How did you develop an interest in photography?
At first, I didn’t really like photography. But around high school, like 11th grade, the only way you could get into some sports when they were playing was to take pictures and I was like “I guess I’ll do it.” So I started taking pictures and they came out really nice, so I was like man, what else can I do? One of my biggest inspirations, Tyler the Creator, he kind of does photography then I really liked what he did and I was like man let me try this. And in the 12th grade I did my whole yearbook for high school and I fell in love with it. Did you ever take photography classes? No. I mean, I had a computer class in 11th grade but that was just some software for photoshop, which I don't even remember. But Mr. Webb, the teacher, he let me use the Canon and I would just take that to field trips, I’d take it for winter breaks and everything and I’d just take pictures. So what types of things did you have to learn on your own? Uh, how to shoot manually, stop with the autos, the temperature and the saturation, everything that goes with it. I still have to learn a lot, I don’t know the whole thing, but I can take some good pictures. What exactly are you trying to tell people with your photographs? Can you also tell us about Unety? I’ll start off with Unety. I wanted to let everyone know that you don’t have to become this one star to make it into the industry or anything. It’s Equality and it’s Expressing yourself. And there’s so many people who have the spotlight that don’t wanna share it at all, so I just wanted to create this platform to bring Everybody, like myself, who’s not really at a high standard and bring us all together. To just make all the money together, to create art all together. I try to replace Everything with the “E”. And what I want people to see with my photography is just how you can have fun with anything. How Fee has fun with music, how Legacy has fun with their podcast and interviews and everything, and I just wanna let people know how I have fun with photography. What types of subjects do you enjoy photographing the most? I used to be big in nature like taking pictures of flowers and then that got really boring. ‘Cause it was just basic. But I guess big family stuff, like what I did with AJ and Fee when we did this whole little film. It’s just taking pictures, it’s just being around positive energy, and just being able to know it’s all okay. These pictures are so dope, because they're mineand I had a great time shooting them and nobody can take that away from me. Who are your biggest supporters? My mom. My framily (his friends and family). A couple of teachers. When you were first starting out as a photographer, were there times you feared showing other people your work? No, I was always open to it. Like I said, I always wanted some feedback and I just wanted to see what other people would think. And I’m always in people faces, I’m really annoying if you really get to know me. I’m just gonna like talk, I’m gonna show you everything I do, this, this, and that and “Hey, can you check out this? Give me your input on it.” How do you want viewers to feel when they see your work? They can take it however, I really don’t care what people think—well now I don’t. So if they don’t like it, it’s ok. I got other people’s art. That’s what Unety’s for, it’s not just my photography, it’s other people’s work too. I can take it good and bad, anything is great though. How do you plan on expanding your brand in the future? I plan on expanding it by not only working with people who are in that higher position, but to have everybody on my brand and my team to get to that level. I just want them to be the star, the superstar, the megastar. When I see them getting them big bags and them checks and everything, and being on TV and getting these huge interviews, that’s when I know I did something right. On a scale from 1-10, how weird are you? On a scale from 1-10, I would say 11 or 12. Not even being corny, I’m really fucking weird! I say random shit all the time. I’m really weird but its ok to be weird so that’s why I’m really really weird. How many songs do you listen to every single day? You have 15 seconds to answer this. Woah. I wanna say, not even bullshitting you, at least a 100, at least. That’s the minimum ‘cause I go to sleep with music. I really have my laptop on and I have a “Night Night” playlist on Spotify, six hundred and something songs. Not bullshitting you at all. Not lying! I am not lying (damn, I guess he’s not lying). Everything from Erykah Badu to fucking Noname, to Tyler, to Stevie Wonder, Al Green. On everybody bro. Oh, I love music so fucking much. I really wanna produce too. Ok, we’re done. That’s it? Fuck. [looks into camera] Suck my dick free world.
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Who is your biggest musical inspiration?
