Right In The Eye, is the new book from acclaimed photographer Boo George that spans his fifteen year career and includes figures like Emma Watson, Helen Mirren, Eddie Redmayne, and Kim Kardashian. He has risen to prominence working with top publications and brands including Moncler, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Range Rover, Ralph Lauren, Emporio Armani, and Louis Vuitton.
This book dives into Boo’s journey, which leads from rural Ireland to an international, star-studded career, framed through anecdotes and BTS insights into his world.
After his father gifted him his first camera, Boo would go to Wicklow Mountain in Northern Ireland to take pictures of individuals that fascinated him and document a community that lived on the outskirts of the outskirts.
The juxtaposition of subjects has become his signature, as he explains, “wherever I go around the world I am a spectator, I never claim to be the same as the people I am shooting. I’m inquisitive as to who these people are and what their story is. In my photographs, their story is written on their faces.”
Boo grew up by the sea and spent countless hours aboard boats and trawlers, documenting fishermen and divers which became some of his favourite images. As such, the proceeds of the profits are donated to Bantry Inshore Search and Rescue Association (BISRA) who protect the waters near his home in Ireland.
As well as the annual summer party, the stunning Nan Goldin fim staged in the former church above Below Stone Nest, the pavilion opening and Serpentine Ecologies, this gallery has been in our diaries more than most this Summer.
The major exhibition is by trailblazer Judy Chicago, and surprisingly presents the first major interdisciplinary, immersive institutional exhibition in London of her work. As well as drawing, new and lesser-known works are on display alongside preparatory studies, and the expected audio-visual works.
Revelations, a moniker taken from an unknown illuminated manuscript by Chicago, was created in the early 1970s and now published for the first time with Thames & Hudson. The manuscript details the stories of women that have been persistently subjugated in the socio-political imaginary, in a radical retelling of human history.
With never-before-seen sketchbooks, films and slides, video interviews of participants from her iconic work The Dinner Party (1974–79), audio recordings, and a guided tour of The Dinner Party by Chicago herself, this exhibition is not to miss.
REVELATIONS is on view at Serpentine North from 23rd May to 1st September 2024
ME Ibiza Celebrates 10 Years of Style, Sustainability and Spirituality
As the white Isle continues to be a summer destination for luxury and party crowds alike, this year marks the tenth anniversary of ME Ibiza, the iconic five-star design hotel nestled in the heart of the legendary Balearics on the shores at Santa Eulalia.
Over the last decade, ME Ibiza has become a must-visit destination for artists and connoisseurs that find themselves drawn to the magic and energy of Ibiza, seeking a conscious community for artists and creatives. Offering more than the expected luxury F&B offering, ME has earned its status by creating a space for a conscious community of artists and experience-seekers. From hosting intimate Tanit Gatherings with local artists, to sponsoring the island’s film festival to showcase up-and-coming creatives, ME Ibiza is committed to fostering reflection and dialogue and contributing to the creative spirit of the island.
Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, the man behind ME by Meliá, has been attached to the spot since childhood, and watched the island’s legend grow along with the tree under which his dreams first took root. This magnificent coastal tree remains a landmark of the architecture, and a timepiece encapsulating generations of guest memories past, present and future.
To celebrate a successful decade in the sun, ME presents the programme Ancient Future, including the blessing of the ME tree by a local spiritual elder and a curated cultural programme showcasing local painters, photographers, and artisans, alongside holistic wellness experiences. ME Ibiza has been offering avant-garde design and high-end holistic wellbeing for the past decade, thereby maintaining its status as a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.
Artists: Liam Gillick, Paul Purgas, Claudia Wieser, Appau Jnr Yiadom-Boakye
This week we’ve been excited for the launch of Isle Skateboard’s limited-edition line Tweaked Modernism. Curated by Twin’s art editor Francesca Gavin, the artist produced decks are accompanied by a printed publication by Birmingham design studio An Endless Supply.
The four specially created skateboards unpick the aesthetic and conceptual ideas of modernism, meta modernism, and off modernism.
Founded by Isle Skateboards is the skateboard label founded by artist Nick Jensen and Paul Shier. Past collaborations with artist have included boards from Kira Freije, Oliver Laric and Christian Hidaka.
As curator Francesca reflects, “there are fascinating connections between skating and modernism. Both have rethought what the human physical relationship is to form and space. Street skating approaches architecture in a way no one would have imagined. I was interested in bringing together four varied artists who all tweak modernist ideas or aesthetics in their work. I liked the urban slang take on tweaking as getting high – it felt apt for addressing how artists rework history.”
The Artists:
Liam Gillick studied at Goldsmiths and lives and works in New York. His work, ranging from small books to large-scale architectural collaborations, explores the aesthetics of the constructed world and dysfunction of modernism.
Paul Purgas is a London-based artist and musician working with sound, performance, and installation. Originally trained as an architect, he has presented projects with Tate, Spike Island, Glasgow Tramway and Kunstverein Gartenhaus. He is one half of Empyset, and has performed at Berghain, Serpentine Gallery, CTM and Atonal.
Claudia Wieser is an artist based in Berlin known for creating geometric installation, sculptures and wall works that unpick the legacy and aesthetics of modernism. She has had solo shows Hamburger Bahnhof, The Drawing Center and has collaborated on projects with Hermes and Musée Yves Saint Laurent.
Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom is a London-based multi-disciplinary artist working with found materials and objects, sculpture, photography, sound, performance, archive, and self-produced moving image. He has exhibited at National Portrait Gallery, Jerwood Space and Southwark Park Galleries.
Boards available from skate shops across the United Kingdom, United States, Holland and Japan.
On this solar eclipse in Aries, we celebrate Seana Gavin’s archive that serendipidously includes the eclipse free festival, photographed by Gavin below.
Following on from her phenomenally successful book “Spiralled” published by Idea Books, the artist and former raver opens her new exhibition Hidden Tracks at Gallery 46. This exhibition continues her exploration of the legacy of sound systems that put on illegal raves in the UK and across Europe in the nineties, and acts as a document of the creativity, vitality and community of the underground party scene in which Gavin features heavily. From 1993-2003 she spent long periods of time travelling in friends’ mobile homes, in convoy with the sound systems, living in nomadic communities, attending raves and parties in France, Spain, Holland, Italy, Berlin, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
“It was more than just a night out. I wasn’t a photographer or journalist I was part of this world and these people were my family. We were un-materialistic and survived with minimal funds without limitations.” – Seana Gavin
Whilst the book is aesthetically and nostaligically pleaseing, it also serves as a reminder about the radical potential and rebellious energy of the free party movement, which emerged as a rebellion against the over commercialization of Acid House that had developed in the UK at the time.
Even today we are left with the legislation that became ‘The Criminal Justice Act’, catalysed by the police response to Castlemorton festival – a week long free unlicensed rave which took place in the British countryside and was shut down by the police. As an underage teenager the artist’s adventurous spirit led her to other like minded wanderers as news spread before mobiles and the internet, and 20- 50,000 people came together by word of mouth alone.
