Amelia’s Magazine | Reem Alasadi

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Happy Bank Holiday Amelia’s Magazine readers! If, drugs like me, you’re nursing some pretty horrific sunburn, whack on some aloe vera and retreat to the shady and cool gig venues of London for this week’s pick of the best!

Monday 25th May

First on today’s menu are Canada’s tastiest export since poutine; Women, they play their jingly-jangly post-rock tunes (imagine maypole dancing in the sunshine with Sonic Youth) at the Lexington with support from Dag För Dag and Forest.

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Tuesday 26th May

We featured them in our magazine aaggggeeess ago-Amelia’s Magazine’s whimsical favourites Slow Club bring their dulcet tones to Scala, perfect music for long warm spring nights.

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Wednesday 27th May

I might just wet my pants with excitement- Wavves are playing Old Blue Last! San Diego’s finest will be playing their anarchic melodies and distorted surf punk. Keep your eyes peeled for our interview (probably a page of me gushing “why are you so awesome?”) with Wavves coming this week.

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Thursday 28th May

Owen Pallett is one cool dude, not only was he in the epic Arcade Fire, he broke off and created Final Fanatsy, a deliciously structured cacophony of strings and loop pedals; like being lost in a wonderland of beautiful sound at Union Chapel.

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Friday 29th May

Upset the Rhythm never fail to disappoint, this Friday they’re putting on something fun; Syrian legend Omar Souleyman with support from Saharan Group Doueh

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Saturday 30th May

20 bands are playing 2009 Brainlove Festival at Brixton Windmill, including performances from Kid Carpet, the excellent Internet Forever (keep eyes peeled for an interview), Napoleon IIIrd, The Duloks, gwEm, Pagan Wanderer Lu and a bundle load of exciting new bands from across the musical spectrum.

Then we’ll be heading to the Luminaire to catch our French crushes Nelson and asking them to be our pen-pals…

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I’m off to play croquet, have a good music-filled week dear readers! Be sure to comment and let me know how you enjoyed this week’s gigs

Just because you are a brave suffragette doesn’t mean that you don’t want to scrub up nicely.

As our readers know, site Amelia’s Magazine is passionate about the role of the arts in inspiring discussions and action over Climate Change, viagra buy and always wishes to share these discoveries with you. While the message of Climate Change is a serious one, the way in which the message is conveyed need not be, and sometimes, a large dose of playfulness is needed to spread the word. This is why we are so excited about the newest venture between Lush and Climate Rush entitled Trains Not Planes. I’m sure that you all know about the loveliness of Lush, but you may not know about the actions of Climate Rush.

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This is a group of people (which includes our Publisher and Editor, the eponymous Amelia, one of Climate Rush’s key members) who are deeply concerned about the issue of Climate Change, and even more concerned about the Governments “efforts” (or lack of) to tackle this emergency. Understanding that occasionally, direct and public action is needed in order to make the law makers sit up and take notice, they draw inspiration from the Suffragettes of almost one hundred years ago and show that peaceful civil disobedience can lead to positive change. Like suffragettes too, they make their protests in style; picnic blankets are laid out and tea and cake is served. Lush have evidently been inspired, because this week they too will be wearing their sashes with pride and putting on the kettle and best of all, you are invited!

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The occasion is all to celebrate the aforementioned collaboration and the happy result of this union is Lush’s Chox Away soap. (£2.89 for 100g) As you may have guessed from the title, Chox Away is made up of a blend of chocolate (and smells like chocolate too), vanilla absolute, peppermint oil and sweet orange oil. I was fortunate enough to get to try some last week and I have been whipping myself up into a lather over it ever since. Anyone who has shopped at Lush will know that every one of their products are creamy delights that leaves your skin soft and smooth and this soap is no exception. I might be biased, because I get ravenous over chocolatey flavoured soaps, but this one is seriously good enough to gobble up. From this week, you can also buy it when you pop into Lush, (but try not to drive there). If you want to be treated to the spectacle of Lush Cosmetics staff dressed as Climate Suffragettes and holding picnics then go to your nearest Lush on Thursday 28th May at 12pm sharp where a tea party will be under way. As they are such a friendly bunch, feel free to sit down on the blankets that Lush will have across the floors (which will be emblazoned with the message CLIMATE CHANGE IS NO PICNIC), and while you munch on your free vegan cake, wearing a “Trains Not Planes” sash, you can find out more about the cause behind this collaboration. If you live in the London area, then Liverpool Street branch are putting an extra twist on the festivities – they will be giving out free Chox Away’s! As they have been informed that they can’t hand them out on the station concourse (because of the association with Climate Rush, which is apparently considered ‘too controversial’!) they will be on Bishopsgate concourse instead. So if you want a freebie (and who doesn’t?) then make sure that you are down there at 12pm sharp!

As you can see, the events will be lighthearted, but the underlying message is a serious one, and needs to be shared. ‘Trains Not Planes‘ is the ethos which Climate Rush and Lush are in firm agreement with. As you all know, flying is doing untold damage towards the earth. Flying releases a lot of CO2 – which is even more destructive to our environment when released at high altitudes than on the ground and this is contributing to more droughts, flooding and other catastrophic changes to our climate all over the globe, including right here in the UK.

So Lush and Climate Rush are aiming to remind the public of the benefits of train travel, especially for business, or when travelling up and down the country. As Lush says, ” The world looks better from the window of a train than it does at 30,000 feet, and if we are going to take control of run-away climate change, we need fewer runways and more use of train tracks. ” Lush subscribe to the brilliantly titled phrase “My Karma is Your Dogma“, which basically translates as take the train, cycle or walk to work! They understand Climate Rush’s grave concerns over the amount of flying that occurs around the world (and specifically in Britain; were you aware that per person, Britons emit more CO2 emissions from flying than any other people on the planet -603 kg per person per year, compared to 434 kg for Irish and 275 kg for Americans? ). So if you buy a bar of Chox Away between May 25th and May 31st, Lush will be donating all of the proceeds from the sale towards the efforts of Climate Rush in tackling this environmental emergency. Lush themselves have a policy against flying domestically and all Lush staff take the train when travelling in Britain. This is something that they would like to see other businesses implimenting.

Speaking to the Climate Rushers as they donned their sashes, I asked what they made of Chox Away, and all agreed that it gets a vote of confidence. As they explained; “Not every luxury need be a vice. Here at Climate Rush HQ we’re inordinately proud of LUSH and their commitment to Trains Not Planes. Like spending time on travel, the Chox Away experience is a fabulously indulgent way to take Climate Change seriously.” One of Climate Rush’s newest recruits, Hana Cogings declared; “Chocolate soap? Who’d have thought…..but then again, who’d have thought not so long ago that trains were the future, not planes! I’m gonna lie back and indulge!” So if you want to feel refreshed and ready to Rush, then lather up!

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Meanwhile, Climate Rush will be spreading the word in the way that they know best; pedal power! If you want to come along – and all are welcome, they will be tucking their knickerbockers into their trousers and getting on their bikes in St James Square, London at 5pm on June 1st. The event is to draw attention to what will be the first night of a two day coal conference and Climate Rush will be assembling outside Chatham House where the conference will be held. It will also mark the first night of the pre-Copenhagen climate talks in Bonn, and what better way to mark this occasion than a gentle bike ride around town (where Climate Rush will be your tour guides, pointing out climate crime scenes and buildings that may be housing climate criminals). Afterwards, they too will be ending the excursion with a picnic. So see you there? We will be the ones smelling yummy, hope you will be too!
Lucy Barlow: Delicate Boundaries
First Floor Projects Gallery
5 Redcliffe Gardens, prescription London SW10 9BG

Thursday to Saturday 12pm – 6 pm
All other times by appointment
To 30th May

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This week is the last chance to catch the wonderfully playful exhibition at the new First Floor Projects gallery. Containing both Lucy Barlow’s previous drawings and sketches and her transition into paint on canvas, viagra the space is the living room of James Tregaskes; a unique, relaxed, cosy environment which compliments Barlow’s artwork perfectly. Stop by, have a cup of tea, and say Hi from me. Watch out for a review of this exhibition this week.

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On The Line
Shane Bradford, Oliver Clegg, Cédric Lefebvre, Ian Monroe
Ben Newton, Ayman Ramadan, Gavin Turk
Crimes Town Gallery
1 Yoakley Road
London N16 0JX

Friday-Sunday 12-6pm
Opens 29th May until 28th June

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Shane Bradford

Crimes Town Gallery, an artist’s run space presents six artists (working in various media) who are each freely interpreting the title in relation to our contemporary environment. The exhibition aims to discuss and open the debate on the possible effects of the current economical downturn on the art world, and whether we are heading for a reinvention of creativity or a starvation of possibility.

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Sherrie Levine
Simon Lee Gallery
12 Berkeley Street
London W1J 8DT
Monday to Friday: 9.30am to 6.00pm
Saturday: 11.00am to 4.00pm
29th May – 31st July

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“I consider myself a still-life artist, with the bookplate as my subject. I want to make pictures that maintain their reference to the bookplates. And I want my pictures to have a material presence that is as interesting as, but quite different from, the originals.” Sherrie Levine.
American artist Levine showcasing new work including poetry and postcards.

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Tal R- Armes de Chine
Victoria Miro Gallery
16 Wharf Road
London N1 7RW

Tuesday – Saturday 10.00am-6.00pm
Monday by appointment.
until 25th July

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Danish artist Tal R explains “armes de chine refers to a classic manual about weapons from ancient China. These objects, which once had a very specific and practical purpose, now several hundred years later seem completely abstract. Like a long lost slang…” With not a single piece attached to a wall and instead all pieces suspended or installed across the floor of the gallery’s main space, this will prove to be a very unique exhibition indeed. Expect everything from lost scouts, wrong fruits, embarrassed old uncles and melted minimal ice cream., taking forms of sculptures, paintings and work on paper.

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Parades and Processions
Parasol Unit Gallery
14 Wharf Road
London N1 7RW

Tues – Sat, 10am – 6pm Sun, 12 – 5pm
Until 24 July

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Photo by: Jeremy Deller, Veterans Day Parade, 2002 Video installtion, Courtesy Art: Concept, Paris

Featuring: Francis Alÿs, Fiona Banner, Jeremy Deller, Thomas Hirschhorn, Rachel Hovnanian, Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler, William Kentridge, Michèle Magema, Annette Messager, Amy O’Neill and Hiraki Sawa.
A ‘parade’ is usually a festive occasion for which people dress up in extravagant costumes and create elaborate and highly structured artefacts, while a ‘procession’ is more often an organised group of people proceeding in a formal or ceremonial manner, often with a religious or political connotation. The exhibition will feature works by twelve UK-based and international artists who take their inspiration from the traditional meanings of ‘parades’ and ‘processions’, creating works that epitomise the social and political context of our time. The resulting works, ranging from sculpture to installation, films and videos, are powerful forms of expression that address issues of history, culture, identity and politics.

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Michael Raedecker
Camden Arts Centre
Arkwright Road
London NW3 6DG

Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm
Wednesday 10am-9pm
Closed Mondays & Bank Holidays
Until 28th June

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A solo exhibition by London-based Danish artist Michael Raedecker includes new paintings and a selection from the last 5 years. He uses a unique combination of thread and paint to create his atmospheric paintings. They derive from and also reinvent different genres from the history of art including still lifes, landscapes, ruins and flower paintings.
In the new work, Raedecker references flowers, washing, cakes, table-cloths, sheets, lace, food and houses. These domestic topics and the decorative associations of needlework create a friction with the fetishistic nature of these paintings.

