I had the pleasure of meeting Hyo Myoung Kim several years ago, as he and my husband were once students of photography together in London. Even then his work had a heavy lean toward the digital, but it’s been incredible to see his art evolve over time, focusing even more heavily on digital mediums and a fascination with color. One of his most simple-looking pieces, 1001 Nights, is actually 1001 night photographs superimposed together, blending to create one single image. On the more detailed end of things you have collections like Fingered and Nightmare for Malevitch 36000, which remind me of the beautiful digital chaos that designers like Basso & Brooke are so famous for.
We asked Hyo Myoung if he would spare a few minutes to open up with us by answering the six questions we like to ask artists, and he graciously complied. Check out our interview with him below, and be sure to head over to his portfolio to a ton of other work, including this gem just for any literary nerds out there.
Aaryn West: Where do you like to find inspiration?
Hyo Myoung Kim: Looking at a lot of images in relation to the work I am making, e.g., Google image search results.
AW: Describe your style in three words.
HMK: Repetition, difference and randomness.
AW: Do you have a favorite medium or theme you like to follow within your personal work?
HMK: Instead of flying cars and manned space exploration, I only see iterations of the future as possible outcomes of the proverbial dices thrown by the networked reality, structured by the internet, based on the building blocks of text, image, video and sound. This is in the back of my mind.
AW: If you could choose any designer or artist to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
HMK: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor, the directors of the Crank series and Gamer. There is so much care-free visual energy in their films. The clash of their style and my style would create something more nauseatingly energetic.
AW: What do you like to do to unwind when you need a break from work?
HMK: Walk by the stream near home, away from the computer. {map provided!}
AW: If you won the lottery today, would your job, your art, or the process you use change in any way?
HMK: This question gives me instant thoughts on a shopping list for a larger-scale art production:
– Thompson’s Viper FilmStream Camera ($170,000)
Michael Mann used this Digital HD camera to shoot Miami Vice. It has very good low light performance. It changed the shooting habit for low light action.
– Render farm for 3D rendering (Approx. $100,000 worth of equipment to start with)
Rendering on one computer takes days and weeks. I want instant render results for rapid production.
– Space for render farm computers (Varies: $200,000)
I wouldn’t want to stay near the hot and noisy computers.
– Very good all-round programmer/software engineer (Salary: $50,000)
This person will make my ideas happen, and I won’t have to search for solutions online.
– Color 3D printer (something like ZPrinter 850. $ 50,000?)
Go all out, print 3D things.
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If you follow the world of up and coming surface designers, our next artist will likely be no stranger to you. Perhaps you discovered Nikki Strange the way I did, in this feature of her on Pattern People’s phenomenal blog. She’s an independent designer based out of the UK, with quite an impressive resume for being a relatively recent graduate. I became an immediate admirer of her ethereal, cotton-candyesque prints, and wasn’t surprised to learn of her multiple wins in Beta Fashion‘s online print competitions, most notably the Asos/Beta Fashion Freedom Project. Her dreamy, opalescent prints are perfect for the flowy, feminine garments in the collection.
And of course I was thrilled to discover her profile on one of my favorite artist networks, Society6. I am kind of flipping out over her Gem Pop print; it’s just so shiny! I think I need it on my phone. [Good thing I have a birthday in a few months..] After reading her answers to our interview below, be sure to check out Nikki’s awesome blog, and more of her work here. And if you dig it the way we do here at Aaryn West, send her a nice note via twitter.
Aaryn West: Where do you like to find inspiration?
Nikki Strange: Inspiration is everywhere! I spend a lot of time routing through nature books, looking for colour palettes and interesting obscure textures; from intricate glacier formations to mark makings found on mineral rocks and coral beds. I take pictures of anything that catches my eye as there are prints and patterns just about everywhere and the smallest thing can really trigger big ideas.
AW: Describe your style in three words.
NS: Fluid, delicate, whimsical.
AW: Do you have a favorite medium or theme you like to follow within your personal work?
NS: My love of impressionist artists such as the greats, Monet and Renoir, has influenced my work as my style is often painterly and delicate. It’s also often abstract as I love creating energetic, sporadic mark markings and movement through my prints. Paints, inks & fine liners are the main mediums I use, though I like to experiment with photography and vectors as a means of combining hand drawings with digital art. At the moment I’m trying not to obtain too many habits and routines with designing as I feel I should always be pushing different mediums and combining new styles and techniques so that I’m always learning.
