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Tuesday 29 November 2011

artist showcase #5

This week I'm featuring one of my most favourite girls in the whole world. Not only is she beautiful and fun, but she's also ridiculously talented and hard working :) Anne Bengard (aka Blondie)


1. Can you give us a little bit of your background?

I was born in Leipzig, Germany, raised in Berlin and came to England in 1997...to sunny Devon! I've been living in London for the last four years. Last year I graduated from Central Saint Martins with a BA (hons) in Performance Design and Practice and now I work freelance in many fields including events, art curation and as an artist myself.
I'm currently (and always have been) really into mermaids...or merms as I now like to call them and have been focusing my art on all things merm.
Mermaids have been portrayed as evil seductresses luring sailors to their death in old tales but also as a sad little creature full of dreams who's heart is broken through being in love. The mermaid is an interesting character and creature to explore and I like creating my own little characters and worlds to get lost in.


2. Did anything in particular make you go into your field of work?

Pure love! I've always concentrated on creative subjects throughout education trying out different creative fields and disciplines...illustration, performance, photography, product design, set and costume design, graphic design...I've had a little go at them all but I always seem to come back to drawing and painting. That's what I want to do and where my passion lies. Plus i have been drawing mermaids since I was about four.


3. What inspires you?

Soooo many things. I'm loving all the pop surrealist art that's emerging from Japan and America at the moment. Some of my favourites are Audrey Kawasaki, Gary Baseman Junko Mizuno and James Jean.
I'm a huge fan of Japanese culture. I grew up with anime and have been collecting Manga since I was 12. I think that shows in my art.
At the beginning of this year I was living in Berlin for a couple of months. There I was spending a lot of time with my flat mates little daughter and she really opened my eyes and made me remember the beauty of childish optimism, innocence and imagination.
I've been involved in London's fetish scene since I've lived here too and have been working for Torture Garden since 2008. You see some really amazingly creative outfits and styles there which is awesome.
Fashion heavily inspires me too...I get so inspired just flicking through a magazine and looking at pictures. I have watched Alexander McQueen's 'Plato's Atlantis', spring/summer 2010 on youtube so many times now. I love the story and concept behind it and advise everyone to watch it...it is mind blowing!. I like how he started that collection by looking 'Plato's Atlantis' up on wikipedia...that's the kind of approach any university course would frown upon. The man was a genius.


4. How do you work?

Firstly I clean...everything has to be clean, tidy and ordered otherwise I can't focus and explode. Then I'll put on some music. I really love the podcasts from a record label called Minus and one called Leisure System. Then I gather some visuals to inspire me and get to work! I have regular tea breaks and stuff myself with wasabi peas or ginger nuts whilst taking pictures at different stages of my work which I then put on my blog. I think the process is as interesting and valid as the outcome.


5. What's your favourite medium to work with?

That's a hard one...my work is very mixed media. But I love painting with Quink at the moment. You get some really great colours from it when you use it with lots of water.


6. Which piece of work are you most proud of?

I really like all my colourful little merm pictures but recently I did a tattoo design for my friend Kreios who recently passed away. It's a piece going from his chest over his shoulder and down his back: a flow of different worlds and creatures merging into one another. I gave it to his family after his funeral and it made them really happy which in turn made me really happy. I'm pretty sure Kreios would have liked it too.


7. What are you upto right now (work-wise)?

I'm working on a couple of tattoo designs for some people. One sleeve design which is going to be epic and two leg pieces. I'm also organising the art exhibition for the next Rumpus (www.rumpusparty.co.uk) which will be in London on the 2nd December and will be making a shrine to honour Kreios, my friend who passed away. I'm also working on finishing my website and making more paintings on card board which I have some big plans for...


8. Anything else you think we should know?

I have fins.



9 comments

  1. I love Mermaids, and these paintings are so pretty, wish I could create things like that! I definitely can see the Japanese influence and I love it ^_^

    Lisamello xx

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  2. such a unique style! loving the 2nd picture in particular :) x

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  3. I'm in awe! I love mermaids so much so these pieces are perfect!

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  4. These are so mad and wonderful! I love the "Inky's tattoos" picture. x

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  5. I personally love the one on the cardboard the best, I love being creative and drawing on things other than just paper, I think it gives it a really nice effect too. Thank you for sharing with us! x

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  6. Hi :)
    Just thought I'd let you know that I'm having a GIVEAWAY on my blog, which you can find here:
    http://www.fashion-infatuation.com/2011/11/giveaway-purple-heart-shaped-silver.html
    I would love it if you entered it!
    xx
    Maria from Fashion Infatuation

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your sweet comments :) if you have any questions please tweet them to me @beinglittle ! x

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