The exhibition which opens this week, includes Gavin’s personal documentation including flyers, ephemera, diary entries and a large body of photographs that capture the build-up and aftermath of the raves across Europe alongside the characters and friends who defined this scene, and demonstrates the ethos and spitit of community and freedom.
TWIN LOVES the harmonic resonances of “All Life Long”, the long anticipated album from Kali Malone following a tour that included her performing in iconic venues including Gedächtniskirche as a part of Berlin’s CTM festival last week. She toured historic pipe organs at Église Saint-François in Lausanne, Orgelpark in Amsterdam, and Malmö Konstmuseum in Sweden, with additional accompaniment from Stephen O’Malley.
The album, featuring four different organs dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, represents experimental reinterpretations of pipe organ, choir and brass quintet polyphony in a temporal layering across sound, structure, and introspection.
The album includes a brass quintet performed by Anima Brass at The Bunker Studio in New York City, and vocals by Macadam Ensemble recorded at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L’Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. It is the first release of organ compositions since her highly acclaimed album “The Sacrificial Code” came out in 2019.
Throughout the album, the artist presents a rich tapestry of recurring harmonic motifs and evolving patterns, crafting an intimate sonic landscape across its twelve pieces. Her music builds from “evolving harmonic cycles” that evoke profound emotional depths. Her music invites listeners to relinquish expectations of time, opening doors to spaces of reflection and contemplation.
The main piece “All Life Long” is featured twice on the album: initially as an extended canon for organ and later combined with the poem “The Crying Water” by Arthur Symons. The poem is imbued with themes of mourning and eternity, expanding on the album’s sense of spiritual transcendence.
A timeless journey that invites listeners to discover themselves within its intricate musical tapestry. “All Life Long” is out now.
Ever wondered what a party flyer from a 1973 Stonehenge free festival looks like? Or a design promoting a 1980 illegal warehouse party? NEW AGE B2B – Stonehenge to Jungle scratches that itch. A compendium of flyers and collectibles from subculture archivist Toby Mott charts the origin of hedonistic rebellion and utopia.
The comprehensive collection by the London-based artist traverses the Stonehenge and Free Festivals, through to 1980s illegal warehouse parties and acid house, sound system and dub clashes, rave, and finally jungle. With art and design direction by Jamie Reid, former art director of Dazed and Confused magazine, party flyers from the 1970s to 2000 are sourced and curated from the Mott Collection. Known for his work with the Grey Organisation – an artist’s collective that was active in the 1980s – and for his fashion brand Toby PiImlico, Mott went on to establish an archive of British popular culture from punk to rave.
575 entries of flyers and other collectables showcase the visions of masters like Pez and Junior Tomlin – the Salvador Dalí of Rave – charting youth rebellions for a generation. Alongside the artwork, the book features interviews with the trailblazing designers alongside documentary photographer Alan Lodge, record producer Chris Peckings, DJ and Spiral Tribe member Ixyndamix among many more.
Moving beyond the music, Mott offers an insightful look back on British party culture that digs into its roots. Bringing together reggae, rave and sound system culture, the collection charts the often overlooked impact of the Black British community on rave music.
Religion, rebellion and animal instincts: Twin meets BAD WITH PHONES
BAD WITH PHONES, is back with his newest alt-hip-hop and psychedelic-infused track “Living & Surfing”. Born and raised in South-East London BWP – a.k.a Manny – spent his childhood watching his father, a pentecostal-pastor, preach and his siblings play in the church band. After picking up the bass guitar, it wasn’t long before he began disrupting the sermons with his secular riffs. A photographer, self-confessed space nerd and ex-hacker (known to hack his school network and flog bootlegs) the Togolesian musician can’t be pigeon-holed -and neither can his music. Twin caught up with BWP to discuss dissidence, tech addiction and music as the sonic saviour.
Tell us about your new single ‘Living & Surfing’, what was your inspiration behind it?
The inspiration comes from being homeless…I was sleeping on benches and couch surfing with friends or with girlfriends in Berlin, just embracing that lifestyle while I was out there. I let go of clinging to ideas or expectations of how I should be. I didn’t have any money or anything but I had energy and ideas and in the end, that’s worth more than anything else. I made the track with Torn Palk and I was sleeping in his corridor. I remember him waking up every morning and stepping over my head to go and pee. The track was inspired by the notion of meeting people with egos the size of watermelons that made them only think within the ideas they were told to. That bugged me, so she got a song.
Your approach to music is quite genre-agnostic. How did you develop your sound?
Mmmm, I don’t really believe in rules. Rules are boring and I’m a bad conformist. I like to flow naturally. Every time I make music it’s like starting from scratch for me.
When did you first discover your passion for music?
When I was young, about nine. There was lots of music being played in my house. My dad had a church too so there were always sounds. Clapping, dancing and drums ruled on Sunday and Thursday nights. I was SpongeBob taking it all in, deciding for myself what it all meant to me. I tried a bunch of instruments when I was a kid including the recorder, the keyboard and the guitar, but the bass really stuck. My taste for music developed from there. It hits the lower chakras but more than anything it gets your animal instincts out.
Where did your pseudonym come from? Are you truly bad with phones?
I came up with the name after not having a phone for a while and people actually saying “Manny what’s going on? I can’t get a hold of you, you’re so bad with phones.” Phones are just big distractions from accomplishing the things in my mind. On the flip side, maybe my name shouldn’t actually be ‘Bad With Phones’ as it’s more ‘addicted to phones’ these days. I’ve sort of gone off-brand.
Catch BAD WITH PHONES at Jamz Supernovas’ Ones to Watch at Shoreditch House (16th February).
Sorry If I Look Interested, I’m Not: A Whistle Stop Tour Around Scotland With My father & His Jack Russel, Jumble
This summer, I did a five day road trip around Scotland, visiting the Isle of Mull, Iona, Staffa and the surrounding countryside of Edinburgh with my father, Peter, following the death of his brother, Jamie. I had felt compelled, after this sudden and tragic loss, to connect with my father after many years of near-estrangement. Before our trip, the longest time we had spent alone together was never usually more than a single day.
Peter is eccentric, formidable – a man who marches to the beat of his own drum and no one else’s. The only one who’s kept up is Jumble, his closest companion, a 14 year old Jack Russell.
Peter Jumble, Heriot, (Olympus Mju 35mm Film), photographed by Lara Monro
Peter Jumble on Calgary Beach, Isle of Mull, (Olympus Mju 35mm Film), photographed by Lara Monro
The trip was a chance for me to try to understand, and appreciate, my father’s unique, challenging and complex character. I wanted to keep a record of it, to capture our attempt at reconnection, to document the memories we made along the way.
