Tribe Magazine Issue 15

2 TRIBE MAGAZINE ISSUE 15

ISSUE 15 TRIBE MAGAZINE 3


Editor In ChiefMark Doyle

EditorAli Donkin

Creative Writing EditorTilly Craig

Marketing and PRSteve Clement-‐Large

CorrespondentsFrancesca Didymus, Hannah Lewis, Helen Moore, Aurore Plaussu, Becky Mead

CoverDawn Sims

ContributorsAli Reed, Daniel Hulsbergen, Paula Rylatt, Ian Rylatt, Dawn Sims, Fran Solloway, Pablo de Laborde, Gianfranco Cioffi, Paul Mowat, Vaya Sigmas, Hannah Lewis, Ali Gardiner, Paul Hawkins

ContactTo submit work:[email protected] say hello:[email protected]

Full submission details can be found on our website:

www.tribemagazine.org

Artists have given permissionfor their work to be displayedin tribe magazine. No part ofthis publication may bereproduced without thepermission of the copyrightholder(s)

ISSN: 2050-‐2352

WELCOME TO ISSUE 15 OF TRIBE MAGAZINE

Looking in on the Crea<ve Industry

Every young person gets to that Zme in his or her life when the ‘real world’ starts to close in on you and you have to accept that it is Zme to embark on your career based journey. Many of us spend our whole academic life preparing for this moment, studying towards an ulZmate goal that your educaZon will provide you with some sort of employment.

I myself am a student, studying an arts based subject and there is this point in life where you are standing on the edge on the ‘creaZve pond’ trying to figure out how to ‘jump in’. The creaZve industry, to me, has always seemed complex, no one can tell you to get an internship for a reputable company and that it will set you up for life, it takes a lot more hard work, personal drive and passion than that.

The last few years have offered us all as a naZon as a sense of a unstable financial future, we are living in age where we are constantly hearing of and experiencing financial cuts, unemployment and increased living costs, so where does that leave the individual arts student or creaZve person, who is compeZng in a saturated market of thousands of graduates a year and creaZve individuals feeling the pinch?

Where do you start? Do you take a bold step and set up business or go freelancing? Taking a risk based on your creaZve ability. Do you offer your services and gain experience from already established organisaZons and hope for the offer of a more permanent posiZon? Either of these two steps, from personal experience, are scary. At first knowing that once the cushion of educaZon is removed there will be a need throw your work into a realm of professionalism and prepare for criZcism, where its all for one and your naïve outlook on life soon takes on a new dimension. As negaZve as this all sounds as creaZve’s I believe we do have the advantage because generally it’s your passion you are trying to survive from rather than living for corporate targets and working for someone’s financial dream.

Perhaps it’s the nature of the creaZve industry, it could be the educaZonal system or the economic climate but sadly it is said that by the age of 20 two thirds of young people do give up on their dream of a career within the industry. The social actude towards those pracZcing in the arts is one that is forever weighing down on those trying to flourish, with constantly funding cuts, a baelefield of creaZve’s searching for the liele pots of financial resources that are lef and public opinion of arts culture as a luxury it is no wonder the dreams of creaZve careers are disappearing amongst the young, the media is constantly reminding us that there is a high certainty of unemployment, troubling us with thoughts of are we good enough when markets are so saturated, how can we stand out from so many others? But surely it is this that should be driving force behind the creaZvely minded, reducZon in funding and personal lack of income should be something we take to ignite innovaZon and enable us to produce new and exciZng ways of self promoZon whether it be approaching an organisaZon or secng yourself up alone and at the end of the day fresh thinking and new ideas are always in demand.

I’m soon to be creaZve graduate and I understand the uncertainty of what to do with my degree, and how to approach the industry, determinaZon and persistence are words soon to inscribed on my brain so that I don’t sacrifice what I love for a nine to five loop of mindlessness. Being involved with Tribe along side my studies has enabled me to be inspired and prompted my confidence in regards to tackling the industry I am about to enter. As I come towards the end of my university experience the importance of networking is ever forever occurring. Having some confidence to put yourself out there and discover opportuniZes would appear to be key in smoothing the transiZon from either educaZon or an alternaZve industry. Get involved, keep up to date with the movements of the creaZve world, and be persistent and innovaZve…

And with that wish all people, either looking enter or already pracZcing within the creaZve industry, luck and hope that all creaZve individuals or organisaZons believe in their talents so that the world can experience and enjoy the results.

