Striving to find new processes and ways of working is the backbone of art and it is always interesting to find artists that work in new, exciting ways. Maria Aparicio is an artist that I came across when researching for my current work and has really inspired me with her unique way of perceiving images. The majority of her work consists of stitching into photographs that are sometimes her own and sometimes taken by others. The result is artworks that bring a 3D element back into flat images that were very once very 3D when they were taken.
“For me, images have certain geometric patterns, sequences and elements that in my mind, are asking to be connected”, Maria illustrates these connections using stitching to create geometric patterns on top of the photographs, creating a really interesting contrast between the organic nature of the photographs and her geometric lines that are interrupting the images. Her work is extremely considered, she has to feel connections within the images and not just stitch on to them for the sake of creating a piece of art; “There are many incredible and beautiful images but, most of the time, I find it quite difficult to find that relation of elements in it and what I'm doing, in those cases I prefer not to intervene them in order to not force or impose something.”
Maria’s work is inspiring from many points of view within art and design. Some of the images are fashion related, and the interruption of traditional patterns and fabric with geometric elements creates a fascinating new perspective on textiles that is contemporary and innovative. Her work relates to so many fields that Maria may not intentionally mean to inspire someone, but even a small element of her design process can have that effect. To look into the reason why a photograph was taken and the visual connections it makes requires an explorative way of seeing. To compete with artists in the industry in this day and age, that is perhaps what is most important, and it explains the success of Maria’s work.
Website/Images: Cargocollective.com
Come autumn designers seem to go crazy for animals! We have seen it in the past with the cat being a major emblem of quirky Miuccia Prada’s A/W’09 collection and the obsession hasn’t wavered. The high street has been adorned with equestrian and feline themed knitwear, bags, jewellery and even shoes! But this year it has been all about woodland creatures! British innovative designer Burberry may be advocating the ethereal owl or the mischievous fox in their A/W collections, but Zoe Alexandra Richardson. founder of Duel Nation, is promoting an array of furry creatures in her jewellery collection The Firstborn Firstborn. After graduating with a fashion design and marketing degree, Zoe began to acquire an interest in jewellery making which she pursued at the London Jewellery School. Zoe is the designer and creator of her pieces which are strongly influenced by her British and Australian heritage. The collection is a mixture of warm pinks, subtle yellows and understated blues which lets the oversized pieces do all the talking. However, it has to be the rams head necklace which tops this collection for me. The thick russet gold chain has an antique, vintage feel which is heavily contrasted by the large puzzle piece like pendant. The piece is a statement, not for the faint hearted, but it’s fun, young, pretty and most hauntingly intriguing. Zoe has created the epitome of statement jewellery.
Images: Notjustalabel.com
Alexandra Valenti is a Washington-born, Texas-based artist who originally worked as a photographer’s assistant before making her own mark on the art scene. She has worked for a number of alternative fashion names including Free People and Neon Magazine, shot numerous lifestyle portraiture and landscape images and has designed unique album artwork.
A particular favourite of mine is a series of hand painted photographs that incorporate psychedelic designs with black and white photographs of free spirits that roam their wild surroundings. Her technical and creative brilliance lends an unearthly quality to the images of models, appearing within the frame as magical and nymph like in their extraordinary costumes.
Mainly shot on location, Valenti’s images transport you to the abstractive moments of dreams and hallucinatory visions, reworking the images of the hippy culture in its heyday for our contemporary pleasure. And whilst the visuals of her work do not appear loud or exaggerated, Alexandra experiments with a phantasmagoria of delicate colours and light that seems to communicate something wild and supernatural.
For more of Valenti’s inspirational art, visit her website: Alexandravalenti.com
Name: Agatha Hambi
Age: 22
Occupation: Designer
Sophisticated, feminine, simple – just some of the words I would use to describe the designs by recent graduate Agatha Hambi. They stand apart from the throwaway culture that fashion is argued to have become today – they are not clothes that merely jump on current trends, but are a trend in and among themselves – classic and timeless. Her clothes have even been worn by the music superstar that is Lady Gaga, a reflection of not only Agatha’s incredible talent, but also of her innovative and unique style…
Explain a little about yourself, and how you came to be a designer.
I always loved clothes and I'm a visual kind of person. My life is a series of images that I put together to create my own story. I love the idea that each individual can interpret things in their own way and make it what they want it to be. As for me becoming a designer, it's just what I love to do- I like creating, directing, designing and I am always learning and as I develop as a person, so will my creations. I left school at 16, I didn’t like the academic side of things and I started fashion at college and then went on to university.
Describe your style in three words.
I would say that my designs are minimal, elegant and dark.
What do you most enjoy about fashion design?
I love that as any designer you are free to be you. With fashion designers the end result is clothes but getting to that point is completely different for all of us.
You have had your designs worn by Lady Gaga. What did that feel like?
It was amazing when Lady G wore my clothes. It’s definitely a good starting point, [and] has made me want to work harder to get myself out there even more.
