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Artist and creative consultant Kesha Bruce (who made an appearance on Afri-love not too long ago) asked me to share my thoughts on and experiences of art school with her, in Art School Confidential.
Did you go to art school? What was your experience like? Are you considering going to art school? What are you hoping to get out of the experience? Share your responses over at Kesha's.
Wear your heart on your (t-shirt) sleeve with designs from London-based, African-owned clothing line, Proud to be African. Young artists, get in touch with the Proud to be African crew and you just might get your artwork and message of pride on a tee.
I discovered shrine to all things brown and beautiful, Afrolicious, about 2 years ago and I've been crossing paths with the woman behind the screen name, Ann Daramola, ever since! We've collaborated across continents and oceans – working with Epic Change to create To Mama with Love and most recently, Asilia worked with Ann to design the logo for her accessory line, Ankara & Lace. One thing I absolutely love about following Ann on Twitter is the boundless energy, passion and positivity she exudes. This is one lady you need to follow/exchange with/know.
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What's your passion?
My passion is creating and inspiring others to create. I believe our creator gave each of us this innate desire to make things, to build, to transform. For me, this means creating websites, code, jewelry, music, languages and so on. And, for my life's work, it means telling stories by any media available and helping others tell (and own) their stories, too.
There are several projects/sites/blogs you've started (e.g. Afrolicious, Ankara & Lace). What inspired each of them?
Yeah, I sometimes wonder if I'm doing too much :] But Afrolicious was inspired by me not wanting to go by the same old internet handle I'd been using for 6 years before. It sort of just evolved from my personal transition to natural hair and my desire to see Brown faces in the media around me, hence the tagline, "Brown is Beautiful".
And Ankara & Lace was shamelessly jacked from a party one of the local Nigerian promoters threw in Los Angeles one fine October weekend. I went dressed in ankara and my sister was in lace. I loved the idea, but it wasn't until 2010 when I was looking for big, ridiculous earrings to go with my bantu knot hairstyle that I decided to make it into a jewelry line.
What has your greatest obstacle/challenge been and how have you dealt with/overcome it?
My greatest obstacle and challenge has been believing in myself. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the ideas and thoughts and connections that come my way everyday. Each of them is possible, if only I could look past the long list of roadblocks I've set up in my mind. Fear is a mofoloko! But part of believing is knowing. Knowing who I am, what my limits and weaknesses are, what makes me angry, what makes me happy, what bores me, what excites me, etc. – all of those things contribute to my growth. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll notice I sometimes say things like "Oh, I'm not a cyborg anymore." And that's because only recently have I felt as if I were human. And now I got feelings :D
What has your greatest achievement been?
Well this is still a challenge in progress. I was at an open stage recently (an open stage is like an open mic, except various types of performances are allowed such as dance, song, full bands) and the host mentioned something about keeping your palms up. Palms up? Yes, to reflect an attitude of receiving. After years of giving myself over to The Cause, whatever it was at any given moment, I'm finally stepping back and receiving things. Little things like compliments, offers of help, hugs, hi-fives. In turn, this means what I give is magnified. There's still a whole lot of giving and receiving to do but, at least things are coming back into balance.
Where will you be in 10 years?
I hope to be in a place creating stories and teaching people at the margins how to tell their own stories using whatever media is available in 10 years. As an African immigrant woman (!) with a penchant for coding, I find myself at the margins of mainstream narratives many times over. Being there has given me a great vantage point into the lives of other folks here, too: teenage mothers in South Central Los Angeles, white Southern girls whose friends are more brown-skinned than mine, Nigerian and Filipino registered nurses keeping late shifts in the hospitals. These stories are rarely shared across experiences, much less in the mainstream. Teaching people to listen and to be heard is central to what I believe is my life's work.
How does Africa inspire you?
Besides being born there and having gotten most of my worldview from my parents who were born and raised there, the technological advances happening in Africa are really inspiring. I keep hearing about tech centers springing up out of seemingly nothing and developers capitalizing on the rich opportunities for innovation. I love this kind of stuff! In fact, I've been studying the models of technology training in parts of southern and western Africa to use in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Also, the textiles and music of Africa are incredibly inspiring. For Ankara & Lace, I've been collecting scraps of fabric (both material and digital) from various African countries and ethnicities. I hope to match them to the music and language in a future project.
Anything else you'd like to share?
Brown is beautiful and our stories are important! No, really. I spend a ridiculous amount of time browsing the internet for visual research for both my projects and my work, and often get dismayed by the lack of Brown skin in things as simple as Photoshop tutorials or even sites like Pinterest. Images are rich with stories which can be told a hundred different ways with a hundred different endings. And while the internet gives us access to a diverse set of stories, there is still a distinct lack of Brown skin in mainstream spaces. Why is this even important? Well, everyday history is being written and re-written. We have a chance to distribute our stories far and wide and deep into generations to come. Sites like Afri-Love and Afrolicious are sort of like anthologies of these myriad voices and no one, not even the curators, can tell your story the way you do. So be heard :]
Anything we should look out for in the coming weeks/months/year?