Hannah Lewis, tribe correspondent

http://www.tribemagazine.org/

http://www.tribemagazine.org/


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VAYA SIGMAS

DAWN SIMS

GIANFRANCO CIOFFI

FRAN SOLOWAY

HANNAH LEWIS

PAUL MOWAT

ALI REED

IAN AND PAULA RYLATT

PABLO DE LABORDE

DANIEL HULSBERGEN

ISSUE 15 TRIBE MAGAZINE 17Vaya Sigmas


Ali Reed

Problems throughout Modernism are the basis of my work. Transcription of shapes from Malevich paintings and Le Corbusier city plans is where my explorations begin. I alter the original shapes, and sculptures and installations then form from these explorations which subtly mock these practitioners’ beliefs. Wall drawings of these altered shapes are painted over. Sculptures which are balanced upon one another could fall at any second. So there is this transient state of existing and non-existing works. Similar, I feel, to the idealistic, utopian beliefs and plans of the practitioners I am looking at. Their plans often did not succeed, were never resolved or don’t exist anymore.

“Utopia exists until it is created” – Tomas Saraceno.


IMPERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

hannah lewis


At present photography is something we see and experience daily, a medium that is now in abundance and often will only gain a few seconds of our engagement if any at all. Things where not always this way, when photography was ;irst invented in the early 19th century the meaning and understanding of the photograph had a much larger in;luence and would one day rede;ine itself as a versatile medium but back in the 19th century people considered a photograph to be rich in reality, unlike a painting which had become a interpretation of symbolism and would not literally represent the subject it was depicting.

From 1860 to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the British Empire annexed countries around the world, covering one quarter of the globe and ruling over roughly 458 million people at its peak! Photography at this time became a pivotal and useful tool for disseminating the idea that the British were born and booted to rule, and for sharing the vast new fortunes of empire with those at home in England.

The media pandered to empire offering it’s public and imperial take on current affairs, photography, art, post cards and ;ilm, such media was representing exotic scenes, landscapes waiting to be conquered, exotic women, glorious decaying architecture, war scenes and cultural differences which all fed the Victorian desire for knowledge of the new world. It is important to learn the signi;icance of the use of media such as photography in the exchange of cultural values as they help explain the dynamics of British identity today.

The shameful reminder of past racial attitudes, and the obnoxious view that it was the Christian duty of the British to civilise other countries and cultures into a system based upon British ideals is evident in the photography of the day.

The camera became a key tool for documenting the power and control empire, often accompanying colonial of;icers and documenting successful war scenes, it was not long before the ametures moved aside for the professional photographer to join such expeditions. Key examples of this are Samuel Bourne (the founder of the British Journal of Photography) and Felice Beato (a photographer initially working under the East India Company who grabbed the opportunity to meet the demand for exotic lands and people).

Samuel Bourne is most well known for his work in India and his photographic approach to the country was de;initely one of an imperial agenda, Bourne himself had colonial authority and was recognised for his artistic and skilful photographs which were popular in India’s major cities, London and Paris. The work of Samuel Bourne represented an imperial point of view manifesting in networking, knowledge and power, supposedly artistically driven his main attractions were to portray the exotic landscapes that were conquered by white men and their persistence. Along with landscape Bourne also took an interest in the indigenous people of India although he never truly experienced his subjects culture, often photographing at a distance and representing the Indian people as an idealised vision of Imperial ideology highlighting the undeveloped and primitive traits he could draw from their society. At the time this would not have been considered inappropriate or an exploitation of the Indian people, it was simply a photographer and writer appealing to the commercial demand of western society.

Felice Beato also followed the path of the ever-‐expanding empire but with a slightly more personal approach, he actually became involved in communities and culture and would still document the people of the East but via experience rather than observation although Beato’s work explored people his main passion was representing architecture and war scenes. The element of propaganda never left either photographers work, with both not being afraid to add some bones or remove a tree for dramatic effect and further appeal to western ways of thinking, they were both outsiders recording what would excite and what would be of use to the Empire and their business demand.

Along with photographers enforcing the imagined scenes and peoples of exotic lands, anthropologists harnessed the tool inherent in reality as a means of theoretical and practical purpose. Photography


allowed documentation and construction of pro;iles about race, human biology and society. Thomas Henry Huxley, an avid supporter of Darwin’s theory of evolution and ‘natural selection’ is an example of how anthropology and photography came together; his theory the ‘Photometric theory’ used photographs to document and measure physical and facial features, subjects were often photographed nude against grids and meter sticks then compared with other ‘races’ to conclude results but Huxley’s theory was soon dismissed due to inconsistent results and unreliability. Although Huxley’s photographic theory was short lived during the age of empire he is an illustration of the Imperial need for scienti;ic justi;ication of which photography had it’s place and it was science and anthropology that aided the eradication of many cultures due to the attitude and propaganda of western ideals.

