Creatives on Campus

Creatives on campus — they’re everywhere. You might pass them on the sidewalk or stand behind them in the line at CoGro without a clue as to the talent that they possess. Luckily, we’re here to expose creative genius on campus and share the inner workings of minds that are far from ordinary. To do so, I sat down with two incredibly artistic and insightful individuals: Fine Art students Danika Baker-Sohn and Habiba Esaad.

Currently completing her third year in the Queen’s Fine Art program, Danika Baker-Sohn is an artist of many talents. Painter, musician, and poet, she is the embodiment of creative passion. But, her artistic abilities extend beyond the studio — Danika is also a two-time model for the Vogue Charity Fashion Show, member of the ASUS Video Committee, and videographer and editor for Spoon University Queen’s. When she’s not in the studio, you can catch her at home recording or playing original music. As an artist that attempts to “do it all,” Danika Baker-Sohn serves as inspiration to those around her, as if to say, “anything’s possible.” You can check out her portfolio on her website: www.everythingdani. com (We highly encourage it).

Another student I was lucky enough to meet is the outspoken Habiba Esaad. Currently finishing her second year in the Fine Art program, Habiba always strives for individuality. She describes her personal aesthetic as translating into her art, as her fashion sense and artistic style are inseparable. Also a fashion designer for Vogue Charity Fashion Show, Art Director of Queen’s Fashion Photography, and Vice President of the Union Gallery, Habiba’s passion is multi-fold. With her growing interest in film photography, she is working towards a photography certificate from the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU) to accompany her Fine Arts degree. To learn more about Habiba and her artistic process, read on and discover her undeniable talent and skill.

Q: Does your work reflect a personal aesthetic? If so, how would you describe it?

A: I think I’m still kind of focusing on getting into the groove of things and learning what my strengths are, both compositionally and technically. I guess I would describe myself as the least organized, organized person. I feel like my work is this balance between organization and disorder.

Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to your first year self?

A: I would tell first year me to be comforted by the fact that what you learn by studying art as a practice is less about “here’s how to paint something” and more about learning how to exercise a different way of thinking. It’s this perspective on life and this lifestyle that you can carry into whatever profession you choose later. You really take what you learn in Fine Art and apply it to any creative field. I think it’s really valuable stuff.

Q: Your talents are multifaceted to say the least — you’re musically, artistically, and poetically inclined. Do you find these different areas overlap in your work? In what ways?

A: Until this point, I’ve really tried to become the most well-rounded artist that I can, and that for me includes film — hugely. I love the idea of creat ing a completely audio-visual artistic piece that is completely created by me — sound, editing, lighting, filming — from start to finish, every aspect of it is from my own mind. That’s where the name “Everything Dani” came from for my website. I really love doing it all. Combining everything I love and everything I’m trying to get better at.

Q: What is one principle that you live by?

A: Honesty. I think having integrity — both personal integrity and artistic integrity — is the biggest thing for me. That translates into making genuine artwork about your honest feelings. If you’re going to live an honest life and go after the things you genuinely believe in, and live by your own morals, then you’re going to be making your truest, best art — and that’s what I want to live by: “making the most honest stuff for who I am.”

Q: Moving forward, how do you plan to incorporate creativity into your life outside of Queen’s?

A: It comes to a point where you hope that an opportunity will match up with your skill set. I think of it like this: there’s going to be a “learning” period and a “doing” period. I’m really hoping that the opportunities I seek out will align with my passions at that moment in time so that I can create my most genuine work. People always say, “do what you love,” and I’m honestly really going to have to, because I don’t think I would be willing to put in the work for anything else.

Q: How would you describe your creative process?

A: I start by painting first, and then I wipe everything off, and then I gesso it again, and then I draw it. Like, it doesn’t make any sense, but I just need to know that I’ve started in order to actually start. I used to do this thing last year, which was really f**king weird: I used to get blueberries and press them into the canvas, and start after that. So, there would always be blueberries underneath my paintings. It was very weird, but I stopped doing that. Basically, I just have to start.

Q: Do you find that the academic aspects of your program in any way limit your creativity? How do you balance these two components?

A: I was doing this one painting last term that was all over the place. The last 24 hours before it was due, I pulled an all-nighter — I actually worked straight for 24 hours — and it came out looking like how I envisioned it. My prof told me, “This is your best one.”So, it really depends, but for the most part, you kind of have to convince your prof, using your technical skill, that your idea is valid.

Q: How and when did fashion become an important aspect of your life?

A: Consistently, it’s always been a passion of mine. It wasn’t really until high school that I started making and sewing my own clothes. One of my favourite things is pairing designer clothing with thrifted stuff — I think that’s so interesting. I’ve always had a large interest in that. I think that thrifting itself opened the door to fashion for me. My dad was huge into collecting records — he still is, and we would always do that together. From there, it extended to clothing.

Q: What is one principle that you live by?

A: Change your palette. Change your life. I feel like all I do is just change sh*t about myself and my art.

Q: Moving forward, how do you plan to incorporate creativity into your life outside of Queen’s?

A: Right now, I’ve kind of been doing a few different things. I’m designing for the Vogue Charity Fashion Show, which is my first experience designing on a larger scale rather than designing for myself or my friends. I made that decision because it’s one of my other options: to enter fashion design. With Queen’s Fashion Photography, it’s more so the photography and film side of fashion. I’ve been trying to keep my options open in terms of what creative field I want to end up in. I think that in the end, even if I decide that I want to be a practicing artist in the traditional sense of painting and drawing, it’s kind of nice to know that I have the tools and the resources to do other things. Not graphic design. I hate graphic design. I like to touch things.

By Lauren Backa | Photography by Anna Maria Li