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Stitch and Sock It Up
Stitch n Bitch London

The Royal Festival Hall
South Bank Centre
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX

Wednesday 27th May
From 6pm

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Photo from faithdarling

Struggling with your latest sock project? Not sure about how to turn that darned heel? Or are you simply mystified by all those little needles and simply wouldn’t know where to start? If so, this week’s sock surgery may be just what you need. The experienced sock knitters will be happy to share their sock expertise with anyone who needs it.
The act of shopping can be a divisive experience, check normally somewhere along gender lines, but I would be prepared to bet that most people have at least once been betrayed by the deceitful mythologisation of shopping as ‘retail therapy’. Shopping can be hardcore, hideous megabitch – when it makes that imperceptible shift it can morph into the seventh circle of hell of escalators, crowds, queues, bags and blisters.

Is it wrong to want a little romance and daydream in shopping? I don’t want to shunted in and spat out, I want to be nurtured and seduced until I buy lots of nice things I don’t really need. Hurwundeki on Commercial Street in Shoreditch seems to understand this. Quirky, stocked full of antiques and things like vintage clogs and bow ties, it totally eschews style over utility, has softly lit stone archways filled with clothes and changing rooms with tall heavy curtains and stone busts inside.

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Stocking vintage, new designers and their own label, it has become something of an empire for its Korean owner Ki, and Thursday sees the launch of a new venture at the bottom of Cambridge Heath Road. It’s a shop-cum-café-cum-playground, but this is no family Little Chef: featuring a beautifully crafted playground that manages to fuse function and fairytale, it’s a sanctuary for local families wishing to visit and enjoy it for its varying facets. It seems a hugely positive venture for the Hackney community, as well as building on the idea that shopping doesn’t have to be a stressy, hellish mess. I spoke to Ki ahead of its launch this Thursday.

At the beginning when you set up Hurwundeki what was your aim in terms of the shopping experience?

Actually I have always been a hairdresser, when I moved to England, I was working for Vidal Sassoon before opening my Hair Salon in Spitalfields. I began to cultivate my taste for vintage via the interior of the Salon. I started to sell vintage items within the space, and subsequently opened a vintage boutique; and later launched the Hurwundeki line of clothes. The aim was to provide a shopping experience that customers remember, providing clothes that are classic, yet have a twist, in beautiful settings made up of artefacts that may have once been frowned upon. This has generated our own unique clientele.

I always remembered it after the first time I visited as it was simply such a nice space to be in.

Why thank you.

In terms of designers you stock, what are you criterias? Who is your
customer?

In terms of the Huruwndeki label, the clothes have to be classic, which means that they’re versatile. They have to have a twist, like in the pattern of the construction has been slightly toyed to give an edgy look. The price has to be affordable. We have our own niche, and for fashion, we are actually fashionable.

In terms of the service, we offer our customers award winning coffee, at very reasonable prices. The settings are out of this world, somewhere quirky, yet mellow enough to relax in.

Generally our customers are not just one type, we appeal to a variety of clientele because different facets of our company attract more to different kinds of people.

With regard to your new venture in Hackney, what was it that inspired you to
set it up? Anything in particular? Were there any other similar places that you could use as a blueprint?

Well it was originally our headquarters. And before that it was used by the car lot next door. We relocated, offices, but I had a feeling about the space, and developed a vision for it.

I like the idea that you emphasised the functional aspect of it all too – where did you manage to pull all your playground pieces from? They’re definitely striking walking down Hackney Road.

Some of the pieces where from our Commercial St boutique and some from our warehouse, that had been sourced by myself.

What has the response been from the local community? Have you had particular
support or endorsement from anyone?

Everyone loves it. The local community think it’s about time something like this happened. We’re getting great feedback.

What are your plans beyond this?

To keep expanding, never being satisfied to standstill, if you’re not going forward, then you’re moving backwards.

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Ki seems to have maximised the shopping experience by tapping into people’s lifestyles; not just the lone shopper with only themselves to carry, but the family unit too. I think it’s a creative vision that really riffs off people’s needs, and that’s definitely on the money.

Hurwundeki Cafe launches this Thursday, May 28th.

Returning this year after a triumphant 2008 which saw it scoop ‘best small festival’ at the festival awards, link The Secret Garden Party once more stands out like a painted lady amongst the cabbage whites of this summer’s festival line-ups. For those not in the know, no rx the non-profit festival takes a distinct lest field approach to it’s competitors. This year’s main additions for example are the science and explorer camps, which are hosting science and human rights related talks and debates. Full marks have to be given for their decision to retain the capacity at a relatively small six and a half thousand, refusing to bow to commercial sponsorship. Rather then working to promote beer branding or mobile phones, the organisers instead look to promote ideas, creativity and having a good time that’s not to nature’s expense.

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Set amongst ten acres of landscaped garden, meandering around a river and surrounding a lake, there’s much more going on here then just music. Aside from the talks and discussions, I feel I can safely state without too much research that this is the only British festival that lists skinny dipping, bubble-wrap popping and twilight maypole dancing as activities. Also instead of the usual £4 burgers, festival goers have the likes of hog roast and home made falafel to choose from, amongst the other organic foods on offer. Then once the bands are finished, rather then attempting to drink as many cheap lagers as possible or sleep while all around you are doing so, you can instead go see a dj in a tree or go relax in a hot tub.

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As far as the music goes, one side of the lake consists of ‘the great stage’ and smaller stages for louder/dancier music, while the other side of the lake hosts stages devoted to more acoustic and chillax music. The line-up itself includes the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, VV Brown, DJ Food, Those Dancing Days, Golden Silvers, Evil Nine, Emmy The Great, Le Castle Vania, Fight Like Apes, Phoenix, Caribou, Bombay Bicycle Club and Dan Black.

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The Secret Garden Party. Cambridge. 23rd-26th July. £144 for weekend ticket (additional £75 for campervans/caravans).

Ever thought that purchasing art can be like purchasing new clothes? The way it looks on you in the shop’s plush changing rooms somehow can never be replicated once you get home and it becomes part of your own wardrobe. Art can be the same. The pristine white-washed walls of a gallery, cure the careful lighting, cialis 40mg the precision placing among other desirable pieces; it can all end in such disappointment and disillusion. Wouldn’t it make our lives a whole lot easier then if instead we browsed for art in its natural habitat – the home?

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And so the genius of First Floor Projects gallery is born. A lived-in home that spares its walls now and then for up and coming artists is the venture of south-west London flat owner and all round lovely chap James Tregaskes with help from art PA Hannah Magor. Their inaugural exhibition, sildenafil titled ‘Delicate Boundaries’ is of the darling Lucy Barlow, and in turn it’s her first solo show. When I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up into a woman just like Lucy Barlow; independent, beautiful, creative, working part time in a bookshop and a keen tea connoisseur.
And so I jumped at the chance to have tea with her at the homely gallery. The trademark ink and watercolour drawings that she is most recognised for grace the high ceilinged living room, side by side with newer larger more abstract pieces bursting out from the canvas with fresh bright bold hues and pigments.

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It was between delicious cupcakes and fan-meets-idol handshakes that I manage to ask Lucy about herself and her romantically fanciful work. We started off talking shop, and then got into Barlow-related Trivia.

Hello Lucy, how are you?
I’m great thanks. Before you got here I found a DVD of The Secret and had my lunch on a tray. I went for a stroll and saw an Agatha Christie blue plaque and I found a stone, which I decided would be the keepsake for this happy morning. In fact, in The Secret he talks about how important gratitude is and keeps a stone in his pocket as a reminder to give thanks. Which was a bizaare coincidence. So yeah! How are you?

I’m good thanks. Your newer work is quite a new direction, has there been a specific catalyst in it’s coming about?
Definitely. I’ve been going through a time of change in myself. Painting has always been a bit of a slow burner. Doing the drawings I felt like I wasn’t being honest with myself. They were easy, fun and I loved doing them. But there was something else. Over the last year I’ve been busy growing up, finding out about myself. I’ve been trying to break down walls. I don’t want to leave drawing behind; it’s part of who I am. I think previously I was scared to paint, and what I did paint I kept to myself. But my heart goes into my mouth when I look through a book of paintings and I love colour. I wanted to see what could happen if I embraced it and once I did it felt amazing. I can now allow myself to put down my pens and make a mess- use big brushes and oils, and have no agenda.
My work is about reflecting what was going on in my personal life. Letting go of control – it’s all part of the same thing. I’m done with saying ‘I am this’ and putting restrictions on myself. I know now that I can be brave and experiment.

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How has the experience of this exhibition differed to other shows you’ve had?
It has been incredible. I adore the home setting; this is where the heart is. Having things around that resonate with you. Galleries can be so scary.. ‘am I too close to the exhibit’? or ‘Am I over the security line’? It’s lovely to be with the work here, to sit down and have tea and take your time. Since I met James (Tregaskes, Gallery owner) at University he has talked about using his home as a gallery space, and insisted I be the first artist on the walls, and it’s happened! Home is where the Art is!
(I’m stealing that!)

What are you plans for the rest of the year?
In mid July I’m co-organising a group exhibition in Oxford with 4 others; Kim Norton, Sarah Brown, Sarah Boada and Richard Bishop.

A local artist thing?
We’re trying to get away from the ‘local thing’. We’re fed up with not enough great contemporary art in Oxford. There’s Modern Art Oxford, but that’s it. Contemporary art could thrive there. We are stiring the contemporary art pot, and causing a stir. Saying here we are! We aren’t just local- I have nothing against it, but it’s not the be all and end all.

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How is the work received?
I think my work is accessible, easy to talk with. It’s going to be interesting with the shift from drawings to paintings, as to how people will respond. The next show will be all canvasses, no drawings. Fans of abstraction and abstract expressionists will be catered for. It’s for anyone who loves colour really.

Ok, time to lower the tone a little and get to know more about you, Lucy. We loosely call this our ‘Lucky 13′ questions. Firstly, If you were taking Amelia’s magazine out in Oxford, where would we go?
There’s a secret weeping willow tree in the University Parks. I like to think its secret, but maybe everyone knows about it. It would have to be a hot evening in summer. That would be beautiful.

What would be your pub quiz specialist subject?
Oh gosh, I don’t know. It’s a shame I don’t eat meat anymore otherwise it would have been Hugh (Fernley-Whittingstall- man behind the River Cottage series and all-round God of the ‘waste not, want not’ ethic). Maybe veganism then?!

What advice would you give to young artists?
I wish I knew. Can someone tell me?! I’d say believe in yourself. Show your work wherever, to whoever. If you keep it to yourself it can’t talk to anyone. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt. You must keep going and don’t give up. Lastly, don’t try and emulate anyone- of course, draw inspirations but don’t seek to become the people who inspire you. It’s about your unique originality.

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Which band past or present would provide the soundtrack to your life?
What good questions! Beth Orton would be right up there. I want to say the Beatles too.. But can I have one more?
Yep.
Thanks. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.. They would round it off nicely.