AW: If you could choose any designer or artist to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
NS: I’d love to collaborate with the design duo Basso & Brooke. I’ve worked backstage at a few of their London fashion shows and I’ve always been breathtaken with just how beautifully detailed their digital prints are. They both seem like fun guys to work with and they could certainly teach me a thing or two about pushing boundaries.
AW: What do you like to do to unwind when you need a break from work?
NS: I take my dog for a walk! My garden backs out onto a large common land so if I ever need a breath of fresh air and a few moments away from the computer I go out into the woods and have a little adventure.
AW: If you won the lottery today, would your job, your art, or the process you use change in any way?
NS: Winning the lottery would certainly make things a lot easier! Initially, I would ensure my studio had everything I could possible dream of so that I would be constantly inspired and motivated in my own little haven. I’d also invest in machinery and printing equipment so that I could set up my own business and start printing my designs independently and perhaps invest in a fashion designer to collaborate with as that is something I’d love to be able to do!
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Nearly two years ago I had the pleasure of crossing paths with the next artist in our interview series, the talented Esther Kim. Although she would never tell you this, she’s a bit of an international superstar… Born in Los Angeles, she spent her teenage years in Tokyo, which begins to explain some of the influence behind her uber-cute, nostalgic style. She’s best known for her fashionable illustrations of super pretty girls, and also the whimsical, huggable characters that often accompany them. It kind of makes me think: part Lisa Frank, part Sanrio, with a touch of vintage Barbie (please forgive my incessant need to classify everything). Her client list is enviable, including the likes of Anna Sui, Nylon (Japan, Korea and US), Elle Girl Korea, Kid Robot, and Urban Outfitters, to name a few. She is currently working on a digital art project for Sony Plastation, and you can even find her art on the cover of Nylon Japan’s December ’11 issue!! Be sure to visit her website after reading the full interview below!
AW: Where do you like to find inspiration?
Esther Kim: Daily life, fashionable girls and laughter… My inspiration comes from a deep desire to express what I see around me. When I catch something that I want to record/keep by drawing I am excited. It can be anything but I’m inspired by change, by shifts in myself through the things around me, which can easily be seen in fashion and of course, of course things that are super girly: french actresses, from the 60‘s, Tokyo street fashion, palm trees, Los Angeles sunsets, eye-shopping at Parco, k-pop stars….
AW: Describe your style in three words.
Esther Kim: Girly. Lovely. Sweet. (A little bit cool?)
AW: Do you have a favorite theme you like to follow within your personal work?
EK: I guess I am obsessed with drawing girls. I love fashion, especially street fashion. I like how you can see visual changes in culture through the personal choices people make in what they wear.
AW: If you could choose any designer or artist to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
Esther Kim: It was my dream, dream, dream to work with Nagi Noda. I am sad that she passed away. I’ve always loved all the work she did for Laforet…oh yeah, I would love to work with Laforet Harajuku! and other artists. I want to collaborate with photographers and other illustrators, too.
AW: What do you like to do to unwind when you need a break from work?
Esther Kim: I love to read!!! I love Russian writers. Tolstoy is one of my favorites~! Working my way through War and Peace. I also started reading The Hunger Games series which is really addictive.
AW: If you won the lottery today, would your job, your art, or the process you use change in any way?
Esther Kim: Hmmm, I would rent a studio, for sure, and buy lots of canvases and learn to paint properly.
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If you like to overdose on color and texture (and of course I do), then I’m excited to introduce you to Liz Brizzi, a textile and fine artist living and working in Los Angeles. I love her colorful multimedia paintings depicting gritty urban landscapes, they have a quiet solitude I don’t normally associate with cities like Los Angeles. It’s as if she’s redefining the well-manicured iconography this city is typically known for. And while you can’t find many of her textile designs on her Etsy page, they are equally stunning. Her artwork is so layered and complex, and the colors are so bold and yet effortless all at once. In a nutshell, I am madly in love with her style. Be sure to read on to see her answers to our six little questions.
AW: Where do you like to find inspiration?
LB: Well I have to say that I find inspiration in places where most people wouldn’t venture. The grittier and more remote, the better. Sometimes I just go drive around in the suburbs and most industrial areas of Los Angeles with my camera and just start shooting. I’ll take hundreds of photos on those safaris of mine. Sometimes people think I’m really weird… “Why is she taking pictures of this old decrepit warehouse?”. Ha! I guess I see beauty where most people wouldn’t.