The trip was emotional, beautiful and exhausting. My camera became a saviour, through it I could observe him – he was my muse. Though his reaction to being photographed was often in the form of a scowl, the interaction it created became a form of communication and connection between us. This was new ground for us both.
Peter Van, Edinburgh, (Olympus Mju 35mm Film) photographed by Lara Monro
Who is my father? Do I understand him? How well do any of us know our parents as entities beyond the role of mother or father? Does understanding his life better vindicate him of the mistakes he made as my parent?
Isle of Iona, (Olympus Mju 35mm Film) photographed by Lara Monro
I hope that these images have captured some of what I learnt: that Scotland is beautiful, that my father is strange and brilliant, and that my time spent with him has helped me to make sense of, and heal from, a complex family past.
Header image credits: Peter on Staffa Island, (Olympus Mju 35mm Film), photographed by Lara Monro
The Mona Lisa Effect: Curated by Francesca Gavin
The internet, NFT’s, and memes: what do all of these things have to do with digital art and its consumption? The Mona Lisa Effect seeks to answers these questions, through a live-streamed auction championing artists of the new digital era.
Taking its inspiration from Darian Leader’s book Stealing the Mona Lisa (2002), where he argued that the theft of Leonardo’s painting was the cause for its universal popularity. The absence of the piece became the enigma, which built up the anticipation for when it returned.
James Kerr/Scorpion Dagger Pointers (2021). Courtesy of the artist and CNL.
The artists featured in the exhibition embody the task of displaying a reinvigoration in the consumption of art in the digital space. Sarah Judy, James ‘Scorpion Dagger’ Kerr, Damien Roach, and Thomas Webb all explore the binary of absence and presence – balancing between the two ideas, and in some way, finding a point where they meet in the middle.
This exhibition is led by curator and co-founder of Manifesta11: Francesca Gavin, known for her editor position at LIMBO, contributions at the Financial Times How to Spend It, and widely for her book Watch This Space which delves into how digital screens have a direct impact on society, culture, and the self.
Damien Roach, ‘Nothing (Sink Hole)’, from the series Four Types of Nothing (2021). Courtesy of the artist and CNL. (Still)
The live exhibition is set to take place on 30th May 2021 at 2pm (GMT) and will be hosted on Croy Nielsen and Emanuel Layr’s gallery site cnl.casa
Header image credits: Thomas Webb, Art Kids Online (2021). Courtesy of the artist and CNL.
Browns Book Street – Mayfair Flagship
Introducing the future of luxury physical retail: Browns Book Street opens the doors to their Mayfair flagship store. A carefully curated sanctuary that collates a world of fashion, food, jewellery – this space is an expression of expansive culture. Browns is a staple in experiential retail, with new concepts, designs, and internal architecture, their foundational belief being built upon cultivating personal connections with their community.
“I am thrilled to see us open our flagship, Browns Brook Street, as we kick off 2021. […] Our new magical home will inspire customers as well as usher in a fundamental shift in the way people shop as layered into this connected, tech-enabled experience is a thoughtful and human side – which is so crucial in the current landscape where personal and personalisation is pivotal. […] The space is truly sensorial; sight, sound, smell, taste and touch – offering a unique experience through each visit. The customer is truly at the core of what we do, and we hope that our new home will be one that you never want to leave”. – Holli Rogers, CEO of Browns.
The Focus at Browns (2021)
The space is built to make the shopping experience all encompassing – not just a place for buying clothes but an immersive retail journey. The building is complete with four dynamic floors that include a moveable Ground level which acts as a window to the store, a stairway with a Dimorestudio designed light installation, a gender fluid shoe room, and a restaurant centred around zero waste amongst a plethora of other innovative fixtures.
Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci, founders of Dimorestudio described Browns as having “intentional design choices which restore original features are paired with unexpected modernity”, which in turn helps to create rooms that successfully juxtapose the old with the new, creating a completely different genre.
The Stairway at Browns (2021)
Club Floor at Browns (2021)
“We don’t want to replicate what other brands do. What we do is instinctively Browns. With five decades of customer service both offline and online we are in a unique position to connect with our clients in a bespoke and tailored way through curated and one-of-a-kind shopping experiences all with service at the forefront.” – Lee Whittle, Browns Customer Experience Director.
Considered by many to be the first art, dance came before language: early humans communicated and expressed themselves through gesture and bodily movement. After all, dancers know that how you are in your body relates to how you are in your mind and how you move through the world.
And in today’s increasingly saturated world of communications, it is rare to find someone who understands this and can merge a passion for communication, community and dance poetically.
Eva Alt, Ballet1
Cue Eva Alt. Perhaps known to many on Instagram, as Glossier’s doe-eyed former Head of Social Media, Alt has, over the past few years, not only become known for building Glossier’s digital presence, but also managed to enchant New York’s fashion and beauty scene with her charme, wit and with her passion for dance.
“It always seemed to me, as a person who is a “feeler”, that through dance and watching dance, I was able to inuit things that you can’t necessarily express with words. There’s power in that,” she stated during a Zoom call from her apartment in New York City. “So there is something very honest about communicating through gestures and, you know, you can’t lie!”
Eva Alt, Ballet1
A former professional ballerina, Alt’s trajectory into the world of ballet started when she was a little girl, realizing she wanted to get into dance seriously around the age of 11 or 12. After a brief summer stint at The School of American Ballet in New York, at 15 she auditioned for the Boston Ballet and was accepted. This then led to years of strenuous training in the Balanchine method by a former principal of The New York City Ballet.
However, the world of ballet can be especially tough for young adolescent girls growing up and getting to know their bodies.
Eva Alt, Ballet1
“In dance, at fifteen not only are you going through puberty but that’s also the moment when you start partnering. And all of a sudden your body is changing and it’s also being handled by the male dancers and that’s a very odd experience,” she recalls.
And while many stereotypes regarding how a dancer’s body should look have now been broken, looking back, she wishes she had the knowledge she has now of her body. A lot of ballet is about the perception of line, and growing more self-aware of her form with time, has helped Alt embrace her body instead of working against it.
“One of the things that continually amazes me about the human body, and through dance I am so in tune with my body and myself, is that we are changing all the time. We are constantly making new cells and regenerating. My body feels very different one day to the next! Yet, somehow, the body stores memories,” she quips.
Alt stayed with the company until she decided to take a break and try out different things. This break then led her to fashion and after interning at a few publications and assisting a few stylists, she was then hired by Emily Weiss to work on Social Media at Glossier, and was there for six years, until she left this year to pursue her own personal projects.
Yet, dance was always lurking around the corner and never really abandoned her in time of need. However, it was only after she joined Moves, her friends’ jazz class that she felt ready to get back to dancing full time and became what she believes is a truly rare being: a happy dancer.
“When I was returning to dance and getting in shape, in a lot of ways I felt like I was waking up again. My body wanted to remember the feeling of these movements, and in a lot of ways, it did.”
