Base #05 | The Temptation Issue | March 2013

march 2013

base

the temptation issue Chadwick Tyler, Meg Hutchison, Wally Sparks, Meghan McGarry, Nick Thomm, Conan Thai, Maria Mรถlko, Nazareno Crea, Patrick Butler, Maisie Cousins, Joseph Wolfgang Ohlert, Mate Moro, Julia Kaethner, Dori Tomcsanyi, Lonneke van der Palen and Krzysztof Wyzynski. brEE Smith @ nExt photographEd by chadWick tylEr

iSSuE fivE

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Patrick Butler 13 Meghan McGarry 23 Nazareno Crea 27 Lonneke van der Palen 33 Maria Mรถlko 41 Dori Tomcsanyi 43 Jennifer Bahn 45 Chadwick Tyler 53 Nick Thomm 55 Conan Thai 63 Wally Sparks 73 Claire Lontis 75 Julia Kaethner 77 Maisie Cousins 85 Joseph Wolfgang Ohlert 93 Krzysztof Wyzynski 99 Meg Hutchison 03

Kelsey Rogers @ Marilyn by Patrick Butler

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Number Five

The Temptation Issue

March 2013

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land of thE BravE photography patrick ButlEr

styling michaEl BEShara

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All clothing by Tess Giberson, boots by Saint Laurent (worn throughout)

Model Kelsey Rogers @ Marilyn NY

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cryStal hazE photography meghan mcgarry

styling aliSon iSBEll

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Top by Plutocracy, leather gloves by LaCrasia, hat by Mako Fuwa, earrings and necklace by Laruicci

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Bra by Blank Silk, trousers by T么 LongNam, hat by Mako Fuwa, earrings by Sugar Scout, necklaces by Laruicci

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Top by Mandy Coon

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Dress by Plutocracy, skirt by A.F. Vandevorst, gloves by LaCrasia, hat from Amarcord Vintage Fashion, necklaces by Laruicci, socks by We Love Colors, shoes

by Barbara Briones

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(This page) Dress by Jose Duran, trench coat by A.F. Vandevorst, gloves by LaCrasia, stylist's own rain bonnet, earrings and ring by Laruicci, necklace by Circa Sixty Three, socks by Falke, shoes by Barbara Briones

(Opposite page) Jacket by RAD by Rad Hourani, fur scarf

by Parkchoonmoo, gloves by LaCrasia, earrings by Laruicci

Makeup Khela Tyson, Hair Jakob Sherwood @ Next, Model Renee Van Seggern @ NY Models

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alpha BEautiES artWork nazarEno crEa

Alpha Beauties is a series of 45 retouched paintings from the history of western art, which in their period represented the female beauty canons, each artwork has been retouched and “updated� according to nowadays beauty standards. The aim has been the one to make a parallel between what was the romantic activity of a painter trying with patience and devotion to reproduce his ideal of beauty, and the work of contemporary photo-retoucher which is as devoted and obsessed by the exact same quest: the reproduction of an ideal utopian beauty. The selection was made amongst those paintings which are copyright free and represented the female figure through history. Using photoshop as a pallete and the mouse as a brush, the retouched artwork preserves its initial purpose, to present and idealise beauty. We speak to the creator of Alpha Beauties, artist Nazareno Crea about his thoughts on beauty, the poetry of language and the future.

Hi Nazareno, tell us a little about yourself: When did you begin making artwork, what was your first medium?

Hi Georgia, well the beginning is always kind of blurry. The first approach I ever had with the creation of an artwork came from

words gEorgia harriS

painting; it was some sort of graffiti when I was in Rome. My friends and I enjoyed doing large scale lettering, about 20 or 30 meters tall.

It was at that time that I first started developing the satisfaction of creating a piece of art.

Since then I have used various mediums and forms in my work, and it keeps changing.

How did you conceive the idea for your mysterious website of short films & text?

As I said, I have always had a deep interest in words, typography and language. I like the abstraction and chemical reactions that can come from a word, but I have a funny relationship with it. From time to time I design typefaces and this practice brought me to discover a new aspect of language -- a totally abstract one -- where the meaning is disconnected from word, and becomes just a combination of shapes and colours.