If you could travel forwards or backwards in time to any era, where would you go?
I’d love to go to the 1960s, though that’s too easy isn’t it? I’d go to Ancient Egypt and watch them build pyramids and all that jazz. And then I’d come back via the 60s please. Then I can meet the Beatles and be a groupie and wear amazing dresses…

If you hadn’t become an Artist, what would you be doing now?
I’d be a singer.
What kind of singer?
Folky, acousticy; a gentle singer who can break hearts and grow her hair long. I still want to try and fit being a singer in. I’d like to sing to whoever would listen.

Who or what is your nemesis?
Plastic.

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Tell us something that we may not already know about Lucy Barlow.
I do try and compost EVERYTHING.
How well does that go?
Good, when I’m in a good mood. But when I’m blue, not well at all. Which makes me more depressed.

Hey, Lucy Barlow, what makes you so awesome?
My foot massages. Whoever, whenever. Not in a fetish way though! I find it relaxing.

Which single piece of modern technology can’t you live without?
My radio. It’s a portable friend. Is that modern anymore? I’m tempted to say my computer.. but sometimes I hate it and actually a life without one would be bliss.

Which artists do you most admire?
Henri Matisse, Peter Blake.. there are so many. Peter Doig I love- his use of colour in particular. Mark Rothko and his colour fields. Howard Hodgkin is my recent find. And can I have another?
Yes.
David Hockney.
There are no women in that list Lucy..
Oh! I do have a female idol. Helen Frankenthaler is amazing. That’s a long list huh. Sorry!

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Who would be your top 5 dream dinner guests? Who would do the washing up?
Anais Nin, Henri Matisse if he could make it, George Harrison.. can I just bring everyone? I don’t want anyone to be excluded! Barefoot Contessa (pause) Oh, what am I doing?! Andy Warhol! And can I trade George Harrison? I’d love to meet Florence Nightingale. I’d wash up myself.

I say Falloumi, you say..?
Alluminate! I just thought of star filled sky all of a sudden. What’s Falloumi- sounds lovely! (It’s a falafel and halloumi cross breed, firm lunch favourite that we are more than a little ‘in to’ over here, and like to over mention.)

Anything you want to add?
I’m currently looking for representation, so anyone reading this and interested please get in touch. Thank you!

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I left First Floor Projects with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. Miss Barlow has a unique way of looking at the world that couldn’t be more innocently wonderful, and her work is a window into that special outlook. Even now in my 20s, arguably an adult, I would still like to be Lucy Barlow when I grow up.

Who do you want to be when you grow up?

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For years her uniquely styled Portobello Market stall has been the hushed haunt of stylists and designers when the well of inspiration has run dry. Voluminous shapes and ultra feminine collages of textiles are the earmarks of her brand. Reem Alasadi is a hopeless vintage addict, see re-inventor extraordinaire and in the words of Alphaville, salve she is in fact, “big in Japan”. For the last several years she has been quietly building momentum in the notoriously discerning Japanese fashion market, cresting recently with an award for Best Show at Japan Fashion Week where she recently launched her ready-to-wear line.

One cold and wet afternoon I head over to Portobello Market and snake through the stalls until I spot a treasure trove of cozy vintage. A little brass bed with quilted duvet and a pair of victorian ladies boots, a travel weary trunk with a jumper making a lazy effort at escaping its mouth… It’s all I can do not to settle in with a cuppa tea and biscuits. Reem’s individually unique clothes are hanging in groups of deep inky blues, burnt siennas, lacey whites.

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This attention to “stories” is what informs Reem’s vision. Her gathering, reworking and styling of antique garments is what keeps them coming back. In fact, it’s what had designers like John Richmond and Stella McCartney hiring her as a consultant.

Petite and tomboyish Reem is dressed in super baggy jeans with frayed hems, shaved head and a parka. With warm olive skin and chestnut eyes she exudes the relaxed confidence of someone who knows her work speaks for itself. At 16 she was already working for Karen Millen in her hometown of Kent. Convinced she wanted to do fashion she was accepted to London College of Fashion and St.Martins before she was even old enough to attend. But once she’d set out on her own there was no turning back. By the age of 21 she had her first label and a 1,000 sq ft studio.

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However, the perils of many fledgling designers caught up with her as well and she found herself in debt and in need of a new game plan. So what started out as a fold away table of vintage bits and bobs for 50p – 5 pounds in the Portobello Market eventually became something of a concept store. Like a born stylist she would put her antique pieces together based on an idea, color or shape, occasionally refurbishing them when necessary.

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I first saw Reem’s precious pieces in 2005 at her popup store in front of Tokyo’s uber-style hive La Foret. A perfect compliment to Harajuku’s vintage vamps and lolita girls. Like many things in Japan business, Reem’s visionary debut in Asia’s fashion capital took four years of talks and preparations. Now a local darling showing original ready-to-wear (non vintage) garments on the Tokyo catwalks she has brought her line back to London where she showed at On/Off in ’08. From market stalls to fashion runways, Reem Alasadi has tailored her own way up the ranks, managing to stay afloat in the churning waters of fashion.

Categories ,Harajuku, ,London College of Fashion, ,On/Off, ,Portobello Market, ,St.Martins, ,Tokyo Fashion Week

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Amelia’s Magazine | Cristina Sabaiduc: London Fashion Week S/S 2014 Presentation Review

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Gareth A Hopkins

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Gareth A Hopkins

Romanian/Canadian London based womesnwear dsigner Cristina Sabaiduc showed her S/S 2014 collection with a Digital Presentation featuring a short film and live models in the Canon Cinema and Presentation Space at Somerset House. During this London Fashion Week I noticed that a few collections looked back at times and cultures in which, via different belief systems, rituals and ways of living, man and nature had a somewhat better relationship than nowadays. For instance Ashish featured Egyptian inspired make up and helmets which could have belonged to Viking tribes, KTZ looked at the desert and nomads, while Lug Von Siga utilised the symbolism of tribal masks.

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Christina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Gaarte

Christina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Gaarte

Christina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Gaarte

Following this trend, Cristina Sabaiduc’s short film, directed by herself, is a beautiful depiction of a girl dressed in items from her S/S 2014 collection climbing onto, jumping off and hanging from ancient Beech trees. The prints appearing on the garments are a collaboration with artist Jo Holland, who found inspiration in medieval stained glass artefacts at the Victoria and Albert Museum – thus appropriately lending religious connotations to this look at nature and the way the Cristina Sabaiduc woman interacts with it.

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Isabelle Mattern

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Isabelle Mattern

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Isabelle Mattern

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Isabelle Mattern

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Isabelle Mattern

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 by Isabelle Mattern

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc S/S 2014 presentation photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Cristina Sabaiduc presentation S/S 2014. All photography by Maria Papadimitriou.

Categories ,Canon, ,Canon Cinema, ,Cristina Sabaiduc, ,Digital Presentation, ,Digital Prints, ,Fashion Film, ,Gaarte, ,Gabriel Ayala, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Isabelle Mattern, ,Jo Holland, ,London Fashion Week, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,Past lives, ,Presentation, ,prints, ,S/S 2014, ,Short Film, ,Stained Glass, ,trees, ,victoria and albert museum

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion Brut – An Interview

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Putting the words Sustainable Fashion together can appear to produce an oxymoron, malady doctor how can an industry synonymous with the fast free consumerism mimicked in high fashion magazines pages that helped herald the economic crash become sustainable? Its very structure relies on the twin polluters of shipping and flying to deliver clothes across the world. Furthermore, tadalafil how can fashion be sustainable considering the volume of water and cotton required to make a single t-shirt, buy information pills a subject Amelia’s Magazine broached when reporting on the London School of Fashion Centre for Sustainability competition. Whilst the majority of the fashion industry has a long way to go with regards to production being ethically and sustainable, the recent collaboration between Fashion-Conscious and TRAIDremade is one example of the possibilities open to commerce. Continuing along the vein of Junky Styling TRAIDremade produces new clothes out of the old with beautiful results, proving it is more than possible to create fashionable items with your own hands. Amelia’s Magazine spoke to the director of Fashion Conscious.

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What do you think are the most important concerns for the fashion world at the moment?

For me, sustainability is key. The Fairtrade message seems to be getting through to a lot of people already but the vast amount of waste we produce which is being dumped into landfill is frightening. The rise of fast-fashion culture has increased the rate and amount of discarded clothes in landfill too. I think sustainability needs to be pushed to the forefront of eco-fashion now and I am hoping some projects we have coming up in the near future will do just that. The idea of being able to utilise what most would consider rubbish, literally turn waste in something new, fun and most of all fashionable is so exciting. Fashion recycles styles and trends so why shouldn’t the actual act of producing those clothes reflect that? It’s the future of fashion.
Vegan fashion is also a hot topic at the moment and controversy surrounding the use of leather from the Amazon has appeared in the press recently. We have an incredibly stylish collection of shoes by Olsenhaus on the site at the moment. Finding the most ethical materials and production processes is their paramount philosophy.

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What’s in store for Fashion Conscience in the future?

So much! We are currently preparing to launch TRAIDremade Boutique, a project we are incredibly excited about. Fashion-conscience has collaborated with the charity TRAID to come up with a new concept for sustainable fast and affordable fashion. The mini-collections will be much more trend focused than TRAID’s typical pieces and be made up of just a few of each design. New lines will be added every few weeks and as creative director, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the catwalk trends to really keep in touch with high-end fashion. The collection will be available exclusively for fashion-conscience customers. We are also launching an exclusive line of printed tees in the near future- they’re being designed and produced as we speak!

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How successful has the store been so far? Were you surprised by its success?

Surprised? Yes and no! I’m ambitious and I always hoped the site would be successful so in a way I wasn’t surprised that the site has seen a success. We started trading as the recession began so keeping in mind the tough trading conditions we’ve seen in the last year we’re growing rapidly. But where we’ve made real impact is within the industry itself. In terms of the fact that most people in ethical fashion industry see us as the number one site for style and new talent. We’ve showcased some fantastic new labels on fashion-conscience and I am always on the look out for more. We have attracted good press, and more than larger companies in the same arena as us. Good exposure is essential and we will always attract attention if we continue pushing boundaries.?

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Who are your favourite designers on the site? Which would you particularly like recommend?

Camilla Norrbeck sells her beautiful and timeless pieces exclusively on fashion-conscience. She’s a Swedish designer and uses almost entirely ecological or environmentally certified, natural fabrics

We will soon be stocking a little label called Betty Bridge. Born in Paris then studied in London, the designer sources vintage fabric to transform into gorgeous modern pieces. She brings practical, wearable and femininity to her clothes, mixing French chic with London flair.

Fin is a Norwegian label. Its very elegant, luxurios and sophisticated. I’m looking forward to receiving the AW collection. They use organic and environmentally friendly fabrics.

And vegan label Olsenhaus.

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Are there any other sites or shops like yours that you would recommend or that have inspired you?

For pure professionalism and selling good fashion, net-a-porter is great. They’ve managed to expand the designer market and made it more accessible to the general public. Eco blog ‘style will save us‘ has won design awards and simply picks the best of eco, we’re often featured on there too which is obviously always good! BeingContent is an excellent eco beauty and wellbeing site. They have everything from skincare to haircare and men’s beauty too

The possibilities are endless.

