GOLDFOIL
LEX BARBERIO Photographer with Dave Mizzoni on the cover
Drawing Cabaret Couture David Brunnbauer
ARTIST OF THE MONTH
Natalie Thomas Featuring SOPHIE WILKINSON
Denisa Katranicova Countessa Taiwo chaves-de-Campos
Crystal Torres
glitch! ISSUE 10
AUG 2021
Our Mission
At GoldFoil magazine we work with new and emerging talent within the fashion industry to bring you incredible content, interesting interviews, different points of view, and much more. We believe that we are always able to do better, to expand our horizons, to learn and experience more.
3
4
Glitch
5
TABLE OF CON� TENTS 6
8 14 24 30 40 46 52
SOPHIE WILKINSON DRAWING CABARET COUTURE NATALIE THOMAS LEX BARBERIO CRYSTAL TORRES DENISA KATRANICOVA COUNTESSA
7
SOPHIE WILKINSON Sophie Wilkinson-Cooper is a Menswear and Childrenswear designer. She presented her striking graduate ready-to-wear collection, inspired by the heritage of her hometown which she left at the age of 6. As someone who lived abroad and moved to two foreign countries in the 13 years before returning back, she viewed the community she grew up in with new eyes. Sophie decided to dig in and discover more, she was particularly interested in the local Grimsby Town Football Club. Using old photographs she juxtaposed fabrics and textures creating an interesting mixture of cultural references featuring hooliganism and northern chav subculture.
8
9
10
11
12
Credits: Photographer: Shaun James Cox @shaunjamescox Kate Green @kategreenphotographer Backstage photographer: Rory Francis James @roryjamesphoto Models: Tom Mather @tomctmather Billie Dellios @billiedellios Darnell Irish @darnell.mj Hair and MUA: @lorealpro @illamasqua Phoebe Florence Wade @phoebeflorence_hair Gracie Jai Cox @graciejaicoxmakeup Megan McPhilemy @createdby_megan Coat collaboration: Young's Seafood @youngsseafood Knitwear collaboration: Naïve @naive.knitwear
13
Drawing Cabaret Couture
15
DRAWING
Cabaret
COUTURE
16
Drawing Cabaret Couture was created by model and professional dancer Janet Mayer and artist & set designer Matthew Lawrence. Together they collaborate with some of the finest and up and coming designers and fashion creatives to bring their fabulous live drawing classes to your working space. Their concept has proven very successful especially during the pandemic and that’s when it grew in popularity, as more and more creatives needed a sense of normality and a new inspiration. Matthew designs and builds the most dynamic sets to accompany the designer featured that week, while Janet with her adrogynous poses and flexible movements brings the garments to life. All accompanied by a very carefully curated music playlist as well as a narrative promoting the designer and creatives involved.
tion from this incredible visual experience. By taking part in such a creative and social immersive event as Drawing Cabaret Couture, you will have the opportunity to meet many other creatives, as well as learn of designers and artists you might have not come across before, you will see your artistic skills improve and you will gain more clarity, and feel more relaxed. After each class Matthew and Janet do an editorial photoshoot which is shared with their Patreon supporters, and we have the incredible honour to show some of their images, and the artworks that some of the artists create on a monthly basis.
The classes have already gained a huge global following of professional artists and illustrators as well as those who simply just want to immerse themselves in this unique new drawing experience. When taking part in a two-hour art class online, you will immerse yourself into a fantasy world, letting go of preconceptions. You will have the opportunity to focus on colours, shapes and movement from the comfort of your home studio while taking inspira-
17
David Brunnbauer
18
Betty Southerland @besoart444 Watercolour 16x12in
Pastel, 16x12in
Ink and pastel, 42x30cm Felicity Cormack @cormackfelicity
Pastel, 25x32cm
19
Patricia Keilthy @patriciakeilthyart Hands Of Fire Digital A4 What An Eyeful, digital, A4
Isher Dhiman @isherdhiman Cosmic Seat Watercolour 30x42cm Nonconformist, watercolour, 30x42cm
20
Loretta Tedeschi-Cuoco @art_ltc Here's Looking At You Mixed Media 8.5x11in
The Eyes Have it, mixed media, 8.5x11in
Jean Warner @jean_warner_art Ladder Digital Rest, digital
21
Luis Hidalgo @luishidalgo Digital 11x17in
Digital, 11x17in
Maksim Koloskov @supermalevich Watercolour 36x27cm
22
Watercolour, 34x27cm
Sun Docherty @sundocarts Perception Watercolour 30x42cm Vision, Watercolour, 30x42cm
Taryn Lee @tarynleeartist All Eyes On You Gouache, watercolour and ink 11x14in
All Seeing Eyes Watercolour and ink 11x15in 23
NATALIE THOMAS
24
Natalie Thomas is one of those talented line work artists that you have to really stop and look at their art to fully appreciate the amount of detail, expression and the quality of every line on the paper. Her ability to capture emotions, fabric textures and movement only with a pen is admirable and I am really excited to get to know her work better.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself? My name is Natalie. I am an artist that primarily uses ink drawing pens and am a carrier of pen and paper wherever I go. I love to create intricate line art of figures and for me the more detail involved the better.