The attention on the ‘lifeless native’ and their isolated physical form quickly wore thin as people began to question the authenticity and reality of the photograph thus the attention turned to the ‘lived culture’, photography’s focus on this then had a more varied use and could be much more easily applied to Imperial needs, it was now able to depict traditional cultures (which were quickly declining due to colonisation) and represent people within their natural surroundings, this also implied the ‘lived experience’ from the photographers point of view making the photographs appear more realistic of life within the chosen country. Ethnographic photographs became key in commercial photography feeding popular demand, supporting and informing colonial exhibitions, fuelling geographic education and inspiring artistic perceptions of the exotic picturesque.


Strong political players amongst the Empire believed that the key to maintaining and holding the Empire together was the understanding and the dissemination of information, which is why photography was such a suitable tool. It provided a universal visual language that was understood by everyone and was inherit in truth and reality offering the Empire the opportunity to ;ilter and expose to the audiences it saw ;it and therefore expressing the imperial ideology driving and maintaining the Empire.

Photography has long left behind it’s roots in reality in the 19th century and is now delightfully versatile, and celebrated for its artistic and realistic qualities, but one cant help but question has such a in;luential force of the 1800’s left today’s society with a continued sense of race and stereotype? And is the perception of racial equality today still hindered by the legacy of 19th and 20th century imperial ways of thinking? The visual culture of a photograph is a powerful and in;luential force that should be respected by those wanting to visually represent others.


Old Boys

We skived off that day. Ben drove us to some

bridge between Devonport, Stonehouse and

Morice Town, to the mouth of the beast

about which the older boys had told us.

She was bearded with blades, spikey whiskers

through which we crawled, helping each other

over rusting lips and down the cancerous throat –

we slinked through sticky saliva, nicotine-‐brown,

and into a rotting gizzard, bile dripping onto our uniforms.

Here, the slipshod remains of her prey:

shrill glass gastroliths and a decomposing bike,

a tiny pink shoe in puss and something

that used to have a face. Eventually we saw light and

were born out between the legs of a scummy

valley, naked and blinking. We climbed

past fag ends and new world fallout, and finally realised

we had been dumped just across the road from school.

Alistair Gardiner


Fran Solloway


IAN AND PAULA RYLATT


Did either of you ever have any formal training?

Ian - Yes, after school I did a foundation in Art & Design at Lincoln and then a degree in 3D Design at what was Manchester Polytechnic. Both were very good for me, and at the time helped me to learn about art/design, and were good foundations for my life as a potter.

Paula - After doing a foundation course, I did a degree in Contemporary Crafts from what was Demontfort University, Lincoln. The degree course however was bad. The good thing was that I was introduced to kiln formed glass, which I was previously unaware of, but beyond the basics I am self taught over years of working.

Do you work from life, or from photographs or from imagination?

Paula - I work from drawings which are sometimes inspired by a photo, but are mostly from imagination linked to memory.

Ian - I think the question refers more to a painter. My work tends to be about an idea I have which can be inspired by anything really, but it usually is about the shape or form.

What moves you most in life, either to inspire or challenge you?

Paula - My ‘life’ is what moves me most in life. I am very fortunate to be living in a way and place that suits this time in my life very well. I am too old to want to set the world on fire. My inspiration, if you like, comes from the beauty and peace that surrounds me. My pieces are moments in time and place. Daily life challenges involve things like chickens and cows and my battle with the slugs in my veg patch. My creative challenges have more to do with transforming an idea to substance. Ideas are never the problem. I have loads of those. Of course they aren’t always good ones! But it can take a lot of thought, experience and testing to bring an idea to life.

Ian - My wife…..as to what other things inspire/challenge me in art, I think it’s difficult to answer. What motivates me most is art. I remember when I was at school at the age of 5, seeing a classroom at break time which had all this art on the window and inside, and I thought it was great. That joy I found in art has been with me for all my life. That said, I can be inspired by many things. I love seeing different objects, going to antique shops or even second hand shops….it’s amazing what you can see in those places, and sometimes if one doesn’t know what a thing is, one sees it for the beauty of its shape, which can inspire an idea….

