ARTIFACTS WHY BLACK AND WHITE?
It’s simple. It’s not distracting. I say it’s simple, but at the same time it’s very
complex. If I were to paint with colors, I could throw a lot of pretty colors onto a canvas and your brain will get it. Your brain will tell you where to look. It’s the instinct nature that we have. With black and white, you don’t tell anyone where to look. Several people could look at the same drawing, at the same time and start at different places.
YOU DON’T DRAFT OR STRATEGICALLY PLAN, HOW DID YOU GET HERE? A LOT OF US PLAN IN ORDER TO AVOID MISTAKES AND YOU SEEM LIKE YOU WOULD JUST EMBRACE THE MISTAKE. A lot of my work is a practice of listening to yourself. To quote my
BEYOND THE LINES WITH SHANTELL MARTIN WHO ARE YOU - YOU ARE YOU - ARE YOU YOU BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON
WHO ARE YOU? I use this question a lot in my work and it’s actually a big, daunting, crazy
allow it to go where it wants instead of forcing it.” You typically think that the pen is the tool and we use the pen, but if you start to imagine that we are the tool and allow the work to flow rather
hesitating, or referencing other people. You can now look back at the work and say, “Oh that’s what I look like.” That’s
than force it, you get used to that. It’s a practice that you learn over time.
where we are from, and talk about
DID YOUR STRONG INTEREST IN MUSIC START WITH YOU WORKING AS A VJ?
roles that we play. I can answer it in a
Music starts from when you are a kid.
WE’VE SEEN YOU FEATURED IN ARTICLES BASED ON LESBIAN ARTISTS, QUEER INDIVIDUALS AND MORE—WHAT DO YOU IDENTIFY AS? OR DO YOU IDENTIFY?
I ended up being a VJ because I spent
It comes down to what box you put
question. The question of “Who are you?” is quite scary because we would typically answer by giving our name,
different way, if you spell out WHO ARE YOU on top of each other and you take away all the letters on your right-hand side, you are left with three letters W-A-Y, way. I am finding my way in life through drawing, writing, and words.
WHEN DID YOU FIGURE OUT YOUR NICHE OR STYLE OF ART?
how I discovered my style.
a lot of my spare time in the clubs dancing. I moved to Japan to teach English, so if I wasn’t teaching I’d be in the clubs. It was a love of music and dancing that led me to these spaces.
We all have style within us! For me that
YOU USE A LOT OF LINES IN YOUR ARTWORK, DO LINES MEAN ANYTHING SPECIFIC TO YOU?
was in Japan. I grew up in London and
Lines for me represent the most
was fortunate enough to get myself into art school, graduate and move to Japan. I accidently ended up working as a VJ (Visual Jockey) and my job was to draw live digital or analog visuals as a DJ, dancer or musician played. When you draw live, you do not have time to think, plan, or be insecure. You only have time to be yourself and draw. Now imagine repeating that scenario and putting yourself in a position
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past self, “You follow the pen and you
where you are not thinking, planning,
yourself in. I think we should lift ourselves above these boxes instead of putting ourselves in them. If I am speaking to someone, I would consider myself a queer black woman of color from a working class background, but I would much rather have the broad title of ARTIST.
simple form of expression. Sometimes
HOW IMPORTANT IS REPRESENTATION TO YOU?
people will look at my work and say “oh
My agenda is to push for freedom
a kid could do that” and that is great. As kids we all draw, make lines and marks for a reason. If we are doing something naturally as children, then there must be a fundamental benefit for that. Japan is a culture that is craft based, about mastery and learning over generations so starting my career there, forced me to think about what I can master.
of expression and enable people to question their identity in a broader sense. Representation is very important, but I see it more as visibility. I feel for me that the class barrier was bigger than the race barrier. If you are from a working class background, there is a perception of you and there is a system that is not beneficial to you. As a child growing up, I didn’t see anyone doing