My biggest musical inspiration would probably be Jay Z. Why? Just because of the model he is. It’s not just music with him, it never has been. It’s been a lot of business involved with him too and he definitely shows his tactics in business. You gotta pay attention to that kind of stuff. When did you start rapping? Think I was 7 when I first first started rapping, yeah. And then everything else came after that. Did any of your family members or friends push you to pursue rap? My friends yeah, everybody who was my real friend definitely pushed me. For my family members, not all of them agreed and I think it was because I started so young and my focus was always on it. They wanted me to focus on something else, but for the most part my family pushed me. Just some wanted me to do something else so that I could have something to fall back on. Was there an outside source of motivation or were you your biggest motivator to start rapping? Nah, it was an outside source of motivation when I first started. It was mainly because I saw my uncle doing it so much. He’s the reason for me making music, period. Growing up with him and seeing him just wake up and get right to the music, not do nothing else, and inviting his friends over and all of that. That pushed me. What topics do you enjoy rapping about the most? Life. Just going outside and dealing with an experience that you have no control over. It’s mainly that. Fun too! I like to put fun in there too because a lot of musicians forget to have fun. If you could collaborate with any rapper or producer on a song who would you choose? To make this easier for me, would that be right now, like right now? Yes, right now. Ok right now, it would have to be Future. Yes, I need Future, I need to have Future on a song. His music is what I relate to the most at this moment because he kind of got that successful hood in the music you know what I'm saying. And that’s a great feeling and I'm trying to get that feeling. So if I could get him on a song with me right now and have that mixture of me not having it yet but him having what I want, you know what I mean? I think that’d be crazy. Has anyone ever doubted your decision to pursue music? If so, how did you react? So many people have doubted it. I've had people who aren’t important at all and people who are very important doubt it. But when it came to the people who weren’t important, I listened to them more, honestly, because they really mean that, you know what I mean? That’s from the bottom of their heart and they really believed I shouldn’t do it. I just tried to look at that and ask “Why? Like why?” And usually out of that is because they don’t like me or something that I’ve done and that has nothing to do with me, that’s in them. And when it came to the people who are important to me doubting me, it just hurt. But that was it. That’s why it was more important for me to listen to the people who didn’t really matter. That hurt is what’s going to make you grow anyways. But words, you take them with you wherever you go. You gotta remember them. How do you respond to other people’s criticism towards your work? Um. How can I say it. I try not to act wrong to anybody’s criticism, just because all criticism is good. But sometimes, you know, at certain points in my life I might’ve been expressing certain things more emotionally in response to criticism. So I guess that’s really just based on the time period. But most of the time I reacted the right way, just wanted to take it and let them know “I’m listening to you. Even though I don’t like what you say, I hear you.” That’s mainly how I wanted to react. How much effort did you have to put in, in order to get to where you are today? Oh my God. I was just telling someone in my family the other day that this is the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. It took a lot of work leaving home, leaving my mom, leaving my family. Literally everyone in my family I left to come to California and chase my dream. That is very hard. Physically it was the least amount of work, mentally it was the most. I wasn’t even strong enough mentally when I left, me being here made me more strong and my mind good. Music or lyrics first? I mean sometimes I write the lyrics first, it’s harder for me to do that. But if I’m doing it with lyrics first and then music, I’m on a bus or a train, somewhere where I can’t really do nothing else other than write. You know what I mean? But most of the time the music has to be there first. I like to build around the sound. Do any of your songs take you back to a difficult time in life? Yeah, yeah. Just recently, my homie Armani was telling me about a project I released before I came to LA, when I was going through a lot. And he made me realize how much I don't listen to it and I think it’s because it’s hard to listen to it. Sometimes I be playing these songs in front of all the guys and I be singing them and I would get teary-eyed a little bit and try to hold in my cry. It’s hard to listen to those songs sometimes, but I think I need to get out of that. I think I need to get out of that so I can listen to that old shit. But it’s good that you have that emotional attachment to it. Yeah, it is