Is there ever a conflict between the subject of your work and the way it is executed? Do you ever have to compromise your vision in order to realise a piece?

Paula - I find that as my skill and experience grow my ideas naturally follow suit. There is no point in trying to realise an idea that is beyond the skill to make it, and skill is about time put in and focus. There are no short cuts. Having said that, I am always pushing the boundaries of what I know, just slipping out of my comfort zone. That’s the fun. New discoveries. New doors opening.

Ian - Funnily enough I would say in general no. That’s obviously not quite right, but for example the first teapot I made at Manchester, after coming up with an idea I liked (which incidentally seemed to take forever- though in reality that’s not true) I actually had no idea how I was going to make it. So I tend not to worry about the ‘how‘, but consider what I would like to do, and then find a way of doing it. Of course at college a tutor suggested several possible ways for that first teapot, but now I have to work it out


myself or with the help of Paula or friends. Experience of ideas and of making of course help one to do a better job. When I make something I attempt to do the best I can at the time, but realise that obviously if I did it again it will be different, and hopefully better, which of course is part of the beauty of anything that is hand made.

How would you describe a typical day for you both?

Do you really want to know this? Okay, the day always begins with a step into the weather, which in Wales often involves water, and a journey to the barn to feed the chickens, ducks and cows. It’s a fantastic way to start the day. The view across the valley is spectacular, even when it’s obscured by lashings of horizontal rain. It’s a connection to the place, the day, the season. The animals are always glad to see us which can’t help but make us feel good, even though it’s only about food! Beeny chook wants a bit of food from a hand, Barley cow wants a scratch. This is sounding nauseatingly romantic and bucolic. In reality sometimes the water is frozen, or the night’s accumulation of manure daunting, or rivulets of cold rain have wriggled under a collar. Sometimes we’d rather still be in bed. But that’s just sometimes. Mostly, and this is said unapologetically, it’s great.

Breakfast ends with a cup or two of coffee. This is a time when we often talk about ideas. The backs of envelopes get covered with drawings and scribbles. It can get pretty exciting. Or the talk might be just plans for the day. Mundane, normal stuff of life.

　

What should art do to the viewer? What are you aiming to convey with your work?

Paula - this is a big debate, isn’t it? Some say it should elevate, some say inform, some say challenge, some say comfort. I suppose it is any and all of these things at times. I suppose what I look for in art is inspiration; the inward taking of breath. The expanded moment. It can be a profound idea, or an inward smile, the allure of a tiny detail, or a colour to dive into. It can be many things. Mainly it is a personal exchange between me and what I see. >

For me, my work is perhaps a memory, a moment frozen in ice-like clear glass that threatens to melt when you look away. The medium in this form grabs light, intensifies what is seen; hopefully gives a moment’s pause. What happens for someone else is, well it’s for someone else to say.

Ian - I sometimes think we try too hard to analyse art. Having studied art and been a potter obviously I have had to try to understand this kind of point. But I can never shake of those glimpses of art when I was a child, when I knew nothing, but was still moved by the ’art’ whatever it happened to be. I think we should all be the same in that, and have confidence in our own emotional responses, whether the artwork seen moves us or not. The beauty, of course, is that no one can actually correct what you feel about any art. You either like it or not, and no explanation will ever convince you to emotionally like something, but of course intellectually that’s a different matter….of course some people just love spin doctors.


With the rise of programmes such as Kirstie Allsopp’s ‘Homemade Home’ and Monty Don’s ‘Mastercrafts’, to what extent has the rise in popularity of homemade crafts played a part on your own business? Have you noticed a change in your customers?

Paula - To start with I must say that I think it’s a good thing to encourage people to be creative, to personalise their homes, to break the Ikea stranglehold. To stand up and say ‘this is me’. Great! It’s good to be imaginative and hands on. But I can’t say their results could always be called craft, or art in the bigger sense of the word. I sing in a community choir. It’s great. I love it. The experience of singing with other people is uplifting. Singing makes me feel good. Sometimes we even sound pretty good. However I would never say that this makes me a singer. In my craft I am not a hobbyist, which it seems Kirstie’s word ’crafter’ describes. I am a professional. Homemade crafts have no relationship to what I do for a living, and I am not about to pretend to offer a quick and easy route to being a kiln formed glass artist to a naive public. This is where I think the danger lies in programs like Kirstie’s. We are a society addicted to speed; instant food, instant communication, instant information and instant results. We are loosing understanding and appreciation of process. The quick makeover isn’t about quality, it‘s about speed. I recently saw a program about Lang Lang, the famous Chinese concert pianist. He was asked about how talent fits within the nature versus nurture debate. He said that yes, some people are born with a natural gift, but it doesn’t mean that they have to work any less to develop their art. Expression through any art is a continuing journey along a pathway of clear steps. There are no short cuts. Skill takes time, lots of time. And the attainment of skill gives greater space for artistic expression to happen. And of course putting in the time is no guarantee that the results are ’good art’ either. I fear that the quick fix can make us too accepting of mediocrity, to think that it’s the most we should strive for. Fine, go daub some glaze on a pot that’s been made in a mould. Go make a quilt or whatever and personalise it. Be happy, be proud even. But don’t say that you ’made’ that pot. Don’t think that you have necessarily created good art.