The website nazareno.co.uk (soon transferred to ennetv.com) came from a combination of two new interests that I developed using the internet.

The first of these interests comes from the accessibility to video footage available on the web and the fact that all these videos create a sort of digital landscape. To rephrase the artist Miltos Manetas, who once wrote that

the internet was the new continent on Earth, I think that after knowing the entire globe by heart, we have invented a new land to discover; a digital one. So in this sense, all the images that are contained on the internet form the vast and varied landscape of this new immaterial continent.

My other interest was developed from the written language of the internet, which to me sounded like a whole new language. Phrases and messages on the internet have their own structure and grammar, which I find curious and stimulating, because in some ways it shows language for what it actually is: A pure form of abstraction and approximation.

But what triggered the website to come alive was my passion for Ed Ruscha paintings. I have studied his work for years and admired their concise power. When you look at one of his paintings you get what you want from it, you can see pain, irony, sadness, but above all... poetry. So that is why I wanted to create something similar to his paintings, but with today's tools. The clips that I use in a loop are as the text or signs on top of it, erasers of meaning. The main goal of Ntv is to destroy language as a form of communication, and instead, to enter into the visual poetry of it.

What is your view on the rapidly changing "ideal", especially in terms of women's beauty that we see today?

Well, one of the main reasons behind Alpha Beauties was to highlight this phenomenon of acceptance and transformation of tastes and ideals. But to get back to your answer, I have no moral judgement about today's ideal of beauty. It is nothing but the consequence of many completely random events.

We like to point the finger at magazines and fashion in general as the source of this, but there is a tight correlation with everything else; architecture, mechanization, industrialisation and many more factors which, in the end, contribute to this. Everything that happens is the one and only thing that could have happened; there is always a lot of wasted breath and ink in my opinion on the "ifs and buts" of what could have been. But in the end there is only one truth, and it's what we see and the one we are.

What do you hope to achieve by drawing these comparisons between the differing ideals throughout the ages?

In general, my work is a series showing acts of destruction against the thick layer of common agreement which we call reality. Once you start to strip down the so called reality from its layers of language and communication, either by exaggeration or by contrast, you are left with the truth behind it; or even better; you just realise the vacuity of it. In other words, by playing on the collective acceptance of standards I put in evidence the slenderness of such important values, and in this case it happens to be "ideal beauty".

When you look at something for too long it becomes too familiar and you no longer appreciate its value, for some bizarre reason.

I think that aftEr knoWing thE EntirE globE by hEart, WE havE invEntEd a nEW land to diScovEr; a digital onE. I always see things the same as I did the first time, and this helps me to see the absurdity behind these accepted standards. Just to reassure you, it's not an ego trip, I am not supernatural. Weed just helps a lot to strip down reality.

Watching movies whilst high for example always becomes absurd and all of a sudden you lose the fascinating "reality" filter, and you just see men and women talking, and you ask yourself "what am I doing here?"

Do you think that in the future, the "ideal" will be inherently unrealistic, in order to mimic the almost alien beauty that is capable of being created through retouching (such as an even higher demand for plastic surgery)?

I am pretty sure that it will change, I know that will change, but it's hard for me to predict things. It could be possible that people will use plastic surgery more often; to achieve an "alien look" but it is equally as possible that we will start to grow fur and develop new shapes as standards, but it's hard for me to guess these things. www.nazareno.co.uk/beauties/

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gEnESiS 3 photography Lonneke van der Palen

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tEmpting fatE photography maria mรถlko

styling Juu Hau ZanE

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(This page) Dress by Yifang Wan, also worn in previous spread

(Opposite page) Jacket by Claudia Ligari, skirt by Malene Oddershede Bach

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(This page) Jacket by Claudia Ligari, skirt by Malene Oddershede Bach

(Opposite page) Dress by Claudia Ligari

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Top and trousers by Claudia Ligari, wooden belt by Yifan Wan, shoes by H&M

Hair and makeup Michelle Dacillo, model Sofya Titova @ Next London

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DORI TOMCSANYI photography mate moro

Contemporary Hungarian fashion designer Dori Tomcsanyi began creating womenswear under her label of the same name in 2010 and has already established a memorable, consistent brand with a modern identity. Inspired by the "laid-back urban girl", Tomcsanyi utilizes a minimal colour pallette and soft, oversized shapes to show the femininity and freedom in her clothes.