because I didn’t have it at first. And I didn’t like that music. How has music saved your life? Simple enough, from where people would call me and say “You wanna go somewhere?” and I say “No, I’d rather just stay in here and make a beat,” and the next day I’d find out they went to jail or got robbed. In the long run there was so many times where music saved me from just being in some trouble that I didn’t need to be in. And it saved me in life too as an aspect of keeping to yourself. It’s easier to keep stuff to myself, all bottled up. As another human who doesn’t have expression like me, it’ll bottle up and explode one day. But me being able to express it in music, it helps. Do you have any goals that you’d like to achieve by the end of 2017? I do. To be honest with you, this might give people some insider of the type of person I am. My goals are so, to me, they are so… It’ s not that they’re impossible but the type of goals I have set for myself are goals that most people want, because they feel like they’re not strong enough to do it. And I mentally don’t think I’m strong enough to do it but I know that I’m strong enough that if I set this goal I can reach for it. So I have some goals that I’m scared to reach for. It’s like BET Award Presence, stuff like that. It won’t happen this year because it just happened, but next year XXL Freshman. I wanna feed my family obviously, and I know I can do that so that’s not really a goal. That’s gonna happen, I’m gonna do it. You feel me? That other stuff though, I gotta reach for that. How did you get the name Fee4Three? I didn’t get that name, I gave it to myself. I done been through so many names! My first rap name was Voltron, bro. Transformers. That was my first official one. Then I went to Bonafide because of NBA Street (I believe this is a videogame). None of my names have been given to me, I have given myself all of my names. The “4Three,” that’s a basketball thing. It’s a metaphor with my songs and basketball. I consider all of my songs as hits, so it’s like all of my songs are jumpshots and I’m not missing none of my jumpshots. Every one is a three-pointer too so I’m aiming hard, you know what I mean? I’m putting more nervousness into this but I need that. And the “Fee” came from Bonafide being turned into Bonafeezy, because of the little Weezy phase, Drizzy all of that. It turned into Feezy and then it shortened into Fee. Chuck did that to be honest with you. Chuck started shortening Feezy into Fee and I liked it. Because you gonna have to pay. For anything that I worked for, you have to pay. I need a fee. So I just added that, Fee4Three, and there it is. Best three projects made between the years 2016 and 2017? You have 90 seconds to answer this. Views, Drake. And uh, uh. Gotta put DAMN. in there. Chance the Rapper, Coloring book. Want to confirm? Views, DAMN., Coloring Book. I think I’m cool with that. Yup. Favorite song right now? You have 30 seconds to answer this. "Hallucinating" by Future. It’s so funny that you asked me that. I just texted my girl yesterday like “You wanna know what my favorite song is right now? It’s 'Hallucinating.'” I just told her. Yeah, I played that shit, the day before yesterday, like 19 times. For real. From waking up to going to sleep I played that shit 19 times. That’s my shit right now. I can feel that weight, I feel that way. Everything he says I feel right now. Aight, thank you Fee. No problem man, let’s do this again. Twitter: @ifatyler Instagram: @DIONYSU3 Website: ifawebstore.com When did you first start making videos?
I started making actual videos probably when I was a junior in high school. But I’ve always kind of been making movies I should say. Or I’d pretend and imagine myself in a movie. So I don’t wanna say my whole life because let’s face it I didn’t make a movie coming out my mom. I’ve been doing it for a while. What types of emotions do you enjoy capturing in your videos? I believe when you create, when you make a movie, you wanna get the scenery around you. Because sometimes you can’t capture that emotion with somebody’s face. And when you get the scenery you get—like I’m sitting on some rocks and shit and the beach is behind me. It’s all about the emotion you can get with the scenery. But to answer your question, I like to make things very colorful. I like using color to portray different emotions because I feel like I’m a colorful person. I don’t even like having one name. So my movies are very colorful and they’re just happy, I like being happy, I like smiling. Yeah. What do you consider to be a successful day of shooting? Oh shit. That is hard. Because some days I only shoot two minutes and I’ll get the best two minutes in the world. And I’m like “Yeah, this shit’s tight as hell!” And then I get home and I be like “What the fuck?” A successful day, you never really know what a successful day is. I feel like even today life might be crazy right now--[seagull flies behind IFASMOOTH’S head] Yes sir! But everyday is a successful day when you’re doing what you love so there’s never really a bad day. But a successful day of shooting is smiling and having fun, really. What are the most important aspects of your videos? The most important