The change that I have noticed in the public is that they have even less understanding of where ideas come from, of process and realisation. If it’s to do with the homemade craft push, it hasn’t informed them, it’s baffled them. <

Ian and Paula Rylatt were talking to Francesca Didymuswww.rylatt.co.uk


Daniel Hulsbergen

Vederlicht (Featherlight)

Vederlicht is a fascination that I had when I was a small child, the fascination of model glider plane. Back then

these planes cost too much for me to buy and I only could look at them in the shop. The small kid in me is still

there so I took the technique and material for making a glider and used it to design a lighting. The material

used in this design is Balsawood and Oracover which is used to cover the wings of a glider and gives the lamp

altogether it's ultra lightweight.


Twisted Reflection

"I once knew you," I say out loud to your face

in this photo of a crowd of beautiful people.

Jealousy screams down a freeway in my head.

I hated your bleach blonde hair, the way you sat down

like you really cared, your thrumming fingers on the table

marked time doing time inside my insides.

We once shared Levi`s hip-‐to-‐hip, tongue to tongue

knew the pout of intimacy`s lips. I drilled for happiness

with a corkscrew. You bore our children –

in slitted hospital gown, fully dilated,

life bearing down. When Ruby nose-‐dived

into the world, I cut the cord.

In shared-‐time`s press we grew sharper edges.

Rapport declined; washing-‐up drama’s turned

to battles, one–liners formed a scab over us –

jealousy`s siren fades to kitchen silence.

I stare at the air circling the chair, nicotine fingers slap

at the kitchen table, twitching like suffocating fish.

Paul Hawkins


gianfranco


gianfranco cioffi


What inspires and mo<vates your work?

Basically it's a reflecZon and introspecZon on various themes. However it's a form of which reflects my feelings and my point of view. The areas from which I get inspiraZon are wide, from low brow art to renaissance, one should look at the things to beeer understand the archetypal feelings.

di base il mio s+le è una riflessione d una introspezione su vari temi.In ogni caso rifle9e il mio punto di vista e i miei sen+men+.è molto ampio il campo da cui prendo ispirazione dalla lowbrow art fino al rinascimento, bisogna guardare le cose con il giusto occhio per ca9urare i sen+men+ arche+pi.


Can you describe your crea<ve process? Where did things start for you?

CreaZve process it can be like a silly game, it can even become deeper and harder, for me it's as if i had a lots of boxes and each box as if i had different ways to speak, it's my idea which i'm expressing but with a different alphabet.

Il processo crea+vo può' essere come un giochino, oppure diventare più' forte e profondo, per me è come se avessi tante scatole e in ogni scatola c'è un linguaggio differente, è sempre una mia idea che viene espressa ma con alfabe+ diversi.


How would you describe your style?

My style is like the one in Kapa's book "Metamorphosis". The rise and fall of a wonderful monster.

Il mio stalle è come il libro di kaDa "Metamorfosi", La salita e la caduta di un bellissimo mostro.


How hard is it working as a commercial ar<st?

Nowadays it's difficult to find a job, so you can image how difficult it is for an illustrator or arZst. I think that in this historical Zme it's quite hard to be happy, for me happiness is to be able do my art without too many compromises. I feel that no alternaZve but to leave my family, my friends and my country. However you must sacrifice something, you can't be happy at 100%

Ora è difficile trovare un lavoro qualsiasi, potete immaginare per un crea+vo quanto possa essere complicato. Penso che in questo preciso momento storico la difficoltà maggiore sia essere felice, per me la felicità è poter esprimere la mia arte senza troppi compromessi. Penso che per farlo dovrò' lasciare famiglia, amici e Italia. Comunque devi sacrificare qualcosa, nessuno è felice al 100%


What advice would you give to those looking to make a career in art?