Eva Alt, Ballet1
It was then she decided she would create her very own ballet class open to all levels: Ballet1. The class proved to be so popular because of its diverse and inclusive spirit it attracted dancers from every borough of New York, and it also helped Alt discover her ultimate purpose: creating a safe and happy space for a diverse community of individuals passionate about dance who may not necessarily be professionals.
A class at Ballet1 pre Covid-19
“My purpose in ballet is that of creating more space for people. And something that is really important to me is performance, specifically for mature ballet dancers, or mature dancers. In a former company, there are lots of amazing dancers who dance for many years and then retire. I feel like there are things like broader life experiences, motherhood, you know, going to school, a job, whatever it is, that add something really valuable to people’s artistry and I feel like there is really no context for that idea to exist. I want to create that. I want to create a platform for mature ballet artistry. So that’s something that is going to be pretty central to the project,” she concludes.
The Photographers Capturing Ireland Through a Queer Lens
Ireland has undergone tumultuous social change in the past three decades. The queer creatives who have come of age during this period are seeking to change the narrative when it comes to documenting LGBTQI lives.
The nineties were punctuated by a slew of queer pop culture moments that are still referenced today for their bolshy, unashamed arrival into the mainstream. KD Lang and Cindy Crawford indulged in a homoerotic barber shop sitting on the cover of Vanity Fair; talk show queen Ellen came out live on TV, and even the soaps, that most pedestrian of pop culture institutions, featured the first gay character and lesbian kiss on Brookside in 1994.
These iconic moments gave the impression that queerness was slowly but surely creeping from the fringes into a suburban sort of conventionality, but real life for LGBTQI people was far from that. In Ireland, still a social conservative country in the hedonistic nineties, homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1993. The Catholic church had an iron grip on many institutions (and indeed, still does) including the public school system and many hospitals.
Conservative and liberal ideology would continue to clash for the next few decades, culminating in the 2015 referendum that brought in same-sex marriage, and the 2018 one that legalised abortion. It was against this backdrop of seismic social change that a generation of queer kids were brought up, sort of as changelings of the Old and New Ireland. Now in their twenties, Gen Z and young Millennial creatives have a particular viewpoint of how they want to document and express the experiences of LGBTQI people.
Donal Talbot, 25, is a model-turned-photographer whose work has featured in publications including i-D and The Face. Most recently his portraits were chosen by Benjamin Wolberg for his latest book, new queer photography, which showcases work from breakout and established queer photographers from around the world.
Home project, photo by Eoin Greally
“My work tends to challenge how we, as a culture, see things like intimacy and queerness, and how those things correlate. There’s a softness and stillness that I try to capture in my portraits that aims to rewrite a narrative about how queer people communicate and interact with each other,” Donal says.
“I find a lot of inspiration from meeting people in gay bars and queer spaces but I’m interested in seeing what happens past that; the still moments of capturing someone after the lights go down in the club, or the day after a party in someone’s house.”
The photographer studied at Ireland’s foremost art school, the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, and it was in his final year that he found his medium.
“For my final project I knew I wanted to do work around queer narratives, but I didn’t have an idea of how to do that. I was in drag going to a boxing ring, then I started to take pictures and realised that was what I like. The project came together in the last two months and it was a portrait series of around ten different LGBT and queer people I had met. I photographed and interviewed them and that springboarded me into the art I make today.”
Eoin Greally is a 23-year-old from rural Ireland who has already carved out an impressive career in fashion and portraiture photography. While back in the family home during lockdown, the young photographer began working piecemeal on a project that has evolved into a cathartic reflection of his own journey as a young queer person. His rural upbringing, once something that he feared, has given him a unique perspective on how he has evolved both creatively and personally.
“At first I didn’t know it was going to be a project, they were images I was simply collecting. It’s a lot of portraiture, and also trying to capture the essence of my home. There’s that idea when people ask, are you going home, or are you going ‘home home’?” he explains.
“Now I’m piecing together the images I have realised there is a huge queer perspective but it’s not the typical gay male perspective from a gay mecca like New York. It’s all about a place I was afraid of growing up. I was in rural Ireland and I was afraid of being queer.”
“I was lucky, I always had support from my family about being queer but it still came with its discomfort. A lot of the focus is on my dad – he’s my favourite person to photograph, but also because he was the only person I was afraid of disappointing by being queer. I never received that sentiment from him, it was totally coming from what I thought I had to be afraid of. This project definitely has helped getting rid of some of that discomfort. It was something I largely put there myself, and now I’ve been able to take it away but it needed time. It’s been a healing project.”
Eoin Greally for MenStyle Brazil cover story, Jan 2021
Oluwafeyitimi, photographed by Donal Talbot
While lockdown has given rise to a lot of creative output, it has also stalled many planned projects and events. 22-year-old photographer and sociology student Niamh Barry was on the cusp of launching her exhibition, ‘Queer Hearts of Dublin’ last October until yet another lockdown was announced. The exhibition is a range of portraits of queer people Niamh met mostly through a casting call on Instagram, with the aim of documenting as diverse a group as possible; “It was about reconnecting to my queer community but also so that people knew it wasn’t just a white male perspective (of queerness). The image is different to what people think. I wanted to collaborate with people who wanted to tell their story but it was also intersectional- it was a new narrative but yet one that’s always been there,” she says.
“I reached out people on Instagram and that’s how I met one of my subjects, Mimi. Her story was really interesting. She is a black queer woman and hearing her experience was amazing. She’s two years younger than me but so confident; I was almost surprised by her confidence in those moments because at the same time she was telling how hard it was to grow up where she lives, which is a small country town, very inward looking.”
“She told what it’s like growing up as a black woman in Ireland and what it’s like to not really have representation, especially also being queer. That experience made me realise that this type of story is not being told in Ireland.”
The resulting portraits are intimate and raw, quietly communicating what it means to be queer and young and living in Ireland at this moment in time. It’s a sentiment that Eoin echoes when considering his next chapter in his work.
Home project, photo by Eoin Greally
“I have realised my privilege within the queer community – I am a white, queer, cis gay male. I don’t by any means think that’s a bad thing but being a photographer gives me an opportunity to uplift other sides of the queer community that didn’t always get the limelight.
“What’s important to me now is focussing on the groups in the queer community that don’t always get the opportunity to speak. It’s still a work in progress, but that’s what I want to dedicate my time to now.”
Queer Hearts of Dublin – Mimi – Photo by Niamh Barry
Tonie Walsh, photographed by Donal Talbot
Header image credits: Ming and their significant other Aisling, photographed by Niamh Barry
International Women’s Day: Female Voices of Latin América
In celebration of International Women’s Month, the digital art exhibition site: Vortic is set to host the first iteration of Female Voices of Latin América. This will showcase the work of over 150 living female artists from across the region, with 19 countries being represented across the board. The exhibition will be shown at over 60 galleries and institutions and will be launched on 8th March, the official date of International Women’s Day.