aspects of my videos…Ok I'm gonna get serious. I really don’t like using sound, because I believe you can really capture things without people talking, without the dialogue, without the background noise. Like I said earlier, I like to capture somebody’s facial expressions or just the colors around them. Are color schemes important to you? Wow. Yeah, yeah. Yeah! I like my shit dark. He knows I like my colors dark [points to Aaron Longsleeves]. But at the same time I like to pop certain colors out. Color schemes are very important. If you want to make something cool you have to have nice colors, you have to have a different technique to it. I love colors, colors portray a lot, really a lot. What types of people do you enjoy shooting the most? Myself. I’m just kidding, uh. I like shooting everybody. I told Aaron I just like making people feel like the person they’ve always wanted to feel like. And I like shooting regular people, making them feel like they’re on the cover of an album, they’re in their own music video, just making them feel good about themselves. I love shooting everybody, everybody’s different and creative in their own way. Everybody’s artistic if you think about it, to the way they dress and I like capturing that natural element of people. What other subjects do you enjoy capturing, besides people? I love nature. I just like being outside and just walking around and enjoying the light, and seeing the trees. I look around and I’m just like “Damn, life is art.” All this shit around me is just created naturally. It’s so beautiful to just look at and take in all the time. Because I’m just sitting here like “Damn, how did it get here?” Whoever made this before us, if there’s a higher power, he’s the greatest artist, you know? I just like looking at, really, looking at nature for what it really is. I love capturing that other than people. Describe your work in three words. It’s. Fucking. Art. I was about to say some crazy shit but it’s fucking art. Yeah! Oh shit! I’m tight, I’m so happy, bro. Do your videos reflect your personal interests? I don't know. ‘Cause sometimes I’m just mad and I wanna make something that looks scary. It just depends how I’m feeling. If I’m in a happy mood that day I'm gonna make something that makes people happy, but if I’m mad, I’m mad and I don’t try to cater to anyone but myself. Because if I don't make it for myself then who’s to say somebody else will watch it, you know? So I feel like as long as I’m catering to myself in that moment then it’ll be the best video in that moment. Describe your best shooting experience. I don’t know if my mom is gonna see this, I don’t want her to get mad at me. But the best shooting experience is going out and just being, just being “happy” [laughs] and I have my skateboard with me, I got my friends with me, I got my vans on but they look like sneakers. It’s just being happy. Every time I touch my camera I’m like “I’m about to kill somebody.” Not literally, but… If I see somebody with a camera I get offended because I’m like “Yo, I’m way better than them.” I’m the best guy with a camera, I don’t care how expensive their camera is. That’s just how passionate I am and I feel like if I touch it I’m the greatest at it. So my perfect shooting experience would just be what I’m doing right now, with cool people, got my brothers, new friends, family, Legacy, IFA. I couldn’t be happier, so right now, this very moment, is a great shooting experience. Do you currently have the skills required to fulfill your future goals? Yo, this is what I have to say to kids like, “Skills. What is a skill?” I believe in talent and fuck everybody who says you’re not good at something ‘cause somebody can say I’m not good, but shit, I feel like I’m the best. I’m not trying to be cocky or anything but you know you gotta have that confidence and I feel like—oh shit, that scared me (I’m guessing he got scared by a wave)—but I feel like when I have that following that we’re building up on the website, on social media, people are seeing our art the way it truly is. And I just love creating, so that’s the bottom line, I just love creating. Who have been the biggest supporters of your work? First off, the biggest supporter through everything is my little brother. My little brother has seen me at my worst. I dropped out of college once at Cal Poly, he still stuck behind me. I went to school and I'm liable to drop out of school again. My little brother looks up to me and I wanna be the biggest big brother, the biggest influence he has. And he looks up to me and that makes me feel so good, makes me wanna get better everyday. Other than my brother, it’s my family right here, like the people rockin’ with IFA. Shit, I couldn’t ask for better people to be behind me. The camp is ok! That’s all I gotta fucking say, the camp is ok. Who did you first tell when you realized you wanted to pursue videography? Oh shit, I remember being like five years old. I saw this one hood movie and I went to my room and I drew watches on, I drew a chain on my neck and I just went in front of my family and started acting and shit. [dabs] I didn’t dab bro, I didn’t dab. But I just started acting and I got my ass beat, that’s a different