See Fashion-Conscious for links to other ethical design initiatives including the designer Rani Jones whose collection is made entirely in London and Fin, a Norwegian company who describe themselves as 100% carbon neutral.

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Only on their second single, pharm London-based indie fourtet, Your Twenties have been described as ‘possibly the best group ever formed by a member of another act who wasn’t the frontman.’ The ‘other act’ is Metronomy and ‘the member who wasn’t the frontman’ is Gabriel Stebbing. The delightful fellow chats to Amelia’s Magazine in Brick Lane about what it means to be in Your Twenties.

AM: So your new single, ‘Billionaires,’ I take it you don’t want to be a billionaire….

GS: It was one of the first songs I wrote for Your Twenties ages ago. When I was still in Metronomy. I guess it was me at my dreamiest and most ideological. I basically write music that makes you feel a particular way because of the sound. But with Billionaires, it’s not some big anti-corruption message, but in the music industry you can always see when people are motivated by money or where there is too much money thrown at something. I don’t think the song is 100% about that. It was just my little flag waving stand, the last of my idealism that was then crushed by the actual experience of touring with Metronomy. You can absolutely do everything you need to do on a shoestring. I was thinking about the xx record. They must have started 2 or 3 years ago. Now they’ve just released their album on a tiny label, produced it themselves and it’s brilliant! That’s what we’re trying to do with this band as well. I don’t think the old model really works.

AM: You’ve alluded to the pop sound of Your Twenties, was that a conscious move away from Metronomy?

GS: I just got to the point with Metronomy that I didn’t have the time to do both. They’re still touring that record non stop. Metronomy is completely Joe [Mount]‘s music. Me and him had been in each others bands for ages. He’d been the drummer in one of mine for 3 years, where he drummed and I wrote the songs. Then we swapped and I played bass and he wrote the music. Now it just seemed like the right time. I think he always knew I was going to push off at some point.

AM: Your pop aesthetic seems to be nostalgic of the genre before “that word” became a bad thing….

GS: I was brought up in Devon, we didn’t really have cool music. I sort of learnt everything about the early days, as much as you can learn about music, listening to my parents record collections and other people’s parents’ record collections. That idea of how records from the 60s and 70s could sound really weird and really pop at the same time, like The Kinks – I don’t think we’re a retro band or a throw back band – but what I like about records from that time and the post-punk era and in the 80s, they could make three minute long records that were really memorable and they always had something in the middle of them that twisted it all around somehow. ‘Billionaires’ is quite a classic, straight sound, but in ‘Caught Wheel’, our first single and ‘Gold’, which will probably be our next, I think they have that something a little bit strange. That’s what I’m going for.

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AM: How far off an album are you?

GS: I think it’s going to be a 10 or 12 track record. We’ve finished two tracks definitely. It’s pretty much all written, we have two thirds of it demo-ed and I say we’re gonna finish by November.

AM: So Joe is producing tracks on the album? And any more by Stephen Street [producer – Blur, The Smiths]?

GS: Stephen Street did Billionaires, the single, and it was really, really amazing to work with him. I think he did the best thing he could with what we brought to the table. It’s like he did the perfect production of that song. It harks back to all our favourite songs of the 90s. It was like a dream come true. Growing up listening to Blur and The Smiths it really was amazing. At the moment, we’re doing more tracks with Joe. He’s done stuff with us in the past and that kind of opened the sound for us – right but odd. On the couple of tracks we’ve done with him so far, it really works. We’re even gonna do a new version of ‘Billionaires’ for the record which will be Joe’s take on it. It sounds pretty amazing, it’s got a guitar solo in the middle that sounds like an American sitcom, like when Kramer walks in on Seinfeld and there’s that little bit of guitar, it kinda like that.

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AM: Your first two singles have been pretty summery. Will there be a darker element to any of the tracks in Your Twenties?

GS: I think it’s going to be quite a varied record. We’ve decided that we’re not going to have any tracks that are really down tempo or ballady. And it’s not that I don’t write those. But on your first album, I kinda want it to be, bam, bam, bam. There are a couple of songs that are shaping up to be, I guess, “bittersweet.” That’s a terribly, pretentious sounding word but it’s not all summer, sunshine. A lot of stuff is nostalgic sounding. You know the calm you get after a crazy night, that’s not necessarily down and depressed but reflective. There are a couple of tracks like that, which should fit nicely within the record so it’s not too gormless.

AM: So by the sounds of it the name Your Twenties is reflective of your music….

GS: In Metronomy, we played quite a few gigs with The Teenagers. That sort of gave me the name. I thought what comes next. I feel like that band really encapsulate what it’s like to be a teenager, you know, snogs behind the bike shed. They hit it on the head. With my twenties so far, everything has been a bit more complicated. I want the music and the lyrics to sum that up. I know that’s a massive statement but I want it to sort of fit that idea. There have been so many amazing points in my twenties and so many dead ends, feelings of exasperation and so many points of elation. The album is going to incorporate all of that. I don’t meet that many people that have been super successful in their twenties but when I do, I’m just like, ‘how do you manage that?’ My twenties have been anything but. It’s an album for people in their twenties that didn’t go into a career in banking.

AM: What else would you like to achieve in your twenties?

GS: I’d just like to get the record out. I’ve always been writing and thinking about the kind of music that I’d make if it was just me. I’ve spent the last few years with Metronomy and then before that in other bands that never really made it. And all the people I’ve been in bands with, have put out albums. So I just want to do that now. When I was 18 I made a pact with the lead singer of the band I was in, that we’d be as big as the Beatles. I remember it now, drinking cider… And gradually my sights have lowered and I just wanna get the record out, tour it, maybe play abroad and travel.

AM: You haven’t toured much yet, have you thought about how a tour would work?

GS: At the moment, because of the equipment we have, which isn’t very much, we’re playing it as a straight four piece indie format. But I guess we’re gonna bring in drum pads and electronic sounds. I suppose it’s a little bit early to start thinking about production but [with encouragement] why not? Video screens… why not one of those gang ways? I’ll run along it. Then there’ll be an acoustic set in the middle, like in the round. Then we ride an elephant like Take That. Ha ha ha.

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AM: Tell me about the video to Billionaires.

GS: It was case of timing and a case of something falling apart at the last minute. When you’ve got a band of four people and a video director who is going to work for little money outside of his normal production company. A lot of planets have to align. I was really deflated about it. I was on my own in the flat and it needed something. I am quite pleased with the product but I felt terribly unwell afterwards.

AM: It’s appropriate to what we were saying earlier with the powers of distribution….

GS: Yeah I didn’t really understand the Internet before I did that. I just stuck it up on the myspace and suddenly the next day… it was heartening. You don’t have to spend any money.

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Howies in Carnaby Street hosted a very cosy and exclusive “lecture” this week on the joys of knitting. The event was part of the Do lectures project – or a “Wee Do”, page a free event held in the shop where the audience were free to contribute their own thoughts and anecdotes about the topic.

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The crowd gathered on wooden stools to drink Eco Warrior beer and have a go at knitting a few mangled rows while Rachael Matthews and Louise Harries discussed their knitting vision, drug a blend of keeping the “make do and mend” spirit alive whilst finding new ways to source wool ethically and use it to make everything possible, from socks and gloves to building insulation. As it says in their newly-printed manifesto: “we believe in making old skills and new technologies work together in harmony”.

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As well as running Prick Your Finger, a haberdashery and knitting shop in Bethnal Green, Matthews and Harries are dedicated to helping people start, continue and finish their knitting, with classes and tuition available to help people finish projects they have begun but feel unable to complete. Common problems include endeavours which ended abruptly when the intended recipient died, or a relationship broke up.

Matthews mentioned something that rang very true: that knitting and crafts in general have a lot to do with love. After all, we no longer need to knit or sew clothes to wear, we can buy them ready-made from shops for sometimes ridiculously small amounts of money. When someone makes something for you, you know it’s because they care about you and they want to give you a gift that takes time and effort. If you’re making something for yourself, you know how much work went into it and you will never, ever throw it away! Handmade clothes are “slow fashion”; they take time to form and they end up being much better value because of how long they’ll last and how attached you’ll feel to them.

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According to the pair, knitting clubs have popped up all over the place since they first began their public knitting crusade in the 90s, gaining publicity by knitting in nightclubs and on the Circle Line. The craft has become popular again after a bleak few years and the audience for the lecture was a good mix of ages and genders. The lecture eventually turned into a general conversation and it emerged that everyone had a story to tell about knitting from within their family: which relative had taught them to knit, or made them something from scratch.

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Sadly, the years that have passed since my last knitting effort have not magically improved my abilities but I was very impressed with others’ attempts. I also thought about the many members of my family who knit, some of them to quite amazingly high standards, and how much they would like the wares of Prick Your Finger, which include painstakingly sourced wool including cashmere and the super-tough fibre used to make their shop sign.

Currently on show at the shop is a knitting venture that has travelled the world: a bench with a knitted cover, which was begun after a bench where older women congregated was replaced with bins by a local council.

There will be more in the Howies Wee Do series, so check their Brainfood feed for further events.
Amelia’s Magazine meets Ukrainian St Martins Fashion Design student Khrystyna Fomenko. St Martin’s is often celebrated for being a hotbed of creativity, mind a tradition Fomenko continues with her translation of French Military wear into casual clothing.

What made you decide to become a fashion designer?
When I was about seven I wanted to be an artist, symptoms but after watching a documentary about Ukrainian artists who were really poor, search I found the idea depressing. So I decided to be a designer and that’s all pretty much, since then I haven’t changed my mind.

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Do you design clothes with a specific kind of person in mind?
When I think about who might wear my clothes, I think of a quite androgynous character. I never really think of woman or man, I just think of something sexless.

How did you come up with the idea for your jumpsuit?

The initial idea for the design came from 18th Century French military jackets. I was wondering how I could translate these old designs, initially for men going to war, into a casual and slouchy look. Once I started relaxing the military silhouette, I started to design big and baggy jumpsuits, with those military shoulders decorated in fringes looking like they are sliding down the body. When it was completed, the garment became very urban and ‘street kid‘.

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Clothing is essentially functional. Garments are made to provide a shelter from rain, to be touched and worn. How often does your imagination affect the ‘wear ability’ of your designs?

It is interesting to do something that is totally costume like and theatrical, but I think a designer has to find a way of simplifying an idea into something someone can wear. When I’m imagining a garment and realise it’s too ambitious then I rethink it.
My recent design of a coat is quite a show piece. It has really raised shoulder lines and big shoulder pads, but I designed it in a way that allows the wearer to remove those parts, turning it into a practical version of the original.

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So would you say that comfort is something you consider a lot?

I don’t think that comfort is dominantly important when it comes to dressing, but personally I think it’s nice when you look at someone and you think that they look like they are relaxed, a kind of comfort that is more about confidence. I aspire to make things that are as wearable as high street clothing, but with as much complexity in detail as couture.

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How would you define style?

Style to me is to do with personal interpretation of clothes. I’ve been researching how real people wear their clothes, as opposed to people in fashion magazines who have a whole team of people styling them. Recently, I’ve been looking at how people dress in countries I haven’t been too. I found some images of a man living in Palestine wearing a Nike sports jacket over the top of a thobe, I thought it looked really good, not because it looked like he had purposely styled it that way but because it looked like it happened accidentally.