AW: Describe your style in three words.
LB: Gritty. Colorful. Desolate.
AW: Do you have a favorite theme or medium you like to follow within your personal work?
LB: My medium is always the same. It’s a mix of photography printed on paper and collaged onto canvas or wood panels within layers of acrylic paint. The theme is urban, city landscapes. Some are more realistic than others. I either paint a straight up “portrait landscape”, or create a more abstract alternate reality by collaging together pieces and architectural details from several different photographs.
AW: If you could choose any designer or artist to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
LB: One one of my favorite artists right now is Ian Francis. I just love the way his paintings are partly super detailed and refined, and partly loose and sketchy. I want to try and incorporate some of that into my own art.
AW: What do you like to do to unwind when you need a break from work?
LB: Well, between my fine art and working on textile prints, when I finally have time to myself, I like to do things that are completely non-creative! Like hanging out with friends, watching movies, and also cooking. Even though you could say that cooking can be creative. But there is something really relaxing to me about following a recipe and not working with any fancy technology like computers, cameras etc… Just me and my wood spoon.
AW: If you won the lottery today, would your job, your art, or the process you use change in any way?
LB: I would probably get the most expensive tools ever, which would allow me to work in HUGE format. That could be interesting. But to be totally honest… if I win the lottery, something tells me I would be too busy traveling the world and not working. :)
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Although you may not know her personally, there’s a decent chance you’ve seen the illustrations of Francesca Boyd-Barrett, a.k.a. Franmo. A native to Mother England, she now lives and works in sunny Los Angeles. By day she’s an Art Director for a tee shirt company, and over the last several years she has seen her designs printed on countless tees sold at retailers like Urban Outfitters, Delia’s, and F21, to name a few. Seriously, girlfriend has done a lot of tee shirts. In her spare time she continues her craft through collaborations and personal work, and has devoted special attention to her pet project, Desktop Lover. It’s a great site where you can browse really cute desktop wallpapers for a variety of screen sizes, and download any of them completely for free! Did you hear that? Free surface design! Check it out and test one of those bad boys on your desktop – that is, as soon as you’re done reading Francesca’s hilarious interview below. Scroll down, there’s more!
AW: Where do you like to find inspiration?
Franmo: Nature is inspiring. I go hiking a lot which clears my head and chills me out.
I’ve always loved fashion from every era including current trends and I’m heavily into that.
I also spend a lot of time on blogs which is a pretty extraordinary source for inspiration. Although the internet is awesome it isn’t as all-encompassing and exciting as getting out in the real world.
AW: Describe your style in three words.
Franmo: Quirky. Scruffy. Weird.
AW: Do you have a favorite theme you like to follow within your personal work?
Franmo: I love funny and silly art that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I love comic style art also, simply because I don’t have the patience for that shit and I’m in awe. David Shirgley is pretty awesome in every way. I love Will Sweeney‘s attention to detail and Neckface because of his drawing style and fucked up nature of his art in general. There are many other artists I love also but I don’t really have one favorite in particular.
AW: If you could choose any designer or artist to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
Franmo: Fuck I really don’t know. I would love to collaborate with anyone who is super talented but who’s style is completely different from my own. Those are the best collaborations I think because the results are exciting and unexpected.
Collaborating with a fashion or shoe designer would be kinda rad. In my day job, I’m an Art Director / designer, for a t-shirt company, and it never gets old seeing your art as a wearable piece.
AW: What do you like to do to unwind when you need a break from work?
Franmo: I’ve been getting into movie and TV show watching. I never really was a TV person and I”m feeling a bit like a couch potato these days, but it’s fun. I love Dexter. Who doesn’t though?!
Again, getting out into nature is also something great for unwinding which I do almost every day. Squirrels make me laugh. They make strange noises too.
AW: If you won the lottery today, would your job, your art, or the process you use change in any way?
Franmo: I’d probably spend about one month shopping for clothes and shoes. Lame I know, but it’s true. Then I’d get bored, so maybe I’d go to some exotic country and explore. Then I would come back and live like a trust-fund baby in an overpriced loft somewhere, painting and getting high all day. Seriously though, I would really love to get an MFA in art or illustration. I would probably write and illustrate children’s books, not caring whether or not they got published. Maybe I’d work towards getting a solo show so I can drink free wine. The possibilities are endless.
AW: Indeed, Franmo, indeed they are.
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