story. Ever since I was a child I knew I wanted to be doing something with television. I didn’t wanna be a director when I was little, because I felt it was too hard. Then I started to grow up, I started to really see life for what it really is and I’m like “I gotta catch it on video.” I had to capture it and have people see life how I see it, so from an early age I wanted to pursue something in film. Who or what has had the greatest impact on your life? My dad. My dad, he didn’t graduate from high school and he dropped out and he made his own company. He was an entrepreneur and he just really inspired me to go get it on my own. So my dad and Jay Z. I listen to Jay Z all the time when I’m motivated, trying to make some money, listen to some Hov. Get turnt. “Who Gon Stop Me” (song by Jay Z and Kanye West). Two seats in the 9/11 (lyrics). Spike Lee, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Angela Davis, Basquiat, Warhol, Kanye, even though he’s not a good guy anymore. Um, shit. Everybody really, I get an inspiration from everybody. Aight Tyler, you have one minute to answer this question. Yuh. Are you ready? Yeah. Are you sure? Yuuuhhh. Ok. What would you do if you just learned that you only had 6 months to live? Yo, if I had six months to live, the first thing I’d do is go to Berry’s, get a lobster pizza. Yum, yum yum. Uh, go to Belize. My family’s from Belize, I wanna go to Belize so I’ll go to Belize. Probably use all the money I have so I’d probably be in Belize starving and broke, so I’d have to fend for myself on Belize. Get back when I have a week left to live, I love skating so I’ll skate everyday. Uh, I’ll ride my dirt bike as much as I can. I’ll watch Django (great Quentin Tarantino film, I recommend it) about ten times. Uh, then I’ll just go on a rant on twitter and say “I’m about to die.” So I'm gonna tell it what it really is, fuck everybody except IFA and everybody who’s rocking with IFA. I’ll go on a rant, go to Belize, eat some lobster pizza, skate, ride my dirt bike and yeah, enjoy life. If you could shoot a music video for any artist who would it be? You have 20 seconds to answer this. Wait, dead or alive? Uh, alive. Damn... Jay Z, Tyler and Frank Ocean. If you could shoot anywhere in the world where would it be? We’ll give you 10 seconds for this one. Tokyo. Twitter: @aaron_lngslvs Instagram: @aaron_longsleeves Website: ifawebstore.com Describe what IFA is.
Ok well, IFA stands for “It’s Fucking Art.” Uh, sorry Dad. But it’s an art collective between me and my friend, Tyler, but we’re adding people to the team very soon. It is an outlet for kids who don’t really like sports and school and office work and pencils and papers. And it’s just an escape route to really get this guap and do really cool stuff. What do your images possess that sets you apart from other photographers? I am a hippie so a lot of my pictures have flowers and a lot of color. A lot of weird poses, I don’t like just regular, basic poses like “Oh, stand in front of that wall.” I don’t like stuff like that, I like my stuff to speak for itself in a way. My photo book Surf Music, hint hint, will have a lot of crazy stuff going on. So yeah, that’s what I do. I separate myself by using my favorite generation of youth of 2017. I implement them in my artwork. Ok so we kind of already talked about this but can we go more into detail? Mmhm, I’m enjoying this. Go ahead. Do you have any upcoming projects? If so, can you describe them for me? Surf Music! Surf Music is a photo book of mine, it is a book that I will be doing based on the youth of today. It’s a contradiction. So a lot of stuff that’s going on is way different from the norm. No shade, but I’ve seen a lot of photo books, and it’s just a guy who has clout in the book. But my book, it’ll have quotes, it’ll speak for itself, literally, the book’s alive. And I can’t wait for it to come out. Oh, and then I have another book coming right after that! This is a book called Failure. So, uh, a lot of people may not know but I got in trouble with the school. I’m not really big in school so, uh, I kind of got kicked out of CalState Los Angeles. Um, and my dad—fuck CalState LA—and my dad, he’s a little upset with me. So whenever I get in trouble with school the first thing my dad says is "Failure". So I’m gonna do a book called Failure and the first page will say “To my Dad.” And I’ll show him I’m not a failure in any way. I love my pops, don’t get it twisted. But yeah, I just gotta prove him wrong, so shoutout to pops. What type of environment do you enjoy shooting in the most? Aw man. Something with a lot of flowers and Hendrix (Yes, Jimi Hendrix as in the guitarist) music in the background. Stuff like that so I can feel cool about myself. I don’t know, my grandpa put me on this whole hippie thing back when I was like in 4th or 5th grade. And he showed me this movie called Psych Out (I’ve never seen this movie but I’m assuming it’s good), I don't know, it was with Jack Nicholson. And this deaf chick came to their hippie commune in San Francisco in the sixties, they was on acid, this one guy took like a bad trip and he saw zombies and he cut his hand off. And I was just watching it at like 11 and was