For so long, Latin-American artists have gone underrepresented in the art world nationally, with only a few names being highlighted. This exhibition aims to bring these artists to the forefront across generations, with artwork that spans from 1968 to the present day. Works from established artists like Liliana Porter and Adriana Varejão will be honoured alongside newer generation talent such as Sofía Clausse, Patricia Domínguez, and Nohemí Pérez.
“Madres adolescents”, 1988-1990 by Adriana Lestido. Silver gelatin print on fibre paper. Courtesy of the Artist and Rolf Art Gallery.
Galleries that will be participating include Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Museo Tamayo and Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo amongst a plethora of others established institutions. The initiative is all encompassing and will allow for collaboration and an exchange of ideas between galleries, whilst also exposing viewers to a range of diverse and talented Latin American artists.
“Sobre Isaacs”, 1989 by Karen Lamassonne. Acrylic on paper (116 x 85cm). Courtesy of the artist and Instituto de Visión.
“We have grown tired of not seeing female artists from Latin America receive the recognition they deserve in their own lifetime. As a platform, Voices of Latin America plays a well-deserved tribute to those with a remarkable artistic trajectory as well as promoting the current and next generation of artists. This presentation has been made possible by working hand in hand with the galleries, museums and non-profits in and out of Latin America that have contributed to develop the expanding arts scene. The future of our industry will rely on exchange, mutual support and collaboration. Through meaningful and memorable initiatives like this one, we aim to contribute to the art landscape in an impactful way”. – Elena Saraceni, Curatorial Director, Voices of Latin América and Special Projects Consultant at Vortic
These shows will be hosted on the Vortic website, where they maintain efforts to support galleries and institutions by using cutting-edge technology to provide an immersive digital and physical experience of viewing art. The exhibition will be available to view from March 8th to May 2nd, 2021. Visit vortic.art
Header image credits: “Beatriz y Chelle en cuarentena” by Bernadette Despujols. Oil on canvas (39.4 x 29.9 inch). Courtesy of the artist.
Billie Eilish “The World’s a Little Blurry”
“WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?”
A question posed in an award-winning album by singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, producer and Billie’s brother Finneas O’Connell. In celebration of the album and the artistic process, fans were invited to view the global live premiere for the release of “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,” a new Apple Original Film from award-winning director R.J. Cutler.
The film premiered on the 25th February 2021, and featured a stripped back version of the song “ilomilo” by Eilish and her brother Finneas, exclusive video footage of Billie speaking to her fans, an interview with Cutler, all of which is hosted by DJ Zane Lowe. The World’s A Little Blurry shows a nuanced and intimate side of Billie’s life experiences, her struggles as a musician, the importance of family, and ultimately the growing pains of being a teenager in the limelight. The run time is extended just over 2 hours, and the production is from Apple Original Films, in association with Interscope Films, The Darkroom, This Machine and Lighthouse Management & Media. T.
“It’s quite a remarkable family story because it’s simple and it’s clear, and yet it seems almost miraculous. How is it possible that Billie and Finneas do this work together? How is it possible that their two prodigies that come from the same parents? There are so many aspects to it, but most of all they’re folks who are unconditionally committed to supporting their kids being truly who they are. And truth and empathy and the fundamental themes, I think of this film, I think of Billie’s work. I think of this moment – I think it’s probably why it’s her moment” – Director, R.J. Cutler
Location: Planet Earth. Existing on a galactic plane, at 0o latitude and being made up of a collection of a crust, mantle, and core, which holds large bodies of water and life. This is where well-known Ukrainian brand TTSWRTS takes their inspiration from for their new SS21 collection: The Earth Series. Their aim? To discover the concept of the future of clothing.
The Earth Series takes inspiration from a hypothetical future that involves space travel and the possibility of inhabiting new plants. A world where visual culture – fashion and clothing, becomes the main mode of communication. Arguably, we have already begun using fashion as a way to transmit ideas about our identity, but TTSWTRS takes this a step further. The centrepiece of the designs is the concept of a ‘second skin’, which is embroidered with inscriptions and images that involve a series of mantras, sayings, and symbols. The pieces are made to highlight the human body and its duality; it decentres the body whilst also maintaining the essence of one’s identity.
The line includes unique pieces developed in collaboration with other creatives: the Naked Landscape coat was created together with photographer Kseniia Kargina and the Earth, Mars, and Venus hoodie was made alongside American designer and illustrator Jeremey Harnell. The materials and fabrics used range from silk, micro modal, net, and denim, with a predominantly white, beige, and black palette. Each piece of clothing captures the essence of the earth in its entirety.
But where does this series fit in in the discourse of fashion right now? Founder and designer Anna Osmiekhina commented: “I would describe fashion now in 3 words – Mirror. Protection. Addiction. For me, fashion is the most honest form of contemporary art that helps me accept myself. What a wonderful time we live in when everyone can manifest themselves in any way they want.”
TTSWTRS being founded in 2013 has maintained a high level of success, through the brand’s unique focus on utilising beige imitating naked skin, basic colours, and tattoos. The Earth Series is another instalment of the brand’s push to focus on wider ideas and conversations, and incorporating this into clothing.
Anna goes on to share her hopes for where she hopes to see TTSWTRS transcend to and where she hopes the fashion world will be in the future: “I would love to see how every detail of the current era has changed: the perception of fashion, communication, the emergence of new communication types, and people’s manifestations. The Art reflecting on current times. Its Speed. And of course the value of resources. The value of Water, Air, and Earth. I would like to participate in this direction to reflect the time and help others to be more open and sincere, to be more loved. To help in self-acceptance. And if suddenly garments are not useful in the near future, I would like to design natural phenomena.”
Alexander McQueen and Jonathan Glazer: First Light
Alexander McQueen presents “First Light”, a film in conjunction with English filmmaker Jonathan Glazer and Alexander McQueen’s creative director Sarah Burton. The film combines the gritty scenes from the River Thames overpass with the stripped-back clothing and accessories from the campaign. With the tagline “Back to London, coming home” and under Glazer’s directing, the film draws on the peculiar and the striking.
Debuting Alexander McQueen’s 21’ Spring/Summer collection, each scene shows the meeting point between the sophisticated and the rugged through a culmination of panned and still shots. The musical score is intense with bass and synths that reverberate throughout. Each shot is a hodgepodge, a collision of clothing hailing from different time periods that are brought together to create something new and refined.
The womenswear collection includes pieces like a deconstructed dress with a strapless corset and an exploded skirt in layers of blush and tea rose tulle. This corset dress is featured in the film and worn by model Celina Ralph, who is caught in a cinematic shot, falling back slowly into a bed of mud. The menswear features a black biker jacket with zip detailing, a vest in white cotton jersey and biker trousers with zip detailing, reminiscent of the biker fashion of the 60’s.
“Shape, silhouette and volume, the beauty of the bare bones of clothing stripped back to its essence – a world charged with emotion and human connection.” – Sarah Burton.