For Tomcsanyi, this season is all about flirty printed silk dresses in billowy sherbet colours with strategic cut-ous for a flash of shoulder, and gorgeous patchwork denim items with slightly exaggerated cuffs and petite collars.

The pastel coloured aqua-themed prints on the pieces were designed and painted by Tomcsanyi herself.

This collection is perfect for the spring season, and very wearable, providing beautiful, easy options for the girly-girls or the girls who go prefer a more tailored look. All in all, a very energetic and stylish collection, and Dori is definitely one to watch! The collection is available in selected stores worldwide. www.doritomcsanyi.com

words georgia harris

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All clothes by Dori Tomcsanyi, shoes New Balance Special thanks Richard Illes, Kaldy Julia, Gergo Gonczol

Creative concept Mate Moro and Nora Gyenge, creative contributor and set design Aron Filkey, photo assistant Balazs Mate, makeup Kata SzelepcsĂŠnyi, models Csilla @ ICON, Niki @ Visage, hair Mark Karolyi

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dangErouS liaiSonS words jennifer bahn

Friends tell me I have horrible taste in men, that I purposely go for the bad boys, the assholes, the ones that will inevitable bring me to ruin. They tell me I do it for my writing, so that at the end of my life I can have a collection of beautiful little horror stories and an empty bed. “No, no, no,” I protest. And then I tell them that the horrible men have a taste for me. I draw them in with some siren song of stability, preciousness and possibility. Briefly.

Until they remember they are wretched monsters who wish to be left alone in their cages, pushing me away before they eat me alive.

Though this, I’m afraid, is not unlike being caught by the fisherman’s hook, snatched for sport and then released. “No harm done,” they say, tossing me into the ocean, not realizing how deep the barbs went in, how the blood streams from my lip like ribbons in the sea, how the lungs struggle to recover.

These are the fishermen.

No. 1 I live in Los Angeles and I am young. I meet a boy – no, a man – named Ben at my friend’s house in Laurel Canyon. He is long and lean and has curly hair. He reminds me of Bob Dylan. We shake hands and I look at him and then I put “Crystal” by New Order on the stereo and dance alone in the concrete living room. “I love this song,” he says.

Weeks after this – after we’ve kissed and laid on couches together – he’ll tell me he’s getting back together with his girlfriend, but not before he’s completely destroyed the whole Shins album for me, made it impossible to listen to ever again, like that time I got salmonella from an omelette in Tokyo and couldn’t eat eggs for two years afterward.

No. 2 Last night I went to an Oscar party at Prince’s mansion. There were portraits of him everywhere, odes to vanity hung in massive living room after massive living room. Javier Bardem was there. Jack Osbourne. Amy Adams. Edward with the knit scarves and the British accent, he was there, too. “Edward!”

I squealed. Edward was a delightful boy but

artwork nick thomm

a horrible kisser. I went home at 5 and slept for two hours then went to work. Now I’m on my way to a photo shoot for a stylist friend.

There’s a boy there -- the photographer. He’s got a slick ‘50s haircut, glossy and waved. His legs are thin, extremely thin, and his arms are porcelain white. While we’re shooting, he comes up and moves my chin towards the light. “Right… there,” he says, and then backs away to hide behind the black mass of his camera. Scorpio, I think. And he is. We’ll end up dating for two years. He’ll break up with me while taking bites out of Subway sandwich, sitting at the dining room table in the house we’ll share together. I pack my bags and move to New York.

No. 3 Matthew’s wearing the same striped shirt he always wears, the same pair of pants. He’s got his hands plunged deep into the pockets of his hooded sweatshirt while we stand on the corner of Kent and Metropolitan, waiting for his friends to decide if they want to stay or go. When they leave, we turn to each other but try not to look at one another directly.

If I look at his face, I only catch glimpses of a jagged tooth or one of the dark circles beneath his eyes. We ride my bike back to my apartment. Matthew stands up and peddles and I keep still on the seat, my legs splayed and my feet away from the wheels, giggling while the skyline of Manhattan shines over dark industrial buildings. He tells me about playing basketball in college and giving it all up to be a photographer. We sit on the stoop of my apartment while he smokes a cigarette.