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Do other creative disciplines, such as fine art and architecture, inspire you?

I’m very inspired by the idea of the Art Brut, a term for a type of artist who paints and draws without having any formal historical or institutional references. I want to make something that looks effortless, like those people who look cool but obviously don’t care about fashion. They look so interesting even though it’s just something they have thrown on that day. It’s a natural quirkiness. Obviously, I cant do exactly that, as I need to plan and research how to make something that looks effortless. However, once my clothes are made, I want them to look like something that isn’t trying to look cool, its just incidentally cool.

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All photographs of the coat and bra are by Jack Soilleux
All photographs of the Jumpsuit are by Suki Sale

Categories ,Art Brute, ,fashion, ,jumpsuit, ,St Martins, ,undergraduate

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Amelia’s Magazine | Yuko Nasu

Monday 20th

Slow Club is a duo formed by Charles and Rebecca, this web buy information pills who both come from Sheffield. He does the singing and plays the guitar; she deals with the drums and all sorts of weird instruments, from bottles of water to wooden chairs. The result? You can go hear for yourself tonight at Barfly.
7pm. £5.

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Slow Club

Tuesday 21th

We Fell To Earth and special guests at the ICA theatre. Richard File (UNKLE) and PJ Harvey-ish singer/bassist Wendy Rae doing something that they call “sinister and kind of arousing rock music”.
8pm. £10.

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We Fell To Earth

Wednesday 22th
Vessels will be at Buffalo Bar this Wednesday launching “Retreat”, a collection of songs including a single, some remixes and an unreleased track by this Leeds five-piece.
8pm. £6.

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Vessels

Thursday 23th
Camera Obscura make a come back with “My Maudlin Career”, the band’s fourth studio album that is coming out today.
All their sweet freshness that you could feel from the first single out entitled “French Navy” will be performed on the stage of Shepherds Bush Empire next Thursday.
7pm. £13.50.

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Camera Obscura

Friday 24th

Je Suis Animal single launch party for the upcoming release ‘The Mystery of Marie Roget’ 7″ at The Victoria. Support comes from Betty and The Werewolves and Hong Kong In The 60s. People from Twee as F*** also promise free cupcakes for earlybirds so that is a Friday night out you can not miss.
9pm. £6/ 5 concessions.

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Je Suis Animal

Saturday 25th

The Camden Crawl Festival brings the best of Indie to town. Line up for Saturday looks like great performances will be on stage. The Maccabees, Little Boots, Marina And The Diamonds and The Golden Silvers are only a few to be named.
12pm. £32.50 (Saturday only).

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The Golden Silvers

Sunday 26th
Due to the Casiotone for the Painfully Alone‘s sell-out London show on 27th April, a new show has been added on Sunday 26th April – also at The Luminaire. Releasing their fifth album, Vs. Children, the band succeeded to make a record that feels just as warm and intimate as the first.
7:30pm. £8.50, adv £8.

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Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
On the cover of this CD, sickness Caroline Weeks appears to be a healthy, seek pink-skinned young woman. However, sildenafil fill your ears with her music, and you will be in no doubt that she is a ghost. And her clarinettist, too. Ghosts! Caroline has been to the other side, and seen things, and now wanders around my auditory cortex in a Victorian gown, lamenting the moment that life’s glories were cruelly wrenched from her grasp. Maybe Caroline drowned in a lake, or caught one of those Jane Austen chills, or fell under a horse, or was cuddled to death by an overaffectionate simple boy cousin. I can’t begin to imagine what happened to her polter-woodwindist. Probably choked on his reed.

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This is the spookiest music I have heard in a long time. She feels like a sister to SixToes, playing with similar moods, guitar work and larynx-trembling. But much spookier. I can’t help but think of Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice, a morbid teenager rejecting the world from her wilfully glum bedroom. So it’s not a huge surprise to discover that Caroline is also Ginger Lee, colleague of Natasha Khan in Bat For Lashes. Although you can actually dance to some of Natasha’s ditties, there is the moody, brooding moroseness there too. But while Bat For Lashes keeps this in the realm of relationships with sprinklings of dreamy visions, Caroline Weeks takes it to the pure Victorian pre-Pankhurst inner world of reflective femininity.
It turns out that all the lyrics are taken from the poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay, an early Twentieth Century American who was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Musically, it is very accomplished. Recorded quite simplistically, with a few dramatic reverb effects, the instrumentation has plenty of room to shine. The guitar gently drifts between dextrous, finger-picked, rhythmic regularity and airy pausing in a lovely, caressy, wavey kind of way. But it’s the tender voice that dominates, or haunts, the album. Caroline sings to you. It’s deeply personal, and unwavering in its humourless, sorrowful plea. And there is much depth of feeling and depth of lyric, which I cannot really do justice to here.
This is simply music to surrender to. Alone. Dim the lights, let the shadows fall across your soul and be utterly, utterly alone with the ghost of Caroline Weeks.

La Weeks is performing at The Good Ship in Kilburn on May 19.
Tuesday 21st April

2pm
Institute of Education?
20 Bedford Way, buy
?London WC1H 0AL?

“How to Educate Children in the UK About Sustainable Development”
discussion with Professor Randall Curren, more about Institute of Education. Info: fbrettell@ioe.ac.uk or call 020 7612 6000

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(Image courtesy of Lea Jaffy, email leajaffy_1@hotmail.com for further illustrations)

Wednesday 22nd April

“The Green Agenda: Are We Engaging The Consumer?”
9:30am

Dorich House Museum
67 Kingston Vale,
London SW15 3RN

The rise and rise of the green agenda is creating an ever increasing number of green initiatives, CSR projects, and local and national government proposals. Almost all organisations – both commercial and non commercial – want to establish their green credentials and communicate them to the consumer.
To explore these issues and to find new ways of engaging the customer, Kingston University has brought together a number of leading experts from a wide range of sectors – manufacturing, retailing, NGO’s, academics and a number of consultancies.
For full programme information and to book please go to http://business.kingston.ac.uk/flavor1.php?id=398.
Contact: Wendy Eatenton
?Tel: 020 8547 2000 ext. 65511
?Email: rm.rettie@kingston.ac.uk

“Can Developing Country Needs For Energy Be Met Without Causing Climate Change”

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(Image courtesy of Lea Jaffy, email leajaffy_1@hotmail.com for further illustrations)

1.00pm
Committee Room 14
Palace of Westminster, London
SW1A 2PW
Recent studies suggest a large potential for clean energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa; if fully implemented, they could provide more than twice the regions current installed power-generation capacity. It has been posited that Latin America has a comparative advantage in maximizing clean energy opportunities; energy consumption could be reduced by 10 percent over the next decade by investing in energy efficiency. This suggests that the adoption of clean energy technologies typically results in a “win:win” situation for developing countries: reducing costs and emissions.
But many developing countries have been failing to reach their full productive potential for years. Growth diagnostic studies in many developing countries regularly identify constraints such as lack of grid electricity and poor infrastructure. Typically, levels of investment in the electricity sector in developing countries are around 50 percent of needs. Credit constraints mean that the cheapest available options are often chosen as opposed to those that deliver environmental benefits. So can developing country needs for energy be met without causing climate change?  How can developing countries be incentivised to adopt cleaner energy? And what steps do developed countries need to take to facilitate this?

Professor Sir David King, Gordon MacKerron. Info: 7922 0300/ meetings@odi.org.uk/ ODI

Thursday 23rd April

“Financial Meltdown and The End of the Age of Greed”

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(Image courtesy of Aarron Taylor, www.aarrontaylor.com)

7pm
Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ
Info: 7479 8950
£10 Online booking now available
This event will be moderated by Michael Wilson, Business Editor of Sky News
Paul Mason talks about the ongoing financial crisis that has brough the global economy to the brink of depression. Gordon Brown hailed the result of deregulation as the ‘golden age’ of banking in the UK. Mason will give insights into how deregulation is at the heart of the collapse of the banking system in September and October 2008 and how it led to expanded subprime mortgage lending, an uncontrollable derivatives market, and the lethal fusion of banking and insurance.
http://www.frontlineclub.com/events/


Saturday 25th April

People’s Republic of Southwark April Mini Eco-Fair
People’s Republic of Southwark
Brandon Street/Orb Street
SE17

12.00pm – 4.00pm 
On Saturday 25th April, 12-4pm, People’s Republic of Southwark’s mini eco-fair goes all the way to SE17, to the Nursery Row Park http://www.nurseryrowpark.org/SaveNurseryRow/Welcome.html , a beautiful green space located just behind the East Street Market (between Brandon and Orb Street).?? We are hoping to have another great day out for everyone and some of the activities for the day are:?- mulching the orchard?- planting sunflower seeds?- making art?- a free shop (space where you can swap/give away/take things you need for free – bring easy-to-carry usable things you don’t need, ex clothes, dvds, books. and swap them for something you do need or simply give them away to someone who does; please don’t bring anything bulky or electrical)?- seed swap (get your window boxes, balconies, gardens ready for spring and summer)?- you can also find out about local environmental projects, issues and campaigns. ?Or just come along for a chat
Prepare to throw your sensibilities and all sense of conventionality out of the window! Why I hear you scream? Well, search this week sees Alternative Fashion Week bombard an unsuspecting Spitalfields in all its wonderful obscurity. Forget all the opulence of London Fashion Week; Alternative Fashion Week is going to assail you with raw, viagra buy un-censored Fashion Design.

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The event unlike London Fashion Week is open to everyone and free for the designers to participate. It will be running all this week from the 20th-24th of April at Spitalfields Traders Market. So get your skates on people and get on down for all the outlandish action. With 15 shows a day, it will see at least 10,000-hop foot through their doors. Applicants range from recent graduates to independent designers keen to establish themselves in the fashion sphere. The participants are an eclectic range of designers from a myriad of different fields from the theatre to circus, so be prepared for a vivacious show. In conjunction with the free daily shows, the event hosts an adjacent market from noon till three showcasing a whole treasure trove of accessories, Womenswear and textiles for us to feast upon.

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Here is a sneak peak at one of the accessory designers that will showcase her A/W collection at the event. Helen Rochfort’s innovative designs focus on all things delectable. Infact just glancing at her liquorice allsorts bag is enough to have me running to the nearest sweet shop for a fix. She describes her delectable designs as simply “ a sprinkling of vintage and a dusting of retro all whipping together with a kitsch twist of humour” So keep your eyes out for Rochfort’s designs, they are hard to miss!

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The event prides itself on its promotion of sustainable fashion, and actively supports recycling and ethical sourcing. It’s organizers are The Alternative Arts, a group based in East London that invests in local artists and projects in the community. Its overriding ethos is the importance of accessible fashion and art in the public domain.

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The event is a riot of creativity that questions our ideological view of fashion design; Alternative Fashion Week provides that vital foundation for applications to bridge the gap between them and the seemingly intimidating abyss of the fashion industry.

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So keep your eyes peeled as Amelia’s Magazine will be reporting from the front line this week to bring you all the zany fun and frolics!
Sometimes the stories for Amelia’s Magazine come to us. And this story is one of unimaginable corruption by one of the worlds largest companies, search aided by an equally unscrupulous government. While there will never be a happy ending to this tale, medicine there may be, tadalafil after many years of campaigning, justice finally delivered. I was emailed recently by a group called Remember Saro-Wiwa, asking if I would attend a talk entitled Wiwa Vs Shell at the Amnesty International House in London.