2. Are you self-taught or did you go to university? I am a self-taught artist. I did go to university for media and production related subjects which, given the visual medium, I believe has fed into my art. I was always excited to sketch everything out including costume ideas, sets and shots – which looking back should have been a clue that my great love may lay elsewhere.
25
3. What got you interested in art? I’ve always had an interest in art and was always scribbling something from a toddler onwards. I actually used to sketch buildings more than people. When it became more was when I stumbled upon a life drawing class some years ago which did not fit the cliché of what I expected one to be. It was hosted in an art shop for starters. There was a fantastic playlist, wild over the top costumes, unusual models, drinks and was very social. Even better, they were happy to advise but not once did they tell me what I was doing was wrong. I think the problem with classes sometimes, even going back to school days, can be that they want everyone to draw the exact same way. Give people the basic tools they need but give them a chance to develop their own style. Once I knew that
26
this type of event and drawing session was out there, I started searching out more of them and over time developed my drawing style and really found a medium that I loved. I also connected with a lot of other artists that inspire me constantly.
4. Do you have a muse and what inspires you to 5. Looking at your work, in the past year alone create? your illustrations have become a lot more expressive and detailed, do you practice a lot? I am a bit of a people-watcher to the point that I will fall in love with perfect strangers on the street (from an artist’s viewpoint) because of the way they move or their unusual outfit or because they don’t look like anyone else. Stuck on public transport, I am happy to pick someone out and imagine how I would go about drawing them. I also have a bit of an obsession with sculpture, statues and especially classic mourning statues. In fact, whenever I have travelled abroad, I’ve always sought out that cities famous cemeteries. In the past I have found it very helpful when looking for an interesting subject to draw but didn’t have people to draw from. Pick a famous statue and it is bound to have had millions of photos taken of it from every angle imaginable which means I can find exactly what I’m looking for if it is too far for me to see in person. While in London I can regularly be found in the sculpture and plaster cast galleries of the V&A.
Given the situation that we have all been in over the past year being in lock down, I am fortunate enough that a lot of the creatives that I know started pretty much immediately trying to find a way to take their events online. So rather than fitting in arts outings where I can outside of work, I have been able to join others through various social media platforms and Patreon subscriptions where I get content such as live online life drawing sessions or access to model photo shoots and I have been in contact with other artists from all over the world. It has meant that outside of other personal projects there is always something interesting for me to join in on multiple times a week, even now. Having all of that at my fingertips has meant practice, practice, practice - so I feel I have definitely developed more in the past year. The fact that it also kept me relatively sane was just a bonus.
27
6. What is your favourite piece of art you have created over the years? I have done bigger pieces with crowds that I love doing and want to do more of but I would say one of my absolute favourites is actually pretty recent. I completed it in the new year and it is an A2 piece with every inch filled with head and shoulder portraits of people in face masks. Given what we have gone through in the past year or so (and are still going through) I wanted to create something that in the
28
distant future you could pinpoint the time that it was done. My little bit of history and the human face of it. I put out a request on my Instagram asking for volunteers to send me a selfie of them wearing a mask that they were happy for me to use as reference. The finished piece has 61 portraits - including myself hidden in there. It’s probably the longest period of time that I have spent on an artwork too, so I am very proud of it.
7. And what is a piece of advice you would give to people who want to become artists? I would say - just start. I believe that everyone has their own type of creativity in them and you just need to find your medium, what you like best. When I switched to ink pens during a class because I was in a low-lit basement venue and couldn’t see what I had drawn in pencil, it was an instant game changer for me. I have seen others who have never drawn before just show up at events and draw over and over and over and their own style starts to emerge. It got to the point where I could pick their sketches out of a group. There is nothing I love more than being in a group and seeing all the vastly different viewpoints and interpretations of a subject. There is no wrong way to go about this.
29
LEX BARBERIO For this issue I had the pleasure to interview Lex - a multidisciplinary award winning creative who works across the fine art and advertising fields. Her stunning work features vibrant colours, dramatic and dynamic poses, with clever play on gender and identity.
An interview How did your journey begin as a photographer? My journey began as a photographer around the age of 12 when I first traveled to Europe. My dad had just gotten a nice camera for his birthday and he let me use it while we were walking around France and England. I remember my mom telling me to put the camera down so I could live in the moment and that's when I realized that taking the photos really made the moment for me. I found that the photos I took brought me back to the moments I shot them and that felt a little bit like magic. I chased down that feeling and it led me to where I am today.
30
What
is
your
inspiration?
My inspiration comes from the various places, people, and things I come across in life that speak to me. Sometimes it comes in the form of a charismatic person, or an interesting setting, it could also come from an article I read, or a scene from a movie-- I try to keep an open mind to let the inspiration come to me. The main thing that defines my inspiration, though, is always a touch of something whimsical. Whenever a piece of inspiration leads me to an idea that makes me feel like Willy Wonka or the Mad Hatter, I know I'm on the right path.