We have sex and wake up the next morning and share a subway into the city. He kisses me on the cheek and gets off at Third Avenue. He never calls me again.

No. 4 James’s black-framed glasses are sitting on the bedside table. It’s New Year’s Day and he’s let me stay for breakfast. “Tomorrow,” he said yesterday, “you are going to stay and we will have breakfast at the hotel together.”

The last four nights, I’ve been taking cabs

home at all hours, anything to avoid waking up next to someone who didn’t want me there. We’ve finished our poached eggs and it’s already 10 on January 1st, 2012. This year, I think, will be better. I pull on my tights, zip up my dress. I’m walking out the door when he turns to me and says, “Well, that was a nice and quick romance, wasn’t it?” I take the elevator down to the lobby. Alone.

No. 5 I meet him in the showroom where I am working – some designer that specializes in extreme silhouettes that only flatter girls with no breasts or hips, boyish girls that want to cover everything up with denim and woolen knits. It’s January and New York is in the middle of a brutal winter that will linger for another excruciating five months, incubating my future misery. There he is at the table -- his hair slicked back; his eyes blue; his cheekbones gaunt, their jaggedness mitigated by a generous beard. He is wearing light blue jeans, rolled tidily at the cuff, just above a pair of black Prada boots. His hands, his arms, are covered in a smattering of meaningless tattoos, jet black and ill-placed. When I see him, something stupid happens – that thing that people talk about when they fall in love right then and there, how time grinds to a halt just as it does before death and freak accidents. Something tells me that if I do not say something, he will disappear forever and I will never see him again. I give him my phone number. We meet for drinks that night.

Ten days later I visit him in Paris. A month later – after telling me he was falling in love with me, that I was wonderful, how he wanted me to go home with him for Christmas – he ran away.

These men, these stories are my guilty pleasures. Nay, my guilty tortures. Guilty because I am a participant. These friends are right. Helpless fish I am not. I see the lure and its reflection in the water. I know what it means. I lurch for the bait and I bite down hard, hoping that one day I will be brought onboard, kept and killed.

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Feature on Nick Thomm continues on page 51

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no othEr lovE photography chadWick tylEr

model brEE Smith @ nExt

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NICK THOMM Australian graphic designer, artist and director Nick Thomm has a quick chat with Base editor-in-chief Georgia Harris about his influences, recent accomplishments and his many interesting side projects.

Nick Thomm is a multi-talented Melbourne based artist, designer and director. Founder of The Drop studio and co-founder of the art and fashion magazine SRC783. He has exhibited his work internationally and was recently showcased publicly around London in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Mostly as part of his studio The Drop, Nick has produced work for major international brands including MTV, Nike, Red Bull, The BBC, Monster, Pioneer, L’Oreal and Channel V, and was even invited to speak at the Australian Graphic Design Association’s First 5 Out Conference in 2010. We take a closer look at Thomm's recent exhibition, learn more about his Olympic opportunity and dig in to the inspiration behind his work.

You have exhibited worldwide, do you pick up inspiration from places you visit or is your hometown Australia your creative hub?

I've always been influenced by what's around me. Melbourne has a really good art & design scene, but I also find when I visit or

work in new places that will change the way I see things or how I approach my work.

Your work often includes elements of nature worked in to cohesive patterns or brightly coloured; do you see these patterns emerge on their own or do you just experiment until something appears?

Most of the time I use these things to throw off the focus of the artwork, or to twist the concept in a way that will make people double take what they are looking at. For me it's always a conscious decision to include something like this because it has to create some kind of contrast with the initial impression of the artwork.

You've used busts in a few of your artworks as well as physical busts in one of your exhibitions; Are you influenced by Greek or Roman mythology?

Not really, I reference a lot of history and past movements in my artwork, so it always changes. The busts were used as the centre-

piece for my Monochrome show, but next time it will be something completely different.

I like to use these things as a starting point, so people have some understanding of what they are looking at, which then allows me to completely change how they view something that they already know. It also helps set up the surreal element to my work.

So you don't always necessarily have an idea when you begin a piece of work?