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I went along to the event, which was fully attended, and listened to what this case was about. In 1995, a man called Ken Saro-Wiwa, along with eight colleagues from the Ogoni region of Nigeria, was executed by the Nigerian State for campaigning against the devastation of the Niger Delta by oil companies, specifically Shell Oil. Thankfully, this is not where the story ends. On May 26th, 2009, after fourteen years, Shell will stand trial in New York for complicity in human rights abuses in Nigeria, including the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and his eight colleagues. The purpose of the evening was to highlight the case, and I listened in horror and disbelief to what has been happening in Nigeria. Having not known much about the unethical way that oil companies conduct their business – and the ways in which they silence their objectors – I could almost not comprehend what I was hearing. The panel speaking included Katie Redford, a U.S lawyer and co founder of EarthRights International, which, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights has filed the case against Shell.

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She discussed the upcoming trial, and included the seemingly never-ending charges which have finally been brought against them. As well as the charge of complicity in crimes against humanity, they are being charged with torture, arbitrary arrest and detainment. We learnt that this is a groundbreaking case – companies of this size do not usually find themselves in court for their actions – however reprehensible. If Shell are found liable, they could be forced to pay damages that could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.

We learnt about the situation between Ken Saro-Wiwa and Shell. From the time that Shell had started producing oil in the Delta in 1958, the local communities had been concerned about the levels of pollution, along with the gas flares which were coming from Shell’s production plant. Furthermore, drilling operations were routinely destroying farmers lands with oil spillage and rendering the lands unsuitable for use. When faced with such levels of devastation to their land (and health), it seems only natural that the communities would protest.

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Unfortunately for them, Shell and the Nigerian Government were not in the business of facilitating these protests; instead, Shell would employ the presence of the Mobile Police Force, who were also known as the “kill and go”police. At one such protest, the MPF massacred 80 people and destroyed around 500 homes. Saro-Wiwa, who had always been a prominent figure in the campaigns against Shell was arrested and charged under bogus offences – unlawful assembly and conspiring to publish a ‘seditious’ pamphlet. On November 10th, 1995, Saro-Wiwa, along with 8 others was executed.

Speaking at Amnesty International, Ben Amunwa, who was chairing the evening, used a quote from Milan Kundera to help surmise the subsequent fight to continue with Saro-Wiwa’s cause, and bring long awaited justice : “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting”. I spoke with one of the campaigners behind Remember Saro-Wiwa afterwards and asked how others can get involved. He told me that ” We’re currently in the process of developing a website and hopefully actions people can take as part of the shell guilty campaign, we hope to use viral films, the media and activist actions to generate loads of attention on Shell around the trial. At the moment it’s just about spreading awareness of the trial to warm people up for actions they can take further down the line.    

In the meantime we would encourage people join the facebook group. Our current aim is to get 1000 members. One way we are thinking about framing this call out is:

Take the 999 action:

9 Ogoni activists died for their cause
2009: the year their relatives must see justice and gas flaring in Nigeria must end
9: the number of your friends we urge you to invite to join this group.”

Everyone involved with this case will be eagerly awaiting the outcome of the trial in New York. After the panel had finished, I spoke with Katie Redford and asked her whether she felt positive about the outcome of this groundbreaking trial. She explained that while no one can predict whom the jury will side with, or what the outcome may be, the fact that a global and powerful company such as Shell will be finally held accountable for their actions in the Niger Delta demonstrates the power that non-violent protesters actually wield. Although it took twelve years to get to this stage, it seems like justice is finally being administered.
Born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, viagra buy living in Utrecht in Holland and half Spanish, online Maria Stijger is a fashion photographer who has recently sprung to my attention. Her style of surrealism mixes with vintage meets modern. Maria’s playful personality results in beautiful images which if nothing else are aesthetically striking.

Maria, link you’re images are beautifully created. How long have you been doing photography for?
I took my first photograph around the age of six and from then I always thought that it was a kind of magic. But I never picked it up seriously until I got out of high school, graduated from art school and after doing a lot of different things, including working as a photographer’s assistant. I started producing my own fashion stories about two years ago.

Is it true your work has been recognised by the Dutch publications of Elle and Marie Claire??
Yes, I’ve also had my work published in HMagazine (a magazine available in Barcelona) twice, and in professional and weekly magazines, newspapers, and once in a book about jewellery.

I really enjoyed the old fashioned-romantic-fairy tale-esc sequence of the photoshoot shown here:
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What is the story behind this?

Well, I always like to make little fantasy stories, you can make up your own just looking at the series and here I was looking for an old feeling, using the atmosphere of the space that I found one day when I visited a party in the building. It’s a big building in the eastern part of Holland used by squatters. The guy that runs the place has a fantastic store inside it, where he sells all kinds of beautiful things he finds in old houses he restores. It is about a girl who is lost in time; she lives in a world of her own, surrounded by all this old stuff. She is a little bit weird, but happy and enjoying herself. She puts on shoes that are too big, plays with old porcelain dolls and likes funny hats. There is no story with a beginning and an end, but I like to make more images in my head, fantasize about what she does. I hope that others will do this too!

Do you prefer to work to a specific brief in your work?
No, in my personal work I really like to brainstorm in advance and come up with a lot of ideas, pick out the best and look for the right location, model and the stylist brings the clothes and things and we make our own décor if possible. But on the day of the shoot, I want to just let it all go and go with the flow of the day, see what comes on my path and switch if something doesn’t work. I like it when the whole team participates and gets excited and understands the feeling that I try to create and comes up with good ideas and then there is a buzz that I cannot describe…

Quite a lot of your work I found reflected some surrealism, would you say you have a specific style of photography, or does it vary?
I really love the Latin American magic realism and I try to use this in all my personal work as much as possible. I love surrealism, theatre and movies, things that are old. I love to mix it with modern age and fashion. I try to do this as often as I can, especially in my personal work, sometimes I like to go a little bit further than my commissioners want, so in the end my work varies quite a lot. But I like to show them that side as well so I always take some shots that link to this theme and sometimes they love it too!

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Can you explain the series of gloves images?

This was a great series to make! We had so much fun! We wanted to do something with beautiful gloves, but not in a studio or with a model. So I came up with this idea to make animal shapes, shadow play. I have a very old magic lantern (Lanterna Magica) that gives this great old feeling because of the dust and the frame. So this was the perfect combination mixing the old with the new fashion. We sold this particular series to (Dutch) Elle magazine.

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Who would you say influences and inspires you?
A lot! Things like literature, art, music, European film, but not specifically one person. There are so many great and diverse people that I love for what they do, I couldn’t point out just one.

Can you see a progression or a change in your work from when you first started to now?
Yes. In the beginning I only concentrated on landscapes and snapshots of people. Now I love to make stories using fashion. I’d say it’s a big change, and I guess it will never stop changing. I like to move around and experiment.

Do you have a muse?
No not really, I value my boyfriend’s opinion a lot. So in that sense I guess it’s him!

What do you do in your spare time?
At the moment I am expecting our first child, so my extra activities are not so exciting ha-ha. But I love going to the woods, going out with friends and listening to music. I also love to make sweet little stuffed monsters, exploring other realms of creativity! Most of my time is for photography though. And my family is very important too.

When you were younger, what did you wish to be when you grew up?
Ha-ha, first I wanted to be a dentist, but I loved arts and crafts and drawing so much, that I discovered that this was “my thing”. Although my parents were scared that I’d drown in the competition and of course it is more difficult for an artist to make a good living, I knew that there was no other option for me. I get bored quite easily, so I need to occupy myself doing creative things with other creative and inspiring people.

Thanks Maria, and good luck with the bun in the oven!

You can view Marias work at here.
And contact her here.
Happy Earth Day, here Amelia’s Magazine readers!

April 22nd is Earth Day (mainly for America, but we can still take part in celebrating it – it is everyones Earth after all!) If you are in America, then check out http://earthday.net/all_events to see what is going on around your neck of the woods.

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Images courtesy of Sachiko, http://www.loveandhatesati.com/

Perhaps this is fortuitous timing because this is also quite an interesting day in terms of the Government 2009 Budget. Hands up who was watching the budget today? I can understand if lazing around in the sun took top priority, so leave it to me to fill you in on the important facts.

Namely, that this is the first year that a carbon budget has been announced. Alistair Darling announced £1 billion will go towards funds to tackle climate change. This budget aims to cut 34% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. £375 million has been promised over the next two years for energy and resource efficiency in households, businesses and public buildings. £70 million will also be spent on small-scale and community low carbon energy and resource efficiency. With regards to fuel duty, increases in the duty are aimed to reduce emissions and pollution, saving 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2013-14.

Andy Atkins, executive director at Friends of the Earth spoke to The Guardian, and said that he was disappointed by the budget, adding
“The Government has squandered a historic opportunity to kickstart a green industrial revolution, create tens of thousands of jobs and slash UK carbon dioxide emissions. The green sheen on this year’s budget will do little to disguise the fact that yet again the government has merely applied a sticking plaster to a low-carbon industry on life support.”

So, do you think that the Government are doing enough to tackle climate change? Let us know what you think of the new budget at hello@ameliasmagazine.com

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Image courtesy of Sachiko, http://www.loveandhatesati.com/
Sort of initiating the summer festivals around the area, information pills Stag & Dagger takes place next month bringing zillions of awesome groups to the city. Oh come on, order like you haven`t seen thousands of flyers and posters all over the city? Here in East London they are everywhere!

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The event actually happens in one single day and with one ticket you can have access to all the gigs (yes, I said all the gigs).
London is the first one and then Stag goes for a short roadtrip taking everybody to Leeds and Glasgow on the consecutive days.

The line up for London is particularly fantastic, with over 140 names distributed in 21 venues such as Cargo, 93 Feet East and Hoxton Bar & Kitchen.

I, as a proud Brazilian, am super excited to see Lovefoxxx, who is currently taking a well deserved break from CSS after a massive success last year, but will be having a solo performance at Catch.

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Lovefoxxx

There is also Cold War Kids, our dearest Slow Club, Wet Dog, My Toys Like Me, Moshi Moshi and plus an endless list of musical geniuses.

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Slow Club

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My Toys Like Me

Many many many gigs and venues to be able to organize yourself and enjoy it all in one day only. Super difficult task, isn`t it?
Since the list is huge, I suggest you go check their website for the complete offer. Can you believe there is still more people to be announced? Man, there is no end to it.
And have I said how much does the pass cost? Freaking £16.50! Ridiculously cheap.
I still have no idea on how I`ll choose the gigs to go. At first I thought about making a list of pros and cons for each of the bands. Yeah right. Better start now …
Here at Amelia’s Magazine we are always bounding up and down in excitement whenever we unearth a designer that is striving to take care of mother earth along with creating delectable pieces for all us avid fashionistas! Our latest find Ada Zanditon ticks all our boxes, sildenafil hoorah!

At the forefront of her field, buy more about Zanditon is raising the flag for innovative ethical fashion design. Injecting a healthy dose of cool into eco-fashion Zanditon’s ethos is clear, elegant, pioneering and experimental designs that challenge the conventionality and boundaries of sustainable design.

