Page 84 - Demo

84 || FASHION MAGAZINE || MAY / JUNE 2015What if anything do you hope admirers and collectors feel when they see your work and what do you hope they understand about you as an artist?It%u2019s important that they enjoy the art.I am a visual artist and on the surfacemy art is bright and aesthetically pleasing.And if you want, you can go past the colour to find an interesting narrative that gets youthinking beyond the superficial. At universityI was always told my art was heavily aestheticand perhaps too literal. Over the years I founda way to embrace these %u2018weaknesses%u2019 and turn them into my strengths, where the visual art becomes so literal, like a slap in the face; butthe meaning is there, under the layers of literal!Currently there are no ready-made bagsavailable as I have so many comissions!My waiting list for bags keeps me busy.I am starting to work with new company%u2019sthat will ready-made Boyarde Art Bags andI will have to keep you posted on that! BM:BM:MM:BM:MM:MM:BM:MM:BM:MM:BM:MM:Do you have any Boyarde handbags for sale, or only by commision?info@Boyarde.Com@BoyardeWho are some of your favourite style icons? I tend to look to the classic icons from the past, again the 40%u2019s and 50%u2019s era, I love the glamour from Joan Crawford and her suitsto Lauren Bacall%u2019s effortless cool. I love how the emphasis of yourwork is influenced by fairytales, pop culture and cinematic icons.What are some of your own favorites?This stems from my fascination with popular culture and the notion of what is %u2018popular%u2019 andtherefore regurgiated in an endless cycle of human appetite forthe familiar. By using the Pop idiom I can play around and recontextualise these repeated stereotyped icons and interferewith notions of what belongs where, and mix high art with low art, forcing the viewer to think outside the box. In termsof my favourite, I always go back to the 40%u2019s and 50%u2019s era, wheremale and female actors, Charactersand cartoons were dramaticallystereotyped. I loved the extremevulnerability of the 40%u2019s film noir diva, always strong and seeminglyin control of her sexuality, but helpless when it comes to herleading alpha male love interest, whilst remaining glamourous from tip to toe. These type casts are a wonder for me to play around with.How did you begin painting on handbags?The process was partially organic and partplanned as to how I started painting on designer bags. I love painting on unusual canvasses and learnt to paint on leather justunder 2 years ago, painting initially on vintagebags, and it was my friend and owner of JoubiJewellery who asked me to paint on her Hermes Birkin of which I was initially terrified, but she said%u201cI trust you Boyarde%u2019 and that%u2019s how it started. Afterthat i became natural to paint on the more valuable fashion accesories, I think my clients respect that there is value in my artwork as well as enjoying it%u2019saesthetics, and that a valuable canvas goes hand inhand with that. Who are some painters who have inspired you?My inspiration always stems fromboth photography and painting.Caravaggio taught me about lightand dark %u2018chiaro scuro%u2019, Gregory Crewdson showed me the wonderfulfantasy world of narrative through photographs dark and apocalypticimagery. Helmut Newton foreverintrigued me with his love hate relationship that shines throughhis pictures of strong women. ThePre Raphaelites taught me about romanticism through brush work and Lichtenstein inspired me thoughhis ability to regurgitate, re- contextualisethe existing low art and transform it intohigh art through Pop Art. %u201cI loved the extremevulnerability of the 40%u2019s film noir diva, always strong and seeminglyin control of her sexuality, but helpless when it comes to herleading alpha male love interest...%u201d