To discover the collection, visit AlexanderMcQueen.com
Although the presentation is usually held in person, the show will include ‘viewing rooms’, where the public can wonder around in virtual rooms that showcase digitalised versions of each artist’s work. The line-up includes the likes of Mary Kelly, a staple figure in feminist art, Ming Smith’s street photography which focused its lens on African American’s in the 1970’s, and work from Jacqueline de Jong who was an editor for the experimental platformThe Situationist Times.
The talent does not stop there, with the inclusion of prolific work from the younger generation. Highlights from painters Jadé Fadojutimi and Stefanie Heinze, the vibrant portraiture of Wangari Mathenge, Zoë Buckman’s repurposed textiles and the hypnotic oil on linen pieces by Angela Heisch. These works were created specifically for the fair and offer a deep dive into each artist’s psyche – how they postulate change, their ideas on identity, and how their individual work connects to larger ideas.
In an exclusive interview, Zoë Buckman and Wangari Mathenge sat down with Twin Magazine and revealed some of their thoughts surrounding their work, the exhibition itself, and the ways they have continued to create during this turbulent time.
Zoë Buckman, Lilith, 2020, boxing gloves, vintage textiles and chain Photo: Thomas Müller
Zoë Buckman: ‘she would use that cloth to make a sling, it stings, 2020’ and ‘Eyes Closing Now, 2020’
How does it feel to be a part of an all-female art exhibition?
I was so excited when I saw that. Also those artists, the ones Pippy has selected, I am just delighted to be in such esteemed company. I know and really admire Ming Smith, we’re kind of a part of the same community here in the art world in New York, and I have obviously been a long admirer of hers. But also for me, Mary Kelly is a big one too because I actually studied her work at school, and I have her books and she has been a massive inspiration to me as I have attempted to juggle being an artist but also a mother. I’m getting to know the other artists on Pippy’s programme and it’s exciting.
I have noticed that you use boxing gloves quite often in your work – why did you choose this medium for this piece and this exhibition?
I’m really interested in the space in between polarised states. And I think that conversation or that tension between the stereotypically masculine and the stereotypically feminine, has always been a really interesting terrain for me to make art from. I do box [and] for a particular time in my life it was very formative for me because it gave me a space to work through both feelings of frustration and anger about what was going on politically in the world at the time. This was in 2016 in the run-up to the general election here in the States. I just began to really feel that there was this mounting war on women against our rights, and our body, and our body autonomy. It was also when there was a lot being circulated about rape, and scoring different experiences of rape against each other. It was a time where I was finding my feet as an artist in the art world, which is a very male dominated arena. In a way the boxing gym gave me a space to work through certain personal traumas, but it also gave me practice at learning how to hold my own and take up space, and even take space away from others.
Visually boxing and iconography, like boxing gloves are very interesting to me because a lot of my work does look at masculinity, aggression and violence. So using boxing gloves but reworking them with these domestic feminine textiles, and often placing so that one is balancing on the other and bringing a kind of fragility to something that is stereotypically quite masculine and resilient.
The phrase “it stings” has also been used in your work prior. What does this statement mean in your work?
A lot of the texts that I use in my work, both the titles, for what I write and embroider, that is taken from this ongoing poem that I’m writing. The poem is called “show me your bruises then” and it weaves together snippets of conversations or memories, or things that women have said to me, or even things that men have said to me. A lot of the text is from my own experiences with relationships with men. But that particular line it used to be “it stings, I sob”, that was taken from a play my mother wrote about her experience [of] coming on her period for the first time.
In the Jewish tradition, the matriarch of the family will slap the young woman across the face the first time she gets her period. And so that was obviously this deeply problematic ritual for women, at least for my Mum she didn’t know what was happening to her body, and she didn’t know she was going to get slapped in the face by her grandmother. It’s this way of using a violent act to mark a significant time in a woman’s life. She found that, and therefore I find that really interesting and problematic.
I also merged that with another piece of text which said “Mama would use that cloth to cook and clean, and she would use that cloth to make a sling”. She was talking about her grandmother in the kitchen using these tea towels in all these different ways. When a kid broke his arm, she would use that cloth to make a sling, but she would also use that cloth to tend to her own black eye. This line “it stings” for me, I’m sort of looking at the feminist experience. You can apply that “it stings, I sob” to coming on you period the first time, to losing your virginity, to experiencing violence, to experiencing heartbreak: it just seems so universal to me.
As an artist and creator, do you believe your art has an obligation to tackle wider socio-political subjects?
I try to veer away from any feelings of obligation because I feel they can limit the creative process. But I was brought up with this example of art being something that is used to examine or attempt to change the status quo. I personally will always use my art to do that. I think it’s something that I just intuitively want to do, and do. But I don’t feel like I am obligated.
How does your art speak to your own experience as a woman and to the ‘female experience’ as a whole?
The series that I create they always start from a personal experience. Whether that’s divorce, grieving the loss of my mother, or sexual violence, or abortion or whatever is the impotence for me to embark on a series. It also comes from something within me that I find difficult or problematic or complicated. And then I go through a process of expanding that out and talking to other women, and bringing other women’s experiences and stories in the work. I hope it will always be something that is collective. For example, I’m not interested in making work that is solely about something that I have gone through. I’m more interested in saying “I have an experience with this” and I know there are plenty of women out there that have that; I want to share that space with them.
One of the subject matters highlighted in this exhibition is “metamorphosis”. Did you go through a process of change or metamorphosis that brought you to creating these two pieces?
I think that I’ve been on a real journey of transformation. The last few years for me have been almost a fast track of different experiences: from a divorce, to losing my mother to a terminal illness, to a very painful breakup from a relationship where there was violence and assault. A lot of that has brought a real complex darkness to my work as I have been exploring those things in my work. But more recently I feel that I am arriving at a place of joy and celebration. I think from my own spiritual practice, and through my relationships with other women, my best friends – my gyaldem, it has really put me in touch with this kind of inner force of creativity, and resilience, and joy. A lot of this work is looking at how we as women overcome the fuckeries that life throws at us. Through prayers, and devotion, and dancing, and raving and being together and through accessing our own ‘inner wild space’, and our own ‘inner wild women’; I think that is really the antidote to subjugation, and oppression, and trauma.
In the current tumultuous time we are living in right now, (Covid-19, the US election, police brutality), where does your work as an artist fit into these conversations?
I think that where the work explores as an antidote to oppression, and trauma and difficulty, choosing and seeking out joy, and connection to spirit and that inner wilderness that I was referencing; I think that sort of fits in with what is going on right now. Everybody is going through something, everybody is grieving something right now or everybody is anxious about something right now, or feeling trapped or limited or held back. Those are things I have had experience with, and some practice with. And so I think offering as a tool for those difficult experiences, this connection to something that is within us that can’t be limited, can’t be held back or trapped. I think that is a good way of reaching people during this time and what they’re going through.