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Zanditon brings a new dimension to haute couture, a area that has not been widely broached in ecological design. Her collections are an eccentric tour de force venturing through medieval volumitous silhouettes to theatrical ruffles, all in a subdued palette of neutral blacks to muted greys and teals. Her collections convey a journey and have a real sense of fluidity. Her latest A/W collection is no exception, inspired by the literary novel Soil and Soul by Alastair Mc Intosh the book charts an ecological journey to prevent mass construction in cherished lands in Ireland. The collection subsequently has a distinctly celtic feel that is entrenched by Zanditon’s interest in Irish mythology, the collection utlises a range of prints custom designed and woven by Ada. Aswell as working in Fashion Design she also works as a Ilustrator.

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Zanditon has been shrouded with accolades, having excelled though university, with a first at London College of Fashion in Womenswear Design in 2007. She then went on to cause waves in the fashion sphere, winning an award for most creative collection at her debut at The Ethical Fashion Show in Paris in October 2008. Zanditon’s success has grown in momentum ever since and has went on to collaborate with Gareth Pugh on his pattern designs and to create a capsule collection for Oxfam out of re constructed recycled clothing.

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1. Tell me a little bit about yourself Ada?

I created my ethical and sustainable womenswear business in March 2008. I have exhibited at London Fashion Week as part of Estethica (Feb09) and at Ethical Fashion Show in Paris (oct08) where I won an award for most creative collection which includes the prize of fabric sponsorship from CELC masters of linen. I also make multimedia illustrations which have recently been exhibited in a show in Moscow alongside the work of Mark Le Bon.

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2. Your work has a environmental ethos, what inspired this?

A friend wrote her final year thesis about the environmental impact of fashion and much of the information really surprised me because it was not something I had considered in depth before although I had always been interested in Green issues since childhood. I then attended an event organised by anti apathy at which Katharine Hamnett spoke about her work in the sector of organic cotton and what it meant to her as a designer. The environmental impact of any product starts with the designer and their choices. I don’t feel limited by choosing this as a path, I feel it is a great opportunity for me as a designer to create things that I not only perform aesthetically and functionally but which I can believe in having real value to people and planet.

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3. Do you think enough is being done within the fashion sphere to promote sustainable fashion design?

It depends on the definition of enough, its a lot better than it used to be, in fact there have been weeks and months when you cannot open a magazine or a paper without there being something on sustainable design but of course there can always be more. For me it will never be enough until it is no longer necessary to promote something as sustainable because it is expected both by the designer, the buyer and the consumer that it should be designed sustainably. However I think that we have come a long way even in the last five years and I really admire and respect the hard work of the label from somewhere not only for their brand but also for putting so much passion into creating and sustaining Estethica.

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4.Do you have any advice for inspiring eco- designers?

Think of yourself first as a designer , i.e think that anything is possible and then really research and consider your concepts. Look also at what is available close to you, in your town, your country. Local is a huge part of living more sustainably.
Personally for me I am happiest when people look at my work, exclaim how much they like it and then look confused and say “but how is this eco?” because it doesn’t look like their perception of what eco friendly clothing looks like. People will adopt more sustainable life styles either through neccesity or desire. Neccesity usually comes after catastrophe so I prefer desire.

5. What do you use as a main stimulus when your designing?

A concept. I chase after something that is illusory. Its a tyeing together of different strands, its not exactly story telling but it’s got similarities. The images can be anything but the structure to my working process comes from a fascination with an idea. Or that is at least one half. The other half is people, muses, personalities and I have to say I dress very differently to the clothes I design. I think this is because I want to design clothes that have elegance, strength and allow a women to express being sexy and intelligent at the same time. I am a tom boy personally! If I had my way I would just wear jeans ,
leggings and t shirts all the time….

6. Your also an illustrator as well as a designer, does your art work inter breed into your fashion work?

Absolutely. For my aw 09 collection drew the art work that I had woven by Vanners as a silk jacquard. For my graduate collection I created prints inspired by Mayan glyphs and space travel that were digitally printed onto Silk Jersey. I also create prints for various other labels. My silhouettes and shapes in my collection also influence the shape and look of some of my
illustrations.

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7. Your illustrations have a distinctly multi-media feel, take me through your working processes?

Its quite mysterious sometimes even to me….. I start by drawing usually directly with fineliners. I might not have anything particular in mind… or just one or two images of the subject if there is one. These are usually very different to the thing I am drawing itself which often comes more from my mind’s eye. I sketch a lot from life of objects and people but hardly ever make studies that connect the sketches to the illustration. I think this is because I remember and imagine 3 dimensional imagery/objects much more than words. Then I continue via creating texture through photography and painting. All of this gets scanned in, and then a lot of photoshop and illustrator later…… and I arrive at a point where I think the balance is just right between the image I have by now an idea of and chaos. Like the clothing I think its quite an organic process.

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So keep your eyes peeled for Ada Zanditon, with fans such as Patrick Wolf I have an inkling we haven’t heard the last from this talented lady.
The UK is more than a little obsessed with celebrity. But what if you’d just dropped out of the sky, visit this site say, and had no idea who these faces were that ignite people’s collectively salivating curiosities. Better yet how would you paint them? For artist Yuko Nasu that scenario isn’t far off. When she first arrived in London from Japan four years ago, she had no idea who these revered celebrities were. In fact to her, they were just as anonymous as she felt she was in her new environment.
Coming face to face with one of Yuko’s “Imaginary Portraits” your subconscious goes into overdrive trying to place the face until you realize abruptly that you’ve been staring, hard. The portraits’ fluidity and the simple strokes of vivid color are utterly mesmerizing and has recently earned her a second successful solo exhibit, “John Doe” this time at The Arts Gallery

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Although she didn’t watch much TV at first, like so many of us Yuko picked through the gossip mags and short papers on the commute home and became intrigued by the recurring faces of media personalities. As she points out “To someone else they’re special but to me they’re no one, an unknown.” That unique experience informs her perspective and reflects a culture with an often grotesquely overdeveloped interest with celebrity. In an amusing twist of fate, one of her ambiguous paintings of Kate Moss was scooped up by the model-mum’s beau Jamie Hince. It seems familiar faces can be distilled into even the barest of essentials and still be recognized.

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After completing her MA in Fine Art at St.Martins she went on to Global Arts Practice at Chelsea College continuing her series of adjoining portraits, based on the horizontal roll call of tv personalities in the back section of the papers. When questioned about the arrangement she says, “They’re like playing scales on an instrument.” There certainly is a meditative repetition to her method. A training of the subconscious so that you can suspend the cerebral part of your mind when you work, letting it flow. Not sure which happened first Yuko explains that at some point she began to take more risks with her portraits, challenging herself and gaining confidence from the results. Although she’s still quite anxious about viewer’s responses.

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Yuko reached a turning point when, after trying unsuccessfully to denote features, she splashed some turpentine on the surface to erase or as she says “delete” the face. She feels her work began to develop a more cartoony quality, a genderless but still identifiable face.

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She started allowing the accidents to happen, as she says “like a river to flow”. The river analogy brings me quickly to the topic of shodo or Japanese calligraphy, also closely linked to Buddhism and meditation. At the heart of shodo are three strokes, “tome-hane-harai” or stop-jump-sweep. The gestural quality of Yuko’s pieces and the absence of belabored heaviness are evidence of her enviable sensitivity to the freedom and balance in her work. She makes no drafts but dives into the paintings without preconception, feeling that “It would make them boring”, opting instead to simply create more paintings and have a wider selection to chose from at the end.

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The speed at which she paints depends on the surface she’s trying to create and her paintings can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a month to complete. “If I realize I’ve made a mistake, I’ll delete everything and sometimes turn the painting upside down and start again.” Not surprisingly her influences are Francis Bacon for the dynamism and strength of his images. Dutch artist Marlene Dumas’ for the tonality and passionate energy they emit and Mari Sunna’swork for its intimacy and its dark earthy browns and red.

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Yuko prefers to work in oils because “the colors are more beautiful and acrylic is too plastic, has no depth.” Cringing at the price though she admits when she first arrived in the UK “The only oil paints I had were a box of damaged/defective paints given to me by Mr. Hayakawa, vice-president of Japanese paint manufacturer Kusakabe, who’d come to my show in Ginza Tokyo.” Yuko has certainly put some distance between then and now with awards for being one of St.Martins brightest stars, her work appearing in French Elle, Vogue and an interview in Art World Magazine. Yuko Nasu’s paintings elegantly address the issue of displacement and identity, especially anonymity. The motion and speed in her images is a reflection of the way we live our lives, where details may be blurred but hey, we get the idea. Keep a sharp eye out for this one!

A serious look at developing countries role in climate change needs a serious location, and and the talk that I attended yesterday entitled “Can Developing Country Needs For Energy Be Met Without Causing Climate Change?” was held at The Houses of Parliament. Running late as usual, web I raced through the streets of Westminster, purchase which was actually quite difficult to do as there was a huge police presence and a protest taking place (I believe it was a Stop The War group). By now, I have become used to finding myself in the middle of a busy, noisy protest with police helicopters flying overhead, and I was briefly tempted to throw myself into the mix, but remembered that I had a prior engagement, so I hot-footed it over to Parliament.

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(Image courtesy of Lea Jaffy, lea_jaffy1@hotmail.com)

The room was steeped in solemn grandeur. I took a seat, and surveyed the room and its inhabitants. Naturally, I was the only red faced and breathless one from running through the halls of Parliament. The talk began by Professor Gordon MacKerron, Director of SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research ) at the University of Sussex, and was followed by Sir David King, who at one point was a Government adviser and now chairs the Smith School of Enterprise and The Environment at Oxford University, a think tank that is pioneering ways in which to tackle the issues of climate change.

The talk started off in a relatively light note, with Prof Mackerron saying that perhaps the element of emergency over the situation of climate change has not been taken seriously enough due to the fact that many think of it as global warming; and have connotations of “warmer summers and vineyards sprouting up in England”. The reality, he assured us, was rising sea levels, melting ice caps and unpredictable weather systems, not the ability to have more barbeques in the back garden. Sir David King asserted that “now is the time to put radical ideas on the table to sweep away the molasses that we are wading through as we tackle climate change”.

Professor Mackerron went on to explain that the term “developing countries” has different groups; one would be the lowest income countries, which mostly include the countries, which are to be found around the equator, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Statistics have shown that they are only responsible for an extremely small proportion of all Greenhouse Gas Emissions, so the quick answer to the events headline question is that if their energy needs are met, it will not significantly affect climate change. The issues with the other countries are slightly more complex. Continents such as India and China are most likely to be affected by climate change, and are also the least resilient to the impact. However, they are also making huge economic growth, and burning a great deal of coal – just under half the world’s amount. I was surprised to hear that both India’s, and China’s Governments are keen to embrace low carbon technologies, especially wind and nuclear power. China has pledged to improve energy efficiency by 205 by 2020. Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister says that he wants to have a ‘low carbon footprint’. However, it is difficult to see how this is realistically going to happen exactly because of the rates of their economic growth – Professor MacKerron explained that “in order for China to play its part in a global mitigation effort, it would need to reach an emissions peak between 2020, and 2030″. And they show no signs of slowing down now.