I always have an idea of what I'm trying to create, but I try not to force how it should finish. Having a defined starting point and goal is really important, but I think letting that end point change as you work is key to making something that isn't limited by what you already know or have already created.

Tell us a little about how your magazine SRC783 came to be.

I had always wanted to do a mag, even way before I started making art. Like a skate mag or something. Then I met Chrissy through

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a mutual friend, and she wanted to make a fashion mag and asked me to design it for her. It turned out that we had a really similar vision for the whole thing, and so decided to collaborate on the mag together.

What is it about the format of a printed magazine that you enjoy working with?

Just that it's permanent. It's not going to get deleted or lost. Once those pages are printed, that's how it's going to be and I don't have to go back and change it anymore, haha!

So are you a bit of a perfectionist, always going back and working on something?

Yeah, I focus on details way too much.

That's good for graphic design, you have to.

But for art it can just be painful... Sometimes I wish I could turn that part of my brain off!

Tell us a bit about your recent opportunity to showcase your work near the time of the Olympics. How did it come about and what did it do for your overseas publicity?

I directed a video earlier in the year which went crazy viral on the internet, and until then most of my film work had been pretty low key, just because I did it for fun. But that kind of got a lot more of my work seen and I was asked by someone at the BBC in London if they could showcase a bunch of my video works on the large screens that were installed across the city in the lead up to the games. That was pretty big for me, like having my work shown in a public space on the other side of the world. It got my name out there a bit, and also generated a lot of overseas interest in people wanting to work with my studio, The Drop.

Do you prefer creating work digitally or being more hands-on? Such as with your spray painted heads that were seen at your last exhibition.

Yeah, I don't have a preference, but I have just done a lot more digital work because of my graphic design background. I think the more I move forward the more I want to blur

the lines in my artwork. I like digital, because that's now and it's new and it's a chance to do something that hasn't been done before, but I also like being hands on because that gives me a break from the whole graphic design thing. But yeah, going forward you will see a lot more mixed media work in my shows. www.nickthomm.com www.thedropstudio.com www.SRC783.com

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nighTcall photography conan thai

styling IAN BRADLEY

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(This page) Jacket by Antonio Azzuolo, shirt by Zara, trousers by Alexander Wang, hat by Gypsy Sport

(Opposite page) Sweater by Richard Chai Love, shirt by Surface to Air, trousers and shoes by Alexander Wang, visor by Gypsy Sport, stylist's own veil (worn throughout)

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Coat by Siki Im, shirt by Alexander Wang, trousers by 3.1 Phillip Lim, hat by Supreme, vintage rosary beads

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(This page) Jacket by Richard Chai, shirt

by Uniqlo, leather trousers Oak, hat by Gypsy Sport

(Opposite page) Jacket by Rad Hourani, shirt by Alexander Wang, trousers by Siki Im, beanie by Supreme

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Jacket by Oak, shirt by Richard Chai Love, trousers by Siki Im, belt by Richard Chai for Filson, hat by Duckie Brown

Grooming Margina Dennis, photo assistant Jenny Fu, model Rafael Perez @ Re:Quest

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lady of thE manor photography wally SparkS

styling BoBBi paidEl

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Top and necklace by Topshop, silk trousers

by Sandro

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Dress by Ganni, leather jacket by Rag Union x Urban Renewal

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Bodysuit by Ganni, jacket by American Retro, garter belt and stockings Victoria’s Secret, boots by Aldo

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(This page) Blouse by Theory, blazer by NOIR, belt

by Zara, tights by Victoria's Secret, underwear by Vintage Collection, necklaces by Topshop, shoes by Joe Fresh

(Opposite page) Blazer by Style Stalker, trousers by Maison Martin Margiela for H&M, cuffs by Topshop, shoes by Aldo

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(This page) Shoes by Steve Madden

(Opposite page) Top by Topshop, trousers by Louise Gray for Topshop, necklace by Maison Martin Margiela for H&M, shoes by Aldo

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Bodysuit by Ganni, jacket by American Retro, garter belt and stockings by Victoria’s Secret, boots by Aldo

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thE StatE of thingS words clairE lontiS

When your romance degenerates into acrid resentment and he’s the one to call it off, how do you cope? Are you a burning-theex’s-sheets kinda gal or would you rather consume your weight’s worth in shitty advent calendar chocolate? Do you swan about your apartment lovelorn (and borderline suicidal), or are you the one who begs your friend to ‘delete his number, I can’t do it, I don’t want to call him again’, only to semicongently iMessage him word vomit after a couple of bloody marys? Or are you, worst of all, The Bunny Boiler- the one who takes it onto herself to tear down every shred of her erstwhile lover’s life and spit on the the woeful remains? We’ve compiled a list of the most devious kind of ex-girlfriends. Pigeonhole yourself, because stereotypes are fun!