like, "Grandpa, thanks for showing me this.” Lot of stuff was going on. Messed with my brain ventricles when I was like 9 or 11, however old I was. Look at me now. So yeah…Probably around flowers and a cool environment, like this is kind of tight. [looks at ocean] Wow. How do you take other people’s criticism? Have others' opinions ever hurt your confidence? No. [laughs] No. I was at Knott’s with my chick and I was wearing her glasses and I had my shirt tucked in and I was flooding my pants. And a lot of people were like, you know, stopping and laughing but I just know internally I’m clouted as hell, you know. I don’t care. I take criticism though, don’t get me wrong. I just could care less. Did it take time for you to become a skilled photographer or did your photography skills come naturally? Both. Both, because I had to lowkey teach myself how to do it, Tyler helped me throughout the way, still here and there. But I think it’s natural, because the eye comes naturally. Your eye has to be sharp to be a photographer. If you never have a eye you can never be a real photographer. I don't care how well you are with the actual mechanics, if you don't have an eye you suck. That’s the difference between a guy just standing in front of you, taking a picture of you and a guy catching an angle, a guy being creative, telling you where to stand and how to stand and what to pose. So my eye came naturally, and then my mechanics came with time and effort. What type of knowledge do you want people to receive after viewing your work? Stay awake. Always stay awake. This thing that we call life, it is different then what we really think it is. I think people take things for granted so heavy. Um, we’re on a planet. [points to ocean] That’s happening because the planet’s moving. We’re on a planet. Don’t take that for granted. Nothing’s regular, nothing’s normal, there’s no such thing as normal. Remember that. Like bro, at the end of the day—ha, ha!—you don't know what’s down there! [points to ocean] Dude, I could jump down there, if I go down far enough I’ll blow up! Don’t take anything for granted, bro. You’re a human on a planet. So when people look at my art, I want them to understand that this life thing is crazier than what they think it is. Who motivated you to start IFA with your friends? It’s a crazy story! [points to Tyler] Tyler called me and was like, “I need you to be in my art collective.” And I said, “I’m already in a biker gang though.” And then he was like, “Well leave that biker gang.” So I had to get beat up to leave that biker gang and then I joined his gang. So I don’t know, that’s his kind of thing. We’re 50/50 on it, but he called me with the idea and I just throw tips and tabs in there too. So I don't know, I was already in a biker gang, they still call me to this day. I threw my motorcycle away. Instagram: @juliar.art Email: [email protected] Are any of your friends interested in art or your art at least?
Yeah, one of my really good friends named, Abby, does ceramics. At school we have this thing called the crafts center and she took me in there, and you can do ceramics or glass-blowing. She was showing me all these different types of art and showing me what she makes. It’s really cool, it inspired to try new forms. What kind of people do you surround yourself with? Um, people like her. People who are really supportive and caring. All my close friends are people that I can just talk to about anything and we have a lot of shared interests. I think a lot of people I surround myself with, we have a similar mindset, where we question things and talk about everything together. We care, you know? I don't know if that sounds pretentious or anything [laughs] but I don't know, just people that make feel comfortable and love the same things I love. Is there any advice you’d like to give to artists who aren’t sure if they want to pursue a career in art? Yeah, it’s a really hard thing. It’s hard to allow yourself to do that, you know? I think you should just go for it, though. One thing that someone told me is to find something that you love and that you can do everyday and try to figure out how you can make money from it. Because if you love it, you're going to do it anyways, you’re going to stick with it and be driven. I think that’s the most important thing, if you go for it and take the time to feel okay about yourself doing it, like convince yourself this is right. I’m okay doing this, this is an okay path. This is something that I love and that is a valid thing, to do what you love. Have you ever taken art classes? If so, have they improved your artistic abilities? Yeah, definitely. I think art classes taught me the basic skills and how to convey things. They also taught me deadlines. High school’s like how to make a giant project in a month or two, and then college is like how to make a giant project, or two projects, in five days [laughs] so it definitely taught me how to manage my time and how to just commit to drawing for an entire day. You learn how to do the technical skills better. Who are your biggest supporters? Probably my parents. Mostly my mom, she’ll support anything I do. My friends have been really great too. Were there any people