Look out for a series called Conversations on Beauty on Afrolicious this fall. It's my brief dance with telling stories via film/video so we'll see how it goes! And of course a spectacular photostory from Ankara & Lace in the next couple of months.
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Images courtesy of Afrolicious.
(I'm loving those bow-tie necklaces!)
Everyone appears to want to live unchained. Whether they say they want to be rich, successful, famous, or the most seemingly elusive of them all - free. Many consider
these things as fairly unattainable yet useful for target practice and anecdote. They are things that are relegated to someday if I'm lucky or eventually when...
When what?
There is another story. One where we cast our eyes back to the present and realise that we are achieving wealth, success, acknowledgement and joy right now. The £20
note you find in the pocket of jeans you haven't worn for ages. The completion of that challenging and exciting project you've been working on. A thank you from
somebody who enjoyed the article we wrote or the point we made. Doing that thing we love that makes us feel on top of the world.
As simple as dancing. Existing within my body as an experience of creating and being art.
And the point of my long-winded reflection: I'm so happy to be collaborating with all the amazing women over at Live Unchained. Check out my guest post this week:
"Through my body, I live unchained."
Today, grab a listen to the versatile Mpho Skeef.
“My music has many different influences and it comes from where I am from which is cross-cultural. I was born in South Africa and I was brought up with a lot of South African music. At school I was into Prince, Michael Jackson and later bashment and hip hop. I have been to all of these different places musically and they all inform what I do now.”
— Mpho (in this liveDEMO article)
Here's Mpho breaking stereotypes …
Top image via buhbomp.com, Pop Art image from Adventures of An Audio Diva, final image from Crayonbeats
I'm digging the colours, prints and silhouettes of these Gypset dresses. Coined by journalist Julia Chaplin, the word Gypset (gypsy + jet-set) describes "a new type of travel, and cultural foraging at home, that redefines the optimal adventure as something with the global references and chic speed of the jet-set mixed with the alternative, anti-commercialism and nomadic wile of a gypsy." Learn more (and purchase the dresses) on the Gypset website.
Thanks to Erika of Mikuti for the heads up!
My exploration of Afri-love has tended to centre around creativity and the creative professions. Mainly because it's what I do and what I love but, also because of a strong belief that creativity is a powerful way of inspiring and creating positive change. I've also been going on and on (and you may be sick of it by now) about how everything starts with the self. Any change we can hope to encourage on a large scale is likely to be futile if we haven't also considered how to implement it for ourselves.
Enter artists and Baang+Burne directors, Kesha Bruce and Charlie Grosso, and their 6x6 project: their answer to the question “what if there were no more art galleries?” For 6 weeks starting in September this year, artists in New York City will take matters into their own hands and put on exhibitions to showcase their work. What an inspiring concept! What amazing potential such an idea could have in an African context, where the necessary infrastructure for a viable career as an artist is even more scarce …
I thought I'd get more wisdom from the source – the wonderful Kesha Bruce.
What does it take to make a living as an artist?
As much as I wish it weren’t so, it takes more than talent and passion to make a living as an artist. It takes a ton of courage, perseverance, and more importantly business knowledge. If you don’t take time and money and invest in learning how to run a business, it’s going to be hard to actually make enough money to live on.
Most art schools don’t teach artists anything about the business of art, so once you leave school you need to go about immediately getting the business education you need. Every artist needs to learn the basic business fundamentals and then move on to understanding how to create a concrete marketing system. I say this all the time because it’s true: every business on earth does some kind of marketing. Your art business is no different.
How important is an art community/working with other artists?
Working alone in your studio can be very isolating. When you do come up for air, it really helps to have a set of friends or at least colleagues who understand what it is you do. One of my best memories from grad school is the time I spent in the Hunter college MFA building. Being surrounded by and interacting with so many excited and motivated artists was not only a great experience for me, but it was good for my work.
Outside of the context of art school, the idea for community is just as important. Your peers are your greatest resource and your support system. Artists thrive in communities.
In what ways can artists use their own initiative in advancing their careers? (i.e. why should artists be more DIY?) What does a self-produced, "indie" art world look like?
I think artists, especially emerging artists, should stop waiting to be “discovered”. If you want to show your work or have an exhibition or event, get together with a bunch of your art friends and make it happen. Don’t wait. Don’t apply for a grant. Don’t ask for permission. Just do the thing.
The exciting thing about the prospect of an entirely “indie” art world is that it can take on absolutely any form it chooses. To be honest I don’t know what that will look like, but I know it’s coming, and I can’t wait to be part of it.
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To learn more about 6x6 or to read Kesha’s weekly articles art marketing and to download a free copy of her guide “The 5 Step Art Career Make-Over” visit www.KeshaBrucestudio.com.
All artwork by Kesha Bruce. Photograph courtesy of Kesha Bruce.
Say what?! Check out my guest article over at Diasporan Darlings. Thanks to Mukuka and Vimbai for inviting me to share my story.
And check back here tomorrow for a special with Kesha Bruce as part of the 6x6 Summer Blog Tour.