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(Image courtesy of Kerry Lemon)

Sir David King spoke about Brazil, and what it can do to reduce its carbon footprint – in fact, he said that there was only one thing that it could do – stop deforestation. Sir King had met with Brazil’s President, Luiz Da Silva and told him this. He found the response as unexpected as we did – that the President announced, “By 2025 we will stop all deforestation”. This is a curious thing to say, he felt especially because so much of Brazil’s business is done as a result of deforestation.

Sir King also talked about ideas for alternative energy that are currently being investigated. I couldn’t quite comprehend one method; which appears to be extremely viable – and that is the technology that Holland and Norway have developed which harnesses energy from salinity power plants. It sounds unbelievable, but scientists and engineers are planning to use the difference between saltwater and fresh water found at river mouths to generate electrical power. Not being much of a scientist I decided that I would research it further when I got back, and while I still don’t quite understand how it works, the fact is that it could generate a large percentage of a countries power needs. As the board summarized in closing, with regards to climate change; “we have the tools, but no one yet is picking them up in the proper way.” We can only hope that technologies such as the above will be championed and funded so that they do become the tools that we work with to save our planet.
The UK is more than a little obsessed with celebrity. But what if you’d just dropped out of the sky, clinic say, and had no idea who these faces were that ignite people’s collectively salivating curiosities. Better yet how would you paint them? For artist Yuko Nasu that scenario isn’t far off. When she first arrived in London from Japan four years ago, she had no idea who these revered celebrities were. In fact to her, they were just as anonymous as she felt she was in her new environment.
Coming face to face with one of Yuko’s “Imaginary Portraits” your subconscious goes into overdrive trying to place the face until you realize abruptly that you’ve been staring, hard. The portraits’ fluidity and the simple strokes of vivid color are utterly mesmerizing and has recently earned her a second successful solo exhibit, “John Doe” this time at The Arts Gallery

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Although she didn’t watch much TV at first, like so many of us Yuko picked through the gossip mags and short papers on the commute home and became intrigued by the recurring faces of media personalities. As she points out “To someone else they’re special but to me they’re no one, an unknown.” That unique experience informs her perspective and reflects a culture with an often grotesquely overdeveloped interest with celebrity. In an amusing twist of fate, one of her ambiguous paintings of Kate Moss was scooped up by the model-mum’s beau Jamie Hince. It seems familiar faces can be distilled into even the barest of essentials and still be recognized.

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After completing her MA in Fine Art at St.Martins she went on to Global Arts Practice at Chelsea College continuing her series of adjoining portraits, based on the horizontal roll call of tv personalities in the back section of the papers. When questioned about the arrangement she says, “They’re like playing scales on an instrument.” There certainly is a meditative repetition to her method. A training of the subconscious so that you can suspend the cerebral part of your mind when you work, letting it flow. Not sure which happened first Yuko explains that at some point she began to take more risks with her portraits, challenging herself and gaining confidence from the results. Although she’s still quite anxious about viewer’s responses.

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Yuko reached a turning point when, after trying unsuccessfully to denote features, she splashed some turpentine on the surface to erase or as she says “delete” the face. She feels her work began to develop a more cartoony quality, a genderless but still identifiable face.

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She started allowing the accidents to happen, as she says “like a river to flow”. The river analogy brings me quickly to the topic of shodo or Japanese calligraphy, also closely linked to Buddhism and meditation. At the heart of shodo are three strokes, “tome-hane-harai” or stop-jump-sweep. The gestural quality of Yuko’s pieces and the absence of belabored heaviness are evidence of her enviable sensitivity to the freedom and balance in her work. She makes no drafts but dives into the paintings without preconception, feeling that “It would make them boring”, opting instead to simply create more paintings and have a wider selection to chose from at the end.

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The speed at which she paints depends on the surface she’s trying to create and her paintings can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a month to complete. “If I realize I’ve made a mistake, I’ll delete everything and sometimes turn the painting upside down and start again.” Not surprisingly her influences are Francis Bacon for the dynamism and strength of his images. Dutch artist Marlene Dumas’ for the tonality and passionate energy they emit and Mari Sunna’swork for its intimacy and its dark earthy browns and red.

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Yuko prefers to work in oils because “the colors are more beautiful and acrylic is too plastic, has no depth.” Cringing at the price though she admits when she first arrived in the UK “The only oil paints I had were a box of damaged/defective paints given to me by Mr. Hayakawa, vice-president of Japanese paint manufacturer Kusakabe, who’d come to my show in Ginza Tokyo.” Yuko has certainly put some distance between then and now with awards for being one of St.Martins brightest stars, her work appearing in French Elle, Vogue and an interview in Art World Magazine. Yuko Nasu’s paintings elegantly address the issue of displacement and identity, especially anonymity. The motion and speed in her images is a reflection of the way we live our lives, where details may be blurred but hey, we get the idea. Keep a sharp eye out for this one!

Categories ,Chelsea College, ,Japanese, ,John Davies Gallery, ,Kate Moss, ,Painter, ,Portrait, ,Shodo, ,St.Martins, ,Yuko Nasu

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Caitlin Gardiner: Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion featured artist.

Caitlin Gardiner Rabbit
Caitlin Gardiner has made a fabulous image for Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion that works the whole way across a double page. She tells us more about life as a graduate and her upcoming exhibition…

Caitlin Gardiner Studio
You recently graduated from the University of Lincoln, how has Cygnet INK helped you get your work seen professionally?
Cygnet Ink has been great! When trying to raise funds in order to take us to New Designers they organised stalls at craft fairs and printed postcards with all of our work on which raise a tonne of money. At these fairs we also had raffles or auctions for framed pieces of our work and they were instrumental in organising the printing of our graduate book ‘Twenty Fifteen’. Each person on our course was assigned an era of history to illustrate which then came together for the book. This was my first experience really of the professional illustration world, and I loved it. I designed our cover and and all the ‘Twenty Fifteen’ graphics as well as my page so it was great to have the experience of going back and forth with Cygnet INK for feedback. They then sold our book and sent it to prospective clients and agents to advertise our students. Since then they have run a number of exhibitions and fairs to promote the students of Lincoln. I contributed to both parts 1 & 2 of the ‘Twisted Tales’ exhibitions held in Lincoln and Nottingham and now to ‘The Wild Wood’ exhibition.

Caitlin Gardiner Moonflower
Since your return home how have you found jobs, and what have been the most fun things you have worked on?
So I’m back in sleepy Bedfordshire and it turns out that illustration isn’t the easiest profession to get into… who knew?! Throughout the summer I was mainly working up a decent portfolio an developing a good working practice without being a student. That being said I’ve had some real fun jobs come my way. An exciting one I have at the moment is for the theatre review blog, ‘Scatter of Opinion’, involving some fun characters and patterns. The blog is written by one of my oldest friends and she’s given me real freedom to have fun and go mad with it so that’s been great. Unfortunately, I live in the sticks where there isn’t a huge art scene so I am going to have to start relying more now on travelling and an increased internet presence to get my work out there – but at least the environment provides great inspiration for my work.

Caitlin Gardiner Fish
What kind of graphic design work supplements your illustration?
Recently I’ve been doing small bits of graphic design work alongside my illustration practice. I’ve done a few invites, table plans etc for parties. My favourite was a Sports Personality of the Year themed party where everything looked like it was painted on grass. It’s been great to learn a completely new skill but tedious when you realise, for example, that you can simply make your own hand drawn fonts in seconds online just after you’ve individually lettered 200 or so names on Photoshop to get the ‘handwritten look’!

Caitlin Gardiner Fish
What inspired your colouring book image of fishes trapped, and escaping, from a net?
I knew for this colouring brief that I wanted to create a complex image and had been sorting out and backing up some old work at the time. I discovered a gouache painting I had done at university and just started doodling some similar fish and realised I could make something new and more narrative from the drawings. I wanted to explore the idea of freedom but keep it fun and fresh by using the comical looking fish. It was as simple as that: I loved designing and creating the image and thought that it would be great fun to colour!

Caitlin Gardiner Night time
How did you create your image?
I used Photoshop as I am trying to keep improving and developing my digital skills as I have always worked in traditional medias. I’ve really enjoyed mixing traditional and digital mediums together to create new pieces. In every piece of digital work I create I will include scanned papers, textures drawings and all sorts. I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist so I’ve been trying to quicken my design process to loosen up my style somewhat and I think this been quite successful. I drew hundreds of fish individually and complied them together in Photoshop using a design I had already roughly worked up. For the left hand side I used Photoshop to colour each fish individually and the boat and background and then layered this on top of a sugar paper texture background.

Caitlin Gardiner Fern
What kind of studio environment suits you best when you are working?
Once I get into a piece I will be completely focused and have been known to work until 6 in the morning as I don’t realise the time! However, often I find I am very easily distracted at the start of a project. Our studio at university had a designated working space for the third years so when there weren’t taught sessions this was ideal, there was a quiet place to just stick your head down and draw all those ideas that popped into my brain. On the other hand I love to be able to watch television or listen to an audiobook as I work; I’ve found that if I listen to music I can just wander off and I haven’t really missed anything, but if there is a story going on then I can’t miss any of it as then the whole plot will get confused. I generally only watch TV shows or films I’ve seen before as then I’m just listening to it really rather than having my eyes glued to screen, I probably know ‘Friends’ off by heart now! I think this is why my current home studio (a desk in my bedroom) is working pretty well, I can go and get a cuppa when I want but also have ‘The Office’ (US) playing out loud keeping me in my chair!

Caitlin Gardiner Bowie
How do you inject an element of fun into your drawings?
I really enjoy including hidden jokes or items in many pieces of my work – there are a few of these in my colouring page, I thought this would be extra fun for the reader to find them when colouring in. If the illustration I am working on allows for it I usually like to add a little something to make you giggle if you look closer, whether it be an ironic t-shirt slogan, a little bird pooping or even just an expression on a character’s face.

Caitlin Gardiner Dragonfly
What have you produced for the upcoming Wild Wood exhibition?
My work has recently become increasingly inspired by nature and more specifically the British countryside. I have just finished a piece for ‘The Wild Wood’ at Gallery at St. Martins in Lincoln run by Cygnet INK. For this piece I was inspired by the seasons and decided to explore what one branch or tree could look like throughout an entire year. I aimed to make it look like one image at first glance then upon looking closer, you can see the four seasons represented evenly.

Caitlin Gardiner Heart
Can you tell us more about your plans to sell products?
At the moment I’m working on a range of products to sell online and at craft markets. I’m printing some stuff professionally but I’m most excited about the handprinted bags, materials and wrapping paper that I have planned. I’ve made some hand carved stamps stamps that I’ve handprinted and collaged a handful of cat cards to start my shop (CaitlinGardiner on Etsy) off whilst I get other products printed and designed. I’m very excited about this and have loads of ideas buzzing around just waiting to be made and sold to some lovely customers!

Find Caitlin Gardiner‘s art in Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion funding on Kickstarter NOW – grab an Early Bird copy for Christmas at a discount price before they all go..

Categories ,#ameliasccc, ,Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion, ,Bedfordshire, ,Caitlin Gardiner, ,Cygnet Ink, ,Early Bird, ,etsy, ,Kickstarter, ,Lincoln, ,New Designers, ,Scatter of Opinion, ,St Martins, ,The Wild Wood, ,Twenty Fifteen, ,Twisted Tales

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