who doubted you when you made the decision to pursue art? Probably also my parents, you know? When I was trying to choose my major I was like, “Maybe I should do it, maybe I should be an art major.” They kept asking, “Are you sure? Should you just go in Undeclared?” That kind of scared me a bit. I did go in Undeclared but it was “Undeclared: Fine Arts” because I wasn’t willing to make that jump. But that actually kind of helped me. Because I was Undeclared, I decided to take a Design class and I realized that this is everything that I wanted to be and I’m going to be a Design Major instead. Do you have any themes for your work? I tend to draw patterns and nature and I think a lot of that comes from patterns in nature. When I doodle it takes my mind off things so I’ll just draw continuous, organic shapes. That kind of contrasts from classwork where it’s like some precise thing. Do you have any family members who are interested in art or are artists themselves? My grandma actually paints a lot, and its really cool. In a back room of her house she has so many paints and everything. As a kid—and even now—she gives me boxes of paint. She doesn’t really do too much anymore but I think that was a really big part of her life. So when I was a kid me and my sister would always go over there and we’d just be in the back room painting. I’d just be mixing colors, like wasting the paint! [laughs] How do you feel when you finish a new project? Really good. Especially if it’s something that took me all day, multiple days. Or if I worked on it for 12 hours that day. It feels really nice if it’s something I’m really proud of. Nothing is better than hanging something up in a critique that you feel so good about. And you're like “I know this is good, because I worked so hard on it. I did it and it’s okay.” Yeah, I love that feeling. How long have you been doing art for?
I began doing art at the beginning of high school, 9th grade. Before however, I would only do drawings and doodles on paper. Do you consider any of your family members to be artistic? Some of my family members show an interest in art, with one of my cousin’s also working with beautiful art, though I see that in my family's routines of being human, they do express themselves well in what they do. Who supported your interest in art the most? Was their support motivational/influential? My high school art instructor, Amanda Dickson was my all time inspiration. She always pushed me further to create artwork, always aiming bigger, her support is what had led me down the path of art. Did anyone ever doubt your decision to pursue art? I feel that at times there is a slightly bad stigma to doing art. Most people will often use the argument of financial stability to go against anyone pursuing art, my argument against that is the fact that by being human and living in this world, I choose and want to express myself through art. Were there ever times where you were overwhelmed with self-doubt? It wasn't really the fact that I was overwhelmed, but more occupied, however art is something that doesn't just leave you. It's embedded into yourself and your personality, even if you don't create artwork, by just simply choosing what you wear in the morning you express yourself. Do you have any unfinished pieces or are you someone who completes every project they start? I have piles of concepts, digitally, physically, and mentally. When I do finish pieces of artwork, some of the concepts in these piles build into the final artwork. My favorite part about each concept is the fact they're interchangeable on any material. Do you think your pieces have a distinguishable theme or does each piece represent something different? A lot of my pieces use repetitive patterns and rhythms, I use this type of principle of art because it's something that I find in almost every aspect of my life. What subjects do you enjoy painting/drawing the most? I really enjoy drawing and painting people, I feel as if at times it is intimate to really view and look closely at your subject. Their ownimage and persona has a beauty flourishing on it's own. What characteristics or features of your art do you think separate you from other artists? I feel as if my style of artwork is very appealing and interpretive and it isn't that it's really any better than any other artists. It's my own artwork, it's my expression and my own interpretation that really makes the art. Describe yourself in three words. Observant, Relaxed, and Optimistic. Do you prefer creating art in a silent setting or with music playing in the background? I prefer having music most of the time, music both orchestral and lyrical are beautiful forms of expressing oneself, so I tend to find myself switching stations constantly and finding new music. Who is someone you look up to? One of my best friends, Gus, he has a comedic outlook on life, and it's always amusing to be with him, but also having deep talks with him tend to bring perspectives. If you had to paint a portrait of an actor and give it to that actor who would it be? The Weeknd, he's gorgeous. In fact I kind of want to paint him now. INSTGRAM:@evelynfonsecaart EMAIL:[email protected] When did your interest in art begin?
