it fully.
Photography is a powerful tool that can be used as a therapeutic medium. Arielle’s work which combines brilliant colours and intriguing poses convey a sense of euphoria. The power and psychological impact of colour is displayed in her work. Art for therapy is a beautiful personal experience that can help others realize their own abilities to use artistic mediums for self-love.
“I think it’s high time we start to address that dance, movement and embodied politics all form part of re-imagining and re-defining where, how and why bodies can occupy space.”
This quote is from an interview with co-founder of ANY BODY ZINE (ABZ), Nicola van Straaten. She, along with Kopano Maroga and Julia de Rosenwerth, started the online and print publication with the desire to bring more cultural and social attention to artistic work that is rooted in the body, “but also a desire to expand ideas around what kind of bodies are dancing bodies.” The intention is to emphasize that every body is a potential site for “creative self-actualization” and “open understandings of dance”.
Having met during their time at the then UCT School of Dance, Nicola proposed the idea of the publication to Kopano and Julia. Since then they have released 10 issues, all dealing with varied aspects of dance, choreography, movement, and bodies through written contributions and interviews with people from different aspects of their industry. Every issue has a central theme that offers guidance to contributors, and a direction for the curation of each issue. Kopnano explains that the themes are based on their interests at different moments, making each issue a reflection a way of thinking at a particular moment in time. Volume 2, comprised of four issues so far, is focused on verbs that relate to dance and movement – Marching, Falling, Jumping and Hanging. Nicola explains that they chose verbs because they were interested in the intersection between language and movement, action and motion.
Previous issues from Volume 1 have included conversations about semantics, emotions, body politics and taboo subjects, offering a wide variety of entry points for conversations. The issue titled “Space/Place” tackles the semantic and political differences invoked in the use of “space” versus “place”, and connects to the act of curation and place making. The issue, “Rhythm” looks at sound and music makers within their community, and includes features on the Phillipi Music Project, a computer engineered rhythm making program by Mohato Lekena and performer and musician Coila-Leah Enderstein who features a lot in their issues, and who Kopano describes as a “kind of ad hoc, fourth member of ABZ”. The issue, “Sex”, arose from an interest in interrogating perceptions of the naked body in performance, specifically how it is always read through sexual references even when the intention of a performance has nothing to do with this. Other issues have explored topics such as race, colour, subjectivity, objectivity, the personal and the political.
“There are so few opportunities for people to share their creative work that isn’t easily consumable or sellable, which I think is why folks are always really keen to contribute,” Kopano explains while reflecting on how they ask people in their community to contribute to the publication. The publication is also a platform to bolster the profile of practitioners who are a large part of the growth and development of dance and movement and related practices in Southern Africa. They have conducted interviews with dancer and choreographer Rudi Smit, strange and intellectual performance artist Gavin Krastin and filmmaker Jenna Bass just to mention a few.
Julia, Kopano and Nicola each contribute in different and important ways to the project. “Julia’s incredible choreographic eye for detail (and the fact that she basically taught herself web design) make her the boss of the website. Kopano’s amazing relational qualities and ability to hold spaces have resulted in him doing a lot of the liasioning with our contributors, stockists and general public, lately he’s also been directing the kind of ‘business’ development of the zine. And my passion for books and print mean I head up the layout and printing aspect of the work. We all edit together, make decisions together, essentially ‘lead’ the project together,” Nicola explains.
Connected to the online and print publication is the third wing of ABZ, the performative platforms. ANY BODY ZINE has collaborated with NEW DANCE LAB, to create the ANY BODY DANCE LAB – a 6 week dance and performance residency for Cape Town-based artists. Teaming up with Theatre Arts Admin Collective and the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, the residency comprises of a series of dance, composition, writing and performance workshops that culminate in a series of public performances by the 10 participants on the residency. The content from the writing workshops will be compiled to form a publication produced by ANY BODY ZINE. “We wanted to include a writing component to the ANY BODY DANCE LAB and thought that it would be very special if we curated a publication to contextualise and archive the project, but that also provides a platform for the residents to publish some of their work. As ANY BODY ZINE, we are also interested in the processes of content creation and saw this as a good opportunity to explore that question further,” Julia explains. What connects all three aspects of their work is the desire to make space for and to support independent artists.