The Stalker: It started when you added that girl he was talking to on Facebook as a friend.

So what? Her profile was private. Your curiosity is natural, satiable… anonymous. Yours is a fake profile, naturally. I mean, you didn’t have a choice after he blocked you for the second time, right? And how about the dramatic text from his housemate? I’m calling the cops if I see your car outside again. Let it go. Oh, whatever. His apartment is on the way home from your work route. Well, you like to take the back streets. It’s just a minor detour, anyway. A mere mile… or three. You’re not one of those psycho ex-girlfriends. You just want to check up on him. You still care about him, after all. He looked so tired during his coffee run this morning. Maybe it was because someone called him at 3am and sighed at the sound of his sleep-saturated breathing. What a creep.

The Wallower: Sheets sodden with the tears of a yesteryear love: balled-up tissues, repleted ashtrays. You gaze over photos of the two of you, fragments of what once was; bodies folded together, made to fit. ‘Poor possum,’ your friends crooned; ‘he misses you too, I’m sure’. Still, even they stopped answering their phones after a month. You step over

artwork julia kaEthnEr

the used-up bottles of Xanax and call in sick to work. ‘Again?’ the receptionist sounds irritated. How insensitive. Doesn’t she know your gloom is Plath-esque?

The Binge Eater: ‘When we were together, I weighed 119 pounds. I swear. I mean I’ve always been skinny,’ you say through a mouthful of marshmallow ice cream. ‘I’ve just put it on my hips, anyway. I don’t mind that. And I mean I’ve only gained like half a stone.’ You pause, contemplating the tub of Ben and Jerry’s between your palms, ‘Ish.’ The Bunny Boiler: When you’re through with him, he’ll wish he had called you back. You locked eyes across the club, floor sticky with tipped-over lollywater and semi-digested meals upchucked by underages. You locked yourself in the cubicle of the women’s restroom and there consummated your passion with a vending machine condom. ‘We should go out for coffee sometime,’ you slurred, as you hitched up your knickers. You exchange numbers and head back out to the throng.

Yours will be a grand romance- champagne and roses and all that shit. If only the bastard would answer your calls. Didn’t you mean anything to him? You formulate an act of vengeance and call his office. ‘Tell Jarod I’m leaving him. I couldn’t bear to see him destroy himself with all those drugs.’ That’ll teach the fucker.

The Drunker Texter: ‘Don’t let me call him tonight!’ You chase your ill-fate with a shot of mid-price vodka. And another. And another. And a few more. ‘I wonder what Ben’s up to?’ Your friends tell you to shut the fuck up and enjoy yourself. ‘No but, like, if I just sent a friendly text- hey, smiley face, how are you? That would be fine, right? Like I still want to be friends with him.’ Another shot.

You fall out the door of a cab two hours later, wrestling your phone from the hands of an exasperated friend. ‘I just want to see what he’s up to!’ Your voice is rent with sobs, ‘I still love him!’

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julia kaEthnEr words clairE lontiS

When I think of high school art, I think... overreaching, clumsily executed acrylic canvases; angsty portraits tacked to the corridor walls for generations of students to cringe at and vandalise. There are always exceptions, and the fact that Julia Kaethner's The Sensitivity of the Human Condition was a high-school project is what makes it so remarkable. Demonstrating a masterful command of graphite & watercolour, the sevenpiece series is something close to hyperrealism. Disembodied facial features; bruise constellations, spit bubbles, and eyes all rendered in a quality that is distinctly professional.

The artist is Cambridge-born Julia Kaethner.

Based now in Adelaide, the (wait for it) seventeen-year-old has built quite the Internet presence through her work, which has graced the blogging world for some time.