Ever since I was little, my parents told me that I always picked up the crayons instead of the barbie dolls. I was always coloring in coloring books and doodling on printer paper. Where do you see yourself in the next five years? Hopefully, I’ll have graduated from college, somewhere I transferred to. And I’ll have a job in art and be totally independent, I wouldn't have to rely on anyone for anything. That’d be really cool. Is there a form of art that you prefer over the other? Like drawing and painting. Um. They both suck. Just kidding! [laughs] Drawing and painting, they’re really hard because they’re both very time-consuming and as you're doing it you just kind of want to chuck it. But I guess painting. What drove you to pursue art? Just the fact that it’s the only thing I want to do. I don’t want to do anything else, this is what I have to do, I guess. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just that I have to do it, there’s nothing else that I’d want to be doing but that. Is your motivation self-driven or influenced by others? It’s a little bit of both. Because I look at other people’s art, artists that are better than me, and I’m like “Wow, I wanna be as good as them or even better one day.” I always see the flaws in my art so I want to be getting better, my art is never good enough for me so that’s what drives me, even though that sounds kind of sad but… [laughs] Were you ever questioned for making the career choices you made? If so, who questioned or even doubted you? Who supported you? A lot of my family questioned me, because my family is full of engineers and scientists so it was weird when I told them that I’m going to go to college for art, because they were like, “Why are you doing that? Go get a degree in something that’s gonna get you a lot of money.” But over time they understood, as they looked at what I was doing they thought, “Oh yeah, she kind of has potential.” So they supported me. Especially my mom, it took her a long time to support me but after she saw the work I did my senior year of high school she thought, “Oh, she can do something with this.” My brother he’s always been my number one fan, which is kind of cliché [laughs] but yeah. My brother, he’s awesome. Do you ever have trouble thinking of new ideas for pieces? If so, how do you generate the creativity to get out of that “artist’s block”? I always have trouble getting new ideas honestly, but it’s kind of like when you get a new idea when you're not even thinking about it. You’ll just be in a random place or watching a good movie or something, you're just like, “Oh, that’d be a really good thing to make.” And once you’re doing thumbnail sketches, you bounce off the ideas, you keep adding on to what you were originally sketching. And then before you know it you have so many ideas you wanna do and you're just like “Okay, which one do I do now?” Do you ever get nervous showing your work to others? I used to, but overcame it. I remember Miss D (her high school art instructor) was talking and said “If art’s never seen then it technically never existed,” so I thought that maybe people should see my art. But now I get pretty excited when people see my work, I wanna show people and see what they think and get feedback. Do any of your pieces represent certain phases of your life? Sure. In high school I did the whole “nature destroying humanity” thing. Right now I’m going through this weird surrealism phase, I’ve only created a couple pieces, there aren’t a lot. The eyes and the windows (she’s referring to an art piece), I think you might’ve seen one. Most out-of-the-ordinary piece you’ve thought about doing or created? [bursts out laughing] I’ve always wanted to make a hamster in freakin’ space or something on the rings of Saturn. Something super childish! Right now, do you ever doubt your decision to pursue art? Oh, all the time. All the time? Yeah, all the time. Even after making the decision of pursuing art, you think you're going to be happy like, “I’m going to be able to do what I love” but nobody ever tells you that after that comes self-debt, never being good enough and there’s always someone better in front of you. What if people don’t even like it? How am I going to make money and support myself? I don't wanna be a burden on my parents, they came to this country to give their children a better future. And I feel like I’m totally stepping all over that decision, when they came over here, by pursuing art. They obviously came here so that I could make a lot of money, so that I wouldn't struggle how they did. It’s super hard, because I feel like I should be doing something else that is gonna ensure that I make a lot of money so I can live up to what my parents wanted me to have when they came over here. But I can’t, I can’t not do what I like. I can’t wake up every single day and hate what I do. Sometimes it’s more about loving what you do and not the money, but at the same time I don’t want to disappoint them. |