Julia also informed me that after a fantastic Thundafund Campaign [Thundafund is a crowdfunding platform in South Africa], they were able to print their 2016 and 2017 content which will be available at the Book Lounge in Cape Town on Roeland street and Bibliophilia in Woodstock. ANY BODY ZINE will also be available for purchase at the Association for Visual Arts (35 Church street, Cape Town) during their Comics Focus zine and comics festival taking place from the 21st of June to the 19th of July.
Reflecting on their intentions for the publication, Nicola expressed that they hope it will allow people to think about their bodies differently and perhaps see dance as a more accessible medium. The publication presents itself as an archive of South African performance and movement practices, showcasing an image of the contemporary history of dance and beginning the documentation of SA’s dance lineage. The platform also offers validation for those already deeply involved in the industry and the possibility for opportunities for emerging artists.
Check out their website to find out more about their upcoming projects.
“In our current neoliberal context, dance really doesn’t get as much support as fine art or even film, because it isn’t necessarily a ‘sellable’ product. But that’s also why it’s such a powerful tool, because dance is an experience and has the potential to be internally transformative in that way.” – Nicola van Straaten
2016’s Vol 1 content (Photo by Nicola van Straaten)
Born from the courage to disrupt the design DNA of adidas, the Deerupt leads the way as a new silhouette injected with bold colour. Reinventing the structural mesh from the soles of 80s running styles, the design process for the Deerupt pushed the philosophy of archival referencing to new heights. Taking a single idea from their heritage sneakers, Deerupt stretches the grid concept to cover the entire shoe. The result is a collapsible runner that conforms to the wearer with a fit and comfort like never before. The Deerupt is a way to think about what it means to extend the imaginary of possibility. Pushing the boundaries of design and bending the adidas signature, the Three Stripes.
Buildings, patterns, honeycombs, farmlands. Taking inspiration from urban planning, architecture and natural phenomena, the Deerupt reminds us that before any of these existed there was a system, equal parts natural and man-made. The grid. This is what gives the abstract something recognizable with its ability to make the familiar radically different. Understanding that everything is built on a grid makes one aware that anything is possible.
The editorial for the Deerupt embraces this fully with its intention to translate the infinite possibility within the grid.
Formless white backgrounds. Pink, purple and green light combined with smoke and bubbles. Models display strong contact with the viewer, taking on mechanical poses with limbs hanging, outstretched or twisted out of familiar placement. The intermittent presence of fishnet socks mimics the grid as they cling to ankles and shins.
Taking on the grid as a foundation, the images point to the distortions in the everyday and make the familiar radically different. The use of pockets of soft light with stronger hue spots create a mysterious, dreamy moment of déjà vu, again making the past filter through to the present and the new. A glimpse of a minimalist, goth-tinged future. A visual demonstration of disruptiveness through the simplicity of the grid, and undeniably adidas.
Toyin Ojih Odutola explores the sociopolitical constructs of skin colour through her multimedia drawings. This central focus comes from her personal journey of having to move from her home in Nigeria to the conservative state in the US, Alabama.
“I’m doing black on black on black, trying to make it as layered as possible in the deepness of the blackness to bring it out. I noticed the pen became this incredible tool. The black ballpoint [pen] ink on blackboard would become copper tone and I was like ‘wow, this isn’t even black at all!’ The black board was like this balancing platform for the ink to become something else. I instantly recognized this notion, of how we think something is a certain way and in reality it is something else…” Ojih Odutola says in an interview about the show, My Country Has No Name (2013) in the International Review of African American Art.
A Subtle Address, 2013
Most of the figures she draws are coloured with black ink, but not all of them referencing being African or of African American descent. This is an extension of her question, “What is black?”. Her images require the viewer to interrogate the framework they consciously or unconsciously use to interpret skin colour and its connotations.
For her first solo exhibition in New York titled To Wander Determined, Ojih Odutola presents an interconnected series of fictional portraits telling the lives of two Nigerian aristocratic families. These portraits consider the fluid nature of identity through the use of charcoal, pastel and pencil. She engages themes related to space, class and colour with the figures portrayed in luxury homes. However, the angles of lines used to construct these homes on canvas do not always align, making the backgrounds appear slightly distorted. The distortion invokes a sense of discomfort in the viewer, and it is up to the viewer to figure out the meaning of that discomfort.