I know that you recently had a solo exhibi- bridge the knowledge gap between the LGBTQIA+ community and the people outside of it. tion, could you tell us a bit more? Yes! It was actually my first museum exhibition so I was very excited to have been invited by the Museum of Contemporary Art Long Island to display my work there. I showed two bodies of work, "The Ambisextrous" and "Understanding Me", which were both created to
With the aim of expanding the definition of beauty and LGBTQIA+ acceptance, "The Ambisextrous" celebrates gender fluidity and those who dare to be different by being themselves. The nine piece set is made up of three photos of each model. One masculine, one androgynous, and one feminine.
31
DAVE MIZZONI
32
All three looks were blended into one piece to This series is made up of a 30 minute create a seamless transition between each look. interview style film of the subjects, as well as a set of neon embedded portraits with The second set, “Understanding Me”, explores the words "He", "She", or "They" literally the journey of twelve LGBTQIA+ people and their woven into their bodies to show how insepararelationships with their gender and pronouns. In ble a persons pronouns are from their identity. today's society, a person's identity is automatically wrapped into their gender, so therefore understanding one's own, or someone else's, gender is central to understanding them.
33
In 3 words how would you describe your work? Playful, Unconventional, Personal
34
Are there any projects you are currently What is the image or the photoshoot you are most proud of? working on? Always! Right now I have two main focus points, the first is getting The Ambisextrous and Understanding Me into more museums and galleries, and the second is building on both of those concepts to create a second phase for each of them that digs deeper into their themes and evolves the work.
It's so hard to answer this question because there are so many shots and shoots that I'm proud of for different reasons. You can put anything I've exhibited in the 'most proud' category, I also have a lot of images that I've taken over the years that I've fallen in love with like one of my friend Soi floating in water (I have this image on my credit card), and a shoot I did this past year with my friend Dave where I had him eat spaghetti with his hands. I love a messy shoot.
What advice would you give anyone trying to get into photography? I think a lot of times, especially when first starting photography, we pull up blanks when trying to think of what to shoot. My advice is to start with your interests and let them lead you to your next shot. If you like cars, go to a track, if you like playing pool, find a table-- explore what you love through your lens.
Where can people find you? I'm all over the interwebs, let's connect! Instagram: @LexBarberio Website: LexBarberio.com Email: Lex@LexBarberio.com
35
36
UNDERSTANDING ME by Lex Barberio
37
38
39
40
Crystal Torres
Photography: Crystal Torres @crystorresphotos
Makeup: Corey Jason @coreyjasoncrysler
Flower crown/ design: @sarahmayfloraldesign.co
Model: @sagraziosi
41
42
43
Credits: Photography: Crystal Torres @crystorresphotos Makeup: Corey Jason @coreyjasoncrysler Flower crown/ design: @sarahmayfloraldesign.co Model: @sagraziosi
44
45
Credits: Model: @tompouncy MUA: @charlotte_williams_mua Outfit: @studiozipcode Photography, editing and creative directions by: Denisa Katraničová @denisakat_photo
46
Denisa Katraničová 47
Credits: Model: @tompouncy MUA: @charlotte_williams_mua Outfit: @studiozipcode Photography, editing and creative directions by: Denisa Katraničová @denisakat_photo
48
Denisa Katraničová 49
50
51
Countessa Taiwo chaves-de-Campos I am a ‘Black British Brave Babe’, in search of new, fun shapes, different styles, something quirky and unusual - a bit like me.
Countessa shares with us her inspiration for the project comes from her childhood where she would play with bratz dolls, while her brother would be a fan of Action Man, and he would enjoy action figures. She took these two worlds and juxtaposed them which in a way translates to a conversation about gender roles and identity. Countessa uses the dolls as a childhood reference but pushes the envelope in order to create something unusual and quite exciting. ‘’This whole project in itself is an oxymoron.’’ - She told us. ‘’When you think of Bratz dolls you think of ‘a sexy fashion forward fierce female’ with lots of feminine energy (someone that’s ready to conquer the world) and these are the foundations of today’s modern day influencer. This is what our modern day social media influencers aspire to be - your stereotypical Kim Kardashians, Jeffree Star. And when you think of an Action Man you think of someone that’s down for an adventure, that’s urban, that’s cool and edgy, daring, assertive with a disregard for consequence and responsibility, and these are all linked to stereotypical masculine traits. I decided to play with this and switch up the gender stereotypes but to make it fun, I had the men radiate a lot of feminine energy rather soft but sexy playful using bright pops of colour, and a brave print. And let’s have the women looking a lot more edgy, almost conceptual-adventurous with shape and fabrics. I had the babes dressed like Action Man and the boys based off Bratz Dolls.''
52
ByBreadAlone 53
54
55
56
57
58
59
Denisa Katraničová
@goldfoilmag www.goldfoil.eu