As chance would have it, she resides in the same city as I. We caught up on East Terrace to talk over coffee. Giving her answers in measured, soft-spoken tones, Julia is distractingly gorgeous and unfailingly polite, and would seem to be older than her seventeen years.

artwork julia kaEthnEr

for the strange factor. Tracey Emin, too. I’m inspired by fashion & luxury. I like contrasting as well, so in the drawings of the tongues and eyes, the contrast between beauty and grotesque.

Social media platforms have given you an audience, how has that affected your work?

I think it has its ups and downs, I’ve had people rip off my work, I’ve had people

When you work, is it sporadic or do you sit down and just get it done?

Well, I’m very ADD. Would you say manic?

Yeah, I find that when I start the piece, I sort of shift between different tasks, but once I get well into it I won’t stop for hours.

Fuelled by coffee I assume?

[Laughs] Yes!

No, that’s for me to do.

[Laughs]

make t-shirts out of it without my consent…

Facebook covers, Twitter icons, it doesn’t bother me that much but it’s kind of strange seeing your work there. But I mean it’s, like, I’ve had a few commissions as well, I’ve had people over to purchase my artwork, purchase originals, it’s given me some opportunities, like this one, plus this collaboration in Paris as well, well not Paris but France. I was contacted by a guy named Baptiste and he said that he really liked my work and that he wanted to show me around and to possibly collaborate with other artists in this exhibition, along with Cécile [Paravina].

What artists do you cite as inspiration?

I’d say Michael Zavros is my biggest source of inspiration for sure, I love the detail in his work and how he combines a sense of luxury into his work. I quite like Grayson Perry, just

Tell us about The Sensitivity of the Human Condition.

This was for school, so I started with this idea that I wanted to do portraiture, and I kind of went off on a tangent. I had a whole

So when did you discover you were good at this, and how long did it take you to build it up to the level you’re at now?

The thing is, I mean I’ve spoken to my mother about it and she said, even in kindergarten they said you were talented, like the way I drew figures… which I find very hard to believe. I don’t mean to talk myself up or anything.

heap of ideas and nowhere to go, and then I found myself becoming very interested in drawing facial features, and that’s where I started. I just kept practising and practising until I… well, I wouldn’t say perfected… until I got a very good piece out of it, and I thought it was a good idea so I kept going.

It’s the contrast between beauty and the grotesque, depicting the sensitive parts of the body to trigger a reaction from the viewer.

Take us through the process of creating a piece.

Well I start with a lead outline of pretty much the shape I want to draw, it’s a lot easier with facial features than doing an actual face, sort of less to outline, and then I sort of just start filling in the detail, I do the black bits first and then I fill in the colour later. For this series I planned it out a bit more, I chose images specifically for the piece.

Where do you source the images?

A couple of them were off the internet, but at least half were of me, my eyes and mouth.

So, plans for the future: RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology)?

Yes. I’d like to do a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and possibly work my way into fashion, to visual merchandising or something, so I can use fashion and art in my career... hopefully. www.incanti.tumblr.com

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maha mantra photography maiSiE couSinS

styling lE cam romain

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bluE morning photography joSEph wolfgang ohlErt

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riSquÉ cabarEt photography Krzysztof Wyzynski

Coat by Lanvin, leather top by River Island, necklace by Topshop

model Filip Bala @ AMQ

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Jacket by Tom Ford, harness by H&M, metal belt by Gucci, garter belt, stockings and pants by Agent Provocateur

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Skirt by Versus, headpiece by Katarzyna Konieczka, tights by Wolford, bracelet by H&M, shoes by Yves Saint Laurent

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(This page) Corset by Katarzyna Konieczka, jacket by Sisley, necklace by Vienna, vintage hat

(Opposite page) Bodysuit by Kamila Zielinska, jacket

by Givenchy, headpiece by Katarzyna Konieczka, garter belt by Agent Provocateur, bracelet by H&M

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bluE vElvEt photography mEg hutchiSon

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Hair, makeup & nails Siobhan Drew, model Bambi Blue Special thanks Burlique and Miss Cairo sponsored by Burlique

All clothing by Bambi Blue, fans and earrings by Burlique

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Thank you for reading.

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