I have a long way to go, the only advice I can give is do what you really want...if you want to be an arZst and you want to draw a penis in every face, just do it, if this makes you happy and it's not just for money and success.

Ho molta strada da fare l'unico consiglio che posso dare è fare quello che si sente…se vuoi disegnare un pene in ogni volto che fai, fallo se + rende felice, ma non solo per i soldi o il successo.


How has digital technology impacted upon your work as an ar<st? Has it changed the way you work?

Technology is just like any media, watercolor, oil, engraving, sculpture, so on...Technology has created non-‐professional creaZves who believe they are simply by using technology.

La tecnologia è solo un una tecnica come l'olio, acquerello., la scultura e così' via...Tu9a questa frenesia di evoluzione tecnologica ha creato una categoria di fin+ crea+vi che si sentono tali semplicemente perché u+lizzano un p.c... e hanno due nozioni di base. Con questo non contesto gli autodidaV. La tecnologia ha dei la+ posi+vi ma spesso livella la qualità e impoverisci molto le cose, bisogna adoperarla nel modo giusto.


What direc<on do you see your work taking in the future?

I have worked in many different areas; fashion, design, publishing, theatre, underground collecZve, photography (just right now with a photographer, we teamed up and put together photos and illustraZons). So I don't know, maybe I can open a cake shop and draw in my free Zme...(I hope not)!

Ho lavorato in diversi campi, fascino, teatro, design, editoria, colleVvi underground, fotografia(proprio in questo periodo,con un fotografo, abbiamo unito fotografia ed illustrazione). Non so cosa faro' forse aprirò' un negozio di torte e disegnerò' nel mio tempo libero.(spero di no)


How do you want your work to impact your audience?

SomeZmes like a slap, someZmes like a deeper research, you know it depends from which level you read the picture.

A volte è comne uno schiaffo a volte è come una ricerca più' profonda, dipende dal livelo di le9ura che si fa del'immagine.


Gianfranco Cioffi

gianfrancocioffi.it


DAWN SIMSDawn is an illustrator based in Plymouth,UK

She talks to Mark Doyle about her distinctive

illustrations


How would you describe your work?

There is something animate in my work almost all of the time, something in it that lives and breathes. This is one thing that I would say is very typical of my artwork. I would also often describe my work as kind of ostensibly playful, often interpretations of somewhat darker emotions or concepts, sheathed with a veil of colours, naivety or blithe.

Can you talk us through your creative process?

For me the creative process usually begins with the observation of a thought or a feeling or something that I find emotive. I’ll sometimes create work that can begin with a negative thought, emotion or concept but I always like to express some kind of positivity attached to that, a kind of way out or a light or a hope. Generally we are always very hopeful as children but then life seems to sometimes taint us as we mature. I like to hang on to that hopeful inner child, as naive as it might seem; I think we all need that. I often use bright colours or naivety in the way I draw as a representation of this childlike hope and this concept is threaded through a lot of my work. I try not to confine myself with too many set rules when I’m creating; spontaneity and whim often beingthe things that drive the aesthetic of a self-directed project, that and whatever materials I have available to me at that particular time. I like that element of chance; it keeps things interesting for me. I’m often discovering new techniques and ways of working and I love that. I find that it prevents me from getting into too many artistic ruts. I’d hate to become creatively stagnant in that sense. I guess I also have a bit rebellious side and would hate to be doing what is expected of me for too long. A lot of my work is created using pen, ink, watercolour and acrylics. I also use mixed media techniques and then often use Photoshop to enhance the final image or to piece together certain elements of an artwork. I also use Photoshop to create the symmetry which is seen in some of my work.

Is creating art isolating?

I think it certainly can be. Especially if you feel that people don’t understand what you are trying to convey or where you are coming from artistically. That can be frustrating. When an artist creates it is very much an extension of themselves so to feel that your art is rejected is to feel a little personally rejected too. That can be tough. I guess also there is often an amount of introspection needed to create and that also can be very isolating at times. I create a lot of stuff that is about difficult times in my life or darker sides of me that usually I like to keep locked away. I’m not so keen on being around others when I am reliving those things. Because of this but also to eliminate distraction there is the need for isolation during the creative process. It’s a solitary practice 99% of the time. For me it has to be that way. It’s often an all consuming process bar the copious amounts of tea and cigarette breaks necessary to keep the creative juices flowing! On a wider scale, I have met a fair amount of people and friends through creative circles in my local area which is a beautiful thing and I feel very lucky to have that network of friends. It was a great thing being part of Plymouths U:1 collective a couple of years back, I had a couple of shows with them and we had a lot of fun. It’s not always such a lonely life.