Ming Smith, Symmetry on the Ivory Coast, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 1972, archival silver gelatin print
Wangari Mathenge: ‘The Ascendants IX (Just Like My Parents’ House, I’ve Become A Visitor), 2020’
I noticed that you use oil paints in the majority of your work. Why did you choose this medium specifically?
It started just out of curiosity. I actually started painting with watercolours and acrylic. I just used to look at artworks a lot, like when you go to museums [and] there was this quality, a sort of richness that I noticed. I noticed the difference between oils and acrylics. Acrylics have come a long way and they mimic oils right now, back in the day acrylics were kind of dry and they didn’t really have the mixing mediums that they have right now; I think you can mimic an oil painting with acrylics now. When I was doing it, you could tell the difference. And so it was really curiosity. The first time I ever tried to work with oils, it was a complete disaster. It was a very difficult material to understand. And then it just became a quest to understand the language of oils. And then after a while, I just became good at it I guess. Initially it was just curiosity, and now the reason I still paint with oil is – I think just being comfortable with it.
As an artist that has a diasporic experience, being between more than one culture, how does your artwork speak to your experiences?
For me I think it changes. Initially what ‘diaspora’ meant to me when I started painting and thinking about it is very different to what it means to me today. Initially I think it was more of a statement, and now it’s more of an exploration of ‘what is diaspora?’. I think that would happen in any time you’re trying to work out something, whether you’re writing or whether you’re painting it tends to become this exploration, this understanding. With my works what you’ll notice is the motifs and objects, and all of these sort of informs that inquisition which is “what is diaspora?”, because it means [something] different to any individual.
Most recently, I started reading this book ‘Potential History’ by Ariella Azoulay. It’s really interesting because it questions this whole notion of culture, objects, history, art history: what is it? I think for me, especially now with my work, I’m beginning to really look at what my place is in the world, my place in Chicago, the United States. How I have always kind of thought of myself as being a part from Kenya, and sort of being a part from here [United States], with a basis of being diasporic. But really what is that? I realised that there really is no understanding of what that culture looks like. And so [I’m] basically trying to explore that in my work.
Do you see your work as a direct representation of you as an individual and your identity?
Yeah. I think it has to be. It’s an interesting question, because I have never thought about it not being that I guess. So it must be.
How has the current world, this ‘new normal’ we are living in affected your work as a creative? Has it enhanced or hindered your work?
The thing is that I have been in school, right? Especially since Covid happened, the only thing that changed is that I was going to class and mingling with my peers and I had a studio on campus, and then we were relegated to distanced learning. Initially I had to change what I need, because I didn’t have access to the kind of space that I had in school.
In a way it also makes you a little bit more introspective, because when I was in school I had my colleagues, and I had my professors walking in and kind of making the paintings with me because they come in [and] make comments, and you adjust accordingly. While now because you don’t really have eyeballs on your work all the time it forces you to go I think a little more inwards and pull things out. I think for me the change has been a self-direction. I say it’s forced self-direction because part of being in school is that you’re looking for that direction, and you’re looking to be challenged in that way. But because of Covid that hasn’t quite happened in the last 5-6 months.
What do you hope this exhibition will do for you and your work as an artist moving forward?
I think I would love to have more people have conversations. And I guess the exhibition has more people seeing my work, right? Like you had said you hadn’t seen the work before and so having more people see the work and then engaging in the conversation is always helpful, because I’m not making this work just for me. So I would hope that all those conversations then helps the work grow and become something else as you move along.
What do you hope people will take away from your artistry? Is there a particular message that you want to portray?
No. Definitely for me I know what it is that I’m trying to get out of it. I would prefer to leave it a little bit open ended, rather than say that “Okay, this is what I am trying to convey”. I would rather leave it open ended because I think that’s how we live in any case. When we are confronted with visual things and even with writing, there isn’t that capability to always have the author or the artist translate what is going on. I would like for people to come to the work and take with it whatever they want to. And if it can do that, if it can relate to them in some way without me saying anything, then I guess that’s what I’m looking for.
Introducing ‘HOME’: A Black-Owned Creative Space by Ronan McKenzie
Introducing a creative, multifunctional space made to hone in on artists of colour: this is ‘HOME’. Founded by creative director, photographer, and curator Ronan McKenzie, this accessible art space is built to house exhibitions and events from a diverse range of artists.
This black owned space is one of few, working from the inside out to fully understand and support other BAME artists. The space works as a ‘home away from home’ for creatives through uplifting the voices and work of artists that are often relegated to lower positions of influence and authority or simply cast aside in the art world. The team at HOME also prioritises accessibility and sustainability, through disability access needs built into the space and fabric eco-friendly alternatives to paper backdrops. By giving these artists access to equipment, expertise, and a safe place to create, HOME is moulding a new infrastructure entirely, one built on equity and empathy.
The space features an array of equipment including an affordable daylight photo studio, an open workspace and a curated library where exhibitions will take place year round. Events that will be held in the space range from film nights, artists talks and portfolio reviews to supper clubs, life drawings, and music events.
“Art spaces remain hierarchal and out of reach for most – especially BAME audiences, making entering artistic spheres extremely difficult and maintaining a place in them even harder. Drawing on my own experiences of showing work at institutions, and working across fashion and arts, I am all too aware of the difficulties of navigating creative industries as a black female, and amongst the current offering in London, there needs to be a HOME.” – Ronan McKenzie, Founder and Creative Director of HOME.
HOME’s debut exhibition is titled: ‘WATA; Further Explorations’ a show by Joy Yamusangie and Ronan McKenzie. This exhibition launched digitally on November 28th and will run till February 9th.
Collaboration as the core of creative vision: Colville founders Lucinda Chambers and Molly Molloy discuss the cultivation of an authentic vision with Marte Mei and Viviane Sassen for Twin.
There is never just a single solitary eye in fashion. No isolated roving thoughts, or an action not inspired by another. Colville might be named after a street in London, but its name feels drawn from the family of collaboration, cross-pollination, creative inspiration.
Founded by Lucinda Chambers and Molly Molloy, there are so many creatives, resources, ideas at play it feels like more than two: it is a river of thoughts, streams pulling in and rolling through.
In anticipation of their most recent collaboration with Marte Mei and Viviane Sassen, we spoke to the four respective collaborators about the freedoms of sharing visions and the interconnectivity of the creaive landscape.
If 2020 has taught us anything, do you think it is the vital importance of collaboration and creative cross-pollination?
Lucinda Chambers
I think I have always felt the joy of collaborations, not just during this time. I truly think no man is an island and it is one of the greatest pleasures to have a criss-crossing of minds, hearing others’ point of view and expressing ourselves creatively. Also, as I get older, I let go more, not needing to hold on to my ideas or my way of doing things. I enjoy the freedom of collaborative work, and I feel very fortunate to have identified amazing collaborators to take the journey, and some have found me!