Are there any projects you are currently working on?
In the past 6 months I have been working on a series of projects and even though I loved doing every single one, meeting new people becoming obsessed with new ideas I decided after all that I didnt want to bring any of it out. So I am now working on more projects for my new Capsule Collection which will be coming out soon. I think this is me though..i remember when i was younger I loved drawing and painting..i would be drawing a picture for hours and once I was done if I didn’t like one little aspect of the drawing i would throw it away and start afresh... I don’t know if this is good thing or a bad thing!)
What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
In the future I hope to be selling my clothes internationally and always travelling to new places :)
Website: Agathahambi.com
Image Credits:
Designs: Agatha Hambi
Photographer: Carlotta De Rysky
Art Direction/Styling: Agatha Hambi/Carlotta De Rysky
Make Up Artist – Bunny Hazel Clarke
Hair Stylist: Margarida Marinho
The New Contemporaries exhibition at Fairfields Art Centre is a four-week long exhibition featuring works by a selection of artists from varying disciplines, many of whom are largely unknown and at the start of their careers. One such artist, Elicea Andrews, explains further.
Curated by Fairfields’ Centre director, Andy Buchanan, it is now in its tenth year running and has become a well-established and successful exhibition of new works by artists, designers and photographers throughout the Basingstoke region. This year the exhibition boasts the works of multiple Winchester School of Art graduates, in addition to my piece ‘Reclining Nude with Fruit’.
Currently in my final year studying BA Fine Art painting, I have mainly been focusing on treating the human body as a canvas to apply my paint. The focus of my work has been to break down the boundary between the different dimensions of art, resulting in a series of works that cannot be described by the traditional definitions of painting, sculpture, photography or installation alone. The piece is a homage to the 15th Century Renaissance nude portraits by influential artists such as Giorgione, Titian, Manet, Rubens and Goya. My intention with this piece was to incite confusion in spectators over the dimensions, composition and formulation of the piece.
The exhibition runs from Friday 9th November until Saturday 8th December.
Website: Fairfields.org
Image 1: Elicea Andrews
Image 2: Julie Dibiase
Image 3: Rosie Baxter
In the fashion industry, it is great to see someone who really perceives fashion as a craft and a way of using materials to create structures and silhouettes through careful craftsmanship and engineering. Mark Goldenberg studied at the Shenkar College of Engineering, Art and Design in Israel and you have to wonder whether his classmates studying engineering had an influence on the way that he views fashion in the almost scientific context of which he seems to. The structures that he creates are like architecture, materials carefully constructed together in beautiful ways like the bars of a bridge or the structure of a bird's wing.
That is exactly what Goldenberg's collection 'Broken Wings' is based upon. “Naum Gabo‘s sculptures captured my attention with their calm charisma and exquisite resemblance to the bone structure of a bird’s wing. His perception of space, time and movement has the power to liberate the soul of the viewer, and that was my vision for my own work.” Mark used this inspiration to begin working on structures at the very seed of fashion silhouettes and using shape as a starting point. He creates fascinating, complex structures that create truly innovative and original fashion pieces because of this simple but essential starting point. After considering the shapes in incredible detail, Goldenberg used his great eye for colour and pattern to start to add other elements to his designs. “My research on birds and their flight process, was the main inspiration for these designs...the colours I've used express the colour distribution of an exotic bird wing.” The whole collection is considered in amazing detail in every part of the design process. Goldenberg taught himself to construct a loom and weave during the time he was working on the collection. His weaves that are integrated into the fabric of the designs really give the collection an impressive hand-worked look. The combination of that and Goldenberg's modern colour, construction and fabric choice combine to create a contemporary collection that also gives a big nod to traditional textiles techniques.
Goldenberg has interned for Diane Von Furstenberg and this undoubtedly gave him inspiration and experience to find his own niche and speciality within design. He is inspired by designers such as Yohji Yamamoto, Alber Elbaz, Christopher Kane and Vivienne Westwood and this speaks volumes in his quest to be a bold, experimental designer and looking at the work that he has already produced, I think that it is definitely possible that he could one day be up there with the greats who inspired his career from the beginning.
To see more of his work, check out: Artsthread.com
Hailing from Austrailia, Shi is an experimental artist who’s photographs, illustrations and paintings reflect a fantasy world that is as dark as it is whimsical.
Her work tends to evoke ambiguity through its experimentation with gender and anthropomorphism; creatures and animals often carry unnervingly humanistic forms and expression, whilst her numerous sketches and paintings of human faces are made wild and abstracted by the tweaking of the facial compositions that we would naturally expect to see. Whilst her work portrays an off-centre and at times unsettling world, the organic, unrestricted style in which she draws and paints lends her characters a unique charm and appeal.
Shi plays with colour, textures and styles in a beautiful amalgamation of distinct mediums, exemplified particularly in the incorporation of intricate illustration with naturalistic photography. The idea of combining reality and fantasy continues in her street art where enlarged prints of her bizarrely brilliant designs inhabit the urban landscape.