Are there any things that inspire you to create? A film, piece of music etc. What keeps you motivated?

Music, film and other creative genres are sometimes influences but inspiration can sometimes be sparked by the smallest of things; a bird on a rooftop or the way light falls upon something but it varies a lot really. Quite often it is human interactions that influence my work. I like to make art based around human relationships. I have an interest in the effects the creation and breakdown of human bonds have on us. I’m also inspired by the differences and more so by the similarities between ourselves and animals; the symbiotic and sometimes conflicting relationships between our emotions and animalistic urges and what we understand to be right and wrong. I guess on a more technical level, I also find the morphing of creatures or animals with human beings, visually, a really interesting aesthetic and there seems to be a lot of that emerging in art and illustrative practice at the moment. As for what motivates me, I have to make art; it sometimes seems like more of a need than something that requires motivation, the need to tell the story of something or to give confession even. I think I’d go mad without that release.


You have a very distinctive style - is conflict a theme you like exploring? There seems to be a lot of tensions in your work, thematically.

I attempt to depict the struggle between darkness and light; negatives and positives a lot of the time, so there is often a kind of dichotomy present in a lot of my work. I guess some of it represents my own contentions. I come from a loving but dysfunctional family so there were times during my upbringing when things were tough and this has had a great deal of influence on my work; I guess it’s a delineation of these experiences. I also continue to skirmish with things from my past so this tension comes through in my art. The political unrest of our times has also been a major factor for me when creating certain pieces; the Iraq war being one major influence, the depressing rise of neo-nazi ideologies another but there are so many injustices in the world. Sometimes this tension can either be a purposeful representation; sometimes a satirical and more direct look at an issue or sometimes more a demonstration of the feelings they create and this will often come over in the way I use a medium.

You work a lot from photography - what does illustration give that photography doesn't or can't? What does the illustrative process reveal in a subject?

Sometimes a single pencil or brush mark alone can say a great deal and I think at times this can make illustration a more effective way of communicating than even the written or spoken word. It can have numerous layers to its elucidation so I feel in this way the illustrative process is capable of revealing an immense amount of information about a subject.Illustration is also really exciting in its ability to communicate abstract concepts; I like that it isn’t too governed by reality, there is a real freedom about it, whereas photographs communicate in a very


direct way so are easily understood in visual terms. I think this is why photography alone falls flat for me; it seems to have too many limitations, though I really enjoy the fusion of both photography and illustrative technique. I find fusing illustration and photography in this way like introducing a kind of fourth dimension where anything is possible. On the flipside of that I like the idea of taking the reality of a photographic and tangible image and applying this notion of tangibility to something I am trying to communicate in an illustration; almost as if it were a kind of porthole into the idea I’m trying to portray making it easier for the viewer to position themselves within it. They are both great communicative tools that work in different ways. I use photos a lot to work from when I’m painting as I can spend a great deal longer on rendering the work so the use of the photo is purely technical in that sense. I don’t aim to achieve a totally realistic result; I like to capture some expression within the paint itself. I guess that that too is a way of taking something real and making it say a little more.

How has the internet changed the way you work? Has it had any impact at all?

The internet makes it a great deal easier to promote your work as an artist. It is great to have this immense platform that reaches globally yet this can sometimes feel intimidating. Illustrators now compete on a global scale but with so many creative talents out there it can feel a bit daunting at times. It is in no doubt a great tool to keep a bearing on what is going on in the illustrative world though and I think it is important especially when looking for work in the commercial sector; to keep a finger on the pulse so to speak. This aside, I don’t think that it has had a massively profound influence on the type of work I create. It certainly has had some bearing but I don’t think any more so than other factors have influenced me. I think seeing other art that I appreciate artistically obviously has an impact. Certainly I wouldn’t see so much of that if it weren’t for the internet. I think the larger influences on my work have been seeing the art that was around me when I was growing up way before the internet. My brothers’ graffiti, my fathers’ and grandfathers’ artwork, the cartoons I liked as a child and the art that hung on the walls of where I grew up have all shaped my style and can identify many elements of these things in my work. I think the largest change the internet has had on my work is the availability of images. This has helped a lot. If I need an image of a bird for example I can find it at a moment’s notice. That is very handy. I guess for me the internet has just sped up the whole process of creating and getting my work seen and that is pretty cool. I think that digital technology has revolutionised illustration almost completely. It has made an illustrators life a lot easier in many ways, saving much money and time. Convenience aside, contemporary illustrators have so many ways of creating an image now so the field of play has widened immensely which can only be a good thing.