Molly Molloy
Absolutely, I think the incredible moments that happened for me during the first lockdown were the ideas and collaborations that came out of it. We worked with people all over the world to knit squares for blankets that we will eventually auction next year for a women’s refuge here in Milan. It was moving to involve so many people and to read the letters they sent along with the squares. I also took part in a group talk with BoF and many other designers, everyone coming together in a think tank to exchange ideas and make changes. These and many other projects we started during this year have reinforced our vision of collaboration. This was something we all talked about at the beginning of Colville: we all have collaborative natures and it just makes the creative process fresh and inspiring.
Marte Mei
I think 2020 has showed us how fragile our systems are. The interconnectivity of our global economy but also as a species within the ecosystem. Hopefully it has also showed people how much we depend on a healthy ecosystem around us, and how much we depend on that as a species to survive.
Viviane Sassen
I believe the vital importance of collaboration and creative cross-pollination is something of all times.
How can fashion cultivate authentic visions in a creative climate in flux?
Lucinda Chambers
Now more than ever creativity flourishes. You must be authentic these days – people’s money is precious. They want to know where it is going and what the journey was. There are so many good stories out there and I think things are being scrutinised in a way that’s never happened before, and that’s a good thing. So, the more authentic you are, the better tale you have to tell.
Molly Molloy
To quote Louise Bourgeois “Tell your own story and you will be interesting”. I think what stands out are designers being authentic and working from their hearts and creating what they believe in.
Marte Mei
Fashion to me has always been about making something that triggers a new vision, sets a new tone or creates new examples. In the context of this project, it was all about freedom about coming together as a woman-only team. We also worked very local and with low carbon emissions and a very small team. The shoot took place in Amsterdam, the clothes were sent do us by mail, and nobody had to travel for the job apart from biking to the studio. I hope that becomes the new norm of creating within the industry.
Viviane Sassen
By embracing true and original creative minds and give them a platform. Like Marte got through her collaboration with Colville!
How has this image series come about, and do you think it expresses a convergence of unique viewpoints that come together as a greater whole?
Lucinda Chambers
Molly contacted Marte Mei. We have worked with her from the very beginning of Colville. One of the beautiful things about Colville is the friendships we have all made along the way, for years now, way before we dreamt of having our own company. We have gathered around us a band of really dear and important friends who are creatives. Collaboration and giving everyone a voice is something that is very important to us, always has been. It’s about relationships, friendships and respect. In that sense we feel that Colville is a real collective. A meeting of the minds.
Molly Molloy
Marte has worked with Colville from the very beginning, I worked with her creatively in the past and Lucinda and I love her vision, use of colour and sensitivity to what surrounds her. What’s amazing about letting go of control is what it brings back to you and how it surprises you. We didn’t give Marte or Viviane any constraints, they created something together that was for us completely unique and took the clothes somewhere else. It was an incredible privilege to work with two such inspiring women.
Marte Mei
To me, the process felt like a chain reaction of appreciation and admiration. Both the textile design collaboration, the set design, the image making, all felt like an overlapping patchwork of creation without clear borders. I found that really special in the way that Lucinda and Molly approached me for the textile design. They asked if I wanted to create a special follow up of an artwork I’d made in the past. I find it fascinating that they acknowledge potential within that sculpture from paper and wood, to become a piece of clothing. To see their brand as a space without borders, entering the field of art and going beyond their set team of designers by having me as an outsider creator woven into their collection.
Viviane Sassen
It was a super organic collaboration; I have known Marte for years and we’ve worked together so many times – she’s one of my muses so to speak. The whole process of working on this project together was very intuitive and smooth and a lot of fun. It is also a matter of mutual trust and understanding, that makes for a good collaboration, and Marte and I absolutely recognize that in each other.
What does fashion and photography come to learn from another?
Lucinda Chambers
I think they are totally intertwined. As is art and fashion, theatre and fashion, music and fashion. Fashion can be expressed so beautifully through photography. Fashion and in particular clothes are the tools we use for storytelling. The narrative and dialogue that fashion and photography has can create something wonderful, standalone images or a drawn out tale. Clothes facilitate that. And they can also be the inspiration, the beginning of the photograph.
Molly Molloy
They are ever evolving together, it’s so exciting when you see the two combine in original and unique ways, it’s such an incredible feeling when you see a shoot that’s inspiring, it will stay with you for years if not ever. It’s like moving image and sound, the two go hand in hand and can really evoke emotion.
Marte Mei
I think that it was a revolutionary experience for me as a former model, to take on a different role within the dynamic of the team I really look up to. Having designed the textile, and the set design, but also modelling within the project. On a personal level I still think there is a lot to learn in being comfortable within that role of being both the creator as the subject of creation. For instance, when we were working with the clay on my body, I wanted to just trust the image of Irena within applying it to me, so when she asked for my opinion to guide her, it was hard for me to switch between having a creative vision to the outcome of project but also being subjected to her creative expression in the project and onto my body.
Viviane Sassen
I’ve always perceived my fashion photography as a great way to express myself; to play, to experiment, and to collaborate with other creative people. I also work as an artist and that is a much more solitary process, so I love working as a fashion photographer too, as it enables me to work together in a group, have a mutual goal, and create images together with others who are often super inspiring. In that sense, I feel I’ve learned so much from collaborations with stylists, designers, models, hair & make-up artists!
What does fashion and photography come to learn from another?
Lucinda Chambers
I always learn from Molly and everyone really, we have an incredible team, Danny, Alice and Luisa. I think I’ve learnt from Molly to try things out even if they are out of my comfort zone, out of my field of vision, to give things a go and see where it leads or takes you. Also not always getting my own way and that’s fine. I’ve learnt to let go. And to like vegetables more.
Molly Molloy
I’m learning every minute of the day being a founder with Lucinda we are both on a huge learning curve having our own business and bringing people in to Colville that constantly keep it evolving and exciting.
Viviane Sassen
I really love watching Marte work, the refined gestures she makes and the thing(s) she creates, both while modelling and while working on her own art; it all comes from the same source, the creative energy which is within her. I recognize her inner drive to create beauty, and I admire her sense of colour, texture, and shape. It’s a true joy to watch her work evolve and refine over time!
What was the last thing that made you feel inspired?
Lucinda Chambers
Well, everything really, but probably the leaves on the pavement tonight coming home, I wanted to collect them all, the colours, shocking reds and yellows, blowing around. Beautiful.
Molly Molloy
Heavy Metal by Osamu Matsuo, I hadn’t seen it for a while and forgot how beautiful it is!
Marte Mei
Nature is a limitless source of inspiration to me, being inside due to corona and wintertime limits the possibility of going outdoors, so for me this is a time for reading and thinking.
Viviane Sassen
A few documentaries I recently watched about climate change, and how some new technologies and (futuristic) solutions will be able to help humankind towards a better, more sustainable future.
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