For many more fantastical creations and equally absorbing words (Oh, and don’t forget to look out for her mouth-watering food photography!), visit her blog: Buffaloparade.blogspot.co.uk or tumblr: Shibuffalo.tumblr.com and read on next week for an interview with the artist herself!
Name: Fabrizio Mingarelli
Age: 22
Occupation: Photographer
Inspiration: Corinne Day, Hedi Slimane, Ryan Mcginley, Lina Scheynius, Maurizio Cattelan, Michelangelo Pistoletto
What is most impressive about Fabrizio’s work is his instinctual knowledge of what makes a good photograph. His body of work is a documentation of his travels, stopping to take a snap when all of those pivotal things: light, space, subject, merge to create a setting, a moment that needs to be captured, if not for aesthetics’ sake, then for memory’s sake. They are not set-up photographs, but works that capture the candid nature of the world we live in today…
What is your favourite thing about photography?
Photography is fast and easy. It lets me express in the best way quickly what I have in my mind. It’s all about instinct and momentary inspiration.
Do you prefer photographing people or landscapes/buildings, and why?
I used to photograph both but I prefer people because I love human shapes, faces, bodies, expressions and everything related to them. I have tons of photographs of landscapes and buildings too, that means I love architecture/landscape photography too.
To you, what makes a great photograph?
Light of course. Light is what can make a photograph really intense and unique, it makes the difference.
Describe the decision-making process behind capturing the spaces in 'Empty Places in Berlin' and 'Daniela Berlin'.
I shot ‘Empty Places In Berlin’ in a Jewish Museum - that building has a strange atmosphere, it’s full of lonely and neutral rooms/places. I was more impressed by the building than the exhibition actually.
Daniela Berlin' is just another portrait I’ve took of my best friend Daniela, she was waiting for our train and I was captured by that moment, she seemed flying and the moving train behind her really helps to give this impression. As you can see there isn’t a great decision or making process, I just photograph driven by instinct.
Describe your style of photography in three words.
Instinctual, pure and documental.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
Simple! I just hope to have a chance to do what I like and love, I just what to live thanks to photography and make it my main activity.
See more of Fabrizio’s work at: Fabriziomingarelli.com
Jim Mangan’s photography is an intriguing experiment into the expressive qualities of sand. Sand sometimes obscures, sometimes empowers.
In the top photograph, it takes on a magical or even transcendental quality, extending from the human arms and exploding perfectly in the sky. It becomes, paradoxically, remote and extra-terrestrial. In other pictures, the sand is presented as commensurate with the body and leads us to question composition. The bottom two pictures, for instance, depict bodies either emerging from or disappearing into powerful blasts of sand. The physical limits of the human constitution rupture under the natural force of sand.
Sand has the effect of conferring a certain momentum on the photograph, as in all of these the human structure seems at least transitory, if not deathly. The threat of live burial is pervasive and real, but we would equally have to balance this interpretation by acknowledging the cathartic or cleansing function of sand. In the second and third photographs, in fact, the concomitance of death and redemption, of final disintegration and final recuperation, is what makes these images decisively – or indecisively, perhaps – manichaeistic.
Emma Hardstaff has made the best start possible in the world of fashion by creating an already award-winning collection upon her graduation from Edinburgh School of Art. During her graduating year, Emma won the David Band Textiles Award, the Harvey Nichols Collective Award and the Medusa Cut and Colour Award to name a few. This whole host of accolades is due to Emma's extremely innovative textiles and her fresh, new ideas about fashion design.
The focus of Emma's final collection showcased at Graduate Fashion Week, and in Paris this summer, was the materials themselves and creating new, exciting fabrics using innovative techniques. However, this is combined with stunning silhouettes and quirky accessories to create a collection that is both experimental but extremely polished. From a distance, Emma's fabrics look like prints that have been quilted to give them volume and texture, but upon closer inspection they are so much more unique. One of Emma's focuses was to take cheap materials and change their use so that they can become a surface that looks expensive and impressive. "I like taking plain fabrics to the high end of couture. It's fun. Cheap fake fur can be luxurious if you add other elements and manipulate it … it gives the wearer an air of intrigue." In Emma's designs, fake fur is placed below organza and the two are quilted together and create a fabric that looks expensive and interesting, even though it is created from two stereotypically cheap fabrics. She is fearless in her fabric and colour selections, choosing a palette that is pink in its majority, a tone that many designers stay clear of due to its many connotations. Emma's ability to alter the perceptions of fabric showcases her talent and is no doubt one of the reasons why she has had such an impressive award record.
Within the silhouettes of the garments, Emma played with scale and volume via her fabric use and manipulation to create a bold collection that has real presence as it makes its way down the runway. The unconventional headwear accessories balance the silhouette and Emma's styling of the collection within her photo shoot all combine together to create a stunning collection that establishes Emma as a designer of the future.
Website: Cargocollective.com/emmahardstaff
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