My illustrative work has certainly benefited from the use of Photoshop and Illustrator though I would say I use it quite minimally at the moment. I like the sensitivity of a hand drawn line. There has been amazing advancements in drawing tablets and other such software in recent years and it seems that it might now be possible to create this same sensitivity using digital media but I guess I like the tactility of traditional techniques, you don’t get the smells, sounds and muckiness that I know and love when working with digital media. I love the physical action of splattering paint or ink, the sound of a pencil or pen scratching at the paper; it’s a real sensory experience. The smell of an art studio is one of my favourite things; there is something very nostalgic about it and reminds me the of my grandfathers’ studio as a child; he was a massive influence in me becoming the creative person I am today. I’m not sure what he would make of all this digital technology if he were around today!

Where would you like to take your work next? What's next for you?

I’d like to do some more street art projects. I really enjoy doing it, the whole world is your gallery as a street artist and I like the ephemeral nature of the discipline too. I had a great time doing pieces in Bristol last year and the people are really responsive to it up there. I had people stopping in the street to ask me about what I was doing and about my work and that was a nice thing.This aside I am quite focused on the development of my illustrative work at the moment. I am hoping to find agent representation at some point as it would be great to make more money doing what I love best. After the success of my first solo show in July last year I have also started making plans to have another, possibly this autumn. Though the idea is still in its infancy at the moment so we’ll see what happens.Other than these things I am just going to try to keep creating as much as possible. I have done a little work on merging some of my fine art painting styles with the illustrative techniques lately and would like to see how this evolves. I think it needs a bit more work but it is in the pipeline.

www.sunriseart.co.uk


PAUL MOWAT

I have always been interested in people: how we behave, how we look, interact. I am fascinated by how people live, commute, communicate, relax and work. I am concerned with the here and now, the detritus around us, the physical world in which we, for a short Zme, exist. I love ciZes and the urban environment. Train staZons, pavement cafes, bars and clubs, libraries and shopping malls all have something unique to offer, flashing glimmers of light and life. All human life is there. We see ourselves in the crowd. We recognize ourselves in others. The sounds, sights and smells of Berlin Freidrichscain is different to those in Leith, which is unlike Hoxton in London. I take note of physical gestures, the speed of life, the movement of the crowd. I like to take Zme, to stop and look. It is something I have always done and will conZnue to do. In conjuncZon with this, there is a compuncZon to make marks. I suppose it was inevitable that I would end up making art.

Afer graduaZng from Edinburgh College of Art in the nineZes I have conZnued to balance my art pracZce with part Zme lecturing ( I have been teaching drawing and painZng at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, for the past ten years). Prior to this I have had a range of jobs from graphic designer to teaching art in FE colleges in London, Glasgow and Dundee.

I work preey much every day, I have a studio in my flat (well, my flat is now just a studio!), and I work in oils mainly but will use acrylics, inks, mixed media and digital technology from Zme to Zme. I tend to work in series, over the period of a year or more to develop a project and I exhibit regularly. I have work currently in the Royal Scocsh Academy in Edinburgh where my painZng “ Icarus Before the Flight” won the Scocsh Arts Club Award.

www.paulmowat.com


Pablo de Laborde Lascaris www.pablolab.co.uk

I have come to the realisaZon that what I find most enZcing about working in mixed media is its ability to transform our material connotaZons into a new poeZc language. Like an alchemist, I seek to create an interesZng courtship between ideas, a game that is both vast and exciZng.

I’m a Mexican arZst living in the United Kingdom and so as a result of a transient lifestyle, I have been led to re-‐evaluate and reflect on my posiZon both as an individual and as an arZst. To do this I have set about on a succession of playful studies, which build upon the associaZons between the unpredictable nature of the objects I use and the method in which I choose to animate them.

I am concerned with the staZc reputaZon of sculpture, and so look at primiZve arZfacts, games and toys to explore this. I alter their mechanizaZon and form to change their funcZonality and quesZon their pracZcality or shif their purpose. My work aims to produce a cycle or exchange between these ideas by conveying a subtle conversaZon between performance and sculpture, suggesZve of Zme and moZon.


[email protected]

[email protected]

Tribe Magazine Issue 15

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Transcript of Tribe Magazine Issue 15