Struktura (Structure in Russian) is an on-going series of abstract art in monochrome.  It came out as internal reflection on the structured chaos of constant information overload we are experiencing nowadays. We are forced to dig through myriads of visual,  audial, textual voices. We take individual paths of structuring that informational mayhem. These paths form subliminal perception of the world’s hum.  In the series I am trying to make a freeze-frame visualisation of this process.

Struktura, 2020

We are so humbled to introduce you all to vōx, a Musician and Visual Artist living in L.A. vōx will be chatting to us today about her new E.P This Body,  the effect on working during a pandemic and the importance in finding peace.

Original Magazine: Hello vōx!  Tell us a bit about yourself!  Where are you based and what are you currently working on?

 vōx: Hello Original Magazine. My name is vōx (pronounced 'wokes', the latin word for voice). I'm a musician and visual artist living in LA. I just released my new EP This Body.

O.M: How would you describe your art? There appears to be emotional motifs throughout your art and performances. Are these emotions stemmed from personal experiences throughout your life?

vōx: Definitely. All of my art is very personal. I began songwriting at a young age when I hadn't yet learned how to express my emotions in a healthy way, and so it's always helped me work through what I'm feeling.

O.M: Have you always wanted to be an artist? Was there a point in your life where you didn’t know what journey you were embarking on? 

vōx: I think I still often don't know what journey I'm embarking on! But I've always wanted to be an artist. I think aspirations are important for growth, but even more important is being open to growing in ways you've never expected.

O.M: Your E.P has recently been released (Congratulations, we’re big fans!) how was the creative process for you? It’s a hard time for musicians and performers at the moment due to the pandemic, has this had an impact on you and the way you work?

 vōx: Thank you! I actually wrote and finalized many of the songs in October 2019, and that November I went to Toronto to complete the production with my longtime collaborator Alexander Vincent. 

The pandemic has had a huge impact on the way I work. There are positives and negatives. Obviously, the most depressing part is losing the ability to perform in real life. It's important to remember that for most musicians live shows are the majority of their income. Especially artists like me who aren't yet on a big level! Many musicians lost all of their income this year, myself included. 

On the upside, having so much time at home is unusual for me. I'm often traveling 75% of the year, which I do love. I've gotten back into a quieter headspace with the downtime though, and I'm writing more songs than I have since I was a teenager! 

O.M: After viewing your OnlyFans page, we can see that you use this in a very unique way, what made you want to use OnlyFans to showcase your art?

vōx: I'm certainly not alone in being frustrated with the ways social media both helps and hinders artists. Platforms like Instagram are a sort of evil necessity these days, and growing an audience on them that you then can only reach by paying for ads is the norm. I've been dreaming for a while of a platform where I could commune with my audience without restrictions and in a way that gives both of us a deeper sense of connection. My followers on OnlyFans don't have to worry about algorithms showing only some (if any!) of my posts to them or censorship deleting the content that feels most free and true to me as an artist.

O.M: We were lucky enough to see you perform in ROBERTSWOOD presentation during London Fashion Week last year, how did this opportunity come about? Has modelling always been a part of your artistry?

vōx: Our connection was so fortuitous! I reached out to them once I knew I would be at LFW, and we found we held a lot of the same reasons for creating our art and were touching similar topics. 

I've loved modelling since I was a teenager, but I struggled with low self esteem and a lot of anxiety, so I spent quite a bit of my time taking self portraits. It wasn't until my late twenties that I gained enough confidence to start posing in front of other people's cameras.

O.M: And finally, if you could offer one piece of advice to any aspiring musician especially going through this pandemic, what would it be?

vōx: A key for me is finding peace in the place I am now instead of being frustrated with the things I'm no longer allowed to do. It's not an easy thing to do! Mindfulness can help since it brings you back into the present moment where gratitude lives. It's also been a prime time to figure out what things really matter to me and, for me as an artist, to work on disconnecting my self worth from the things I make. 

Thank you so much for chatting to us! vōx’s new E.P This body  is out now!! ������

Interview with Musician and Visual Artist vōx

Within a diaframe the decelerated proces of a decaying flower is contained. Over a period of time we may encounter this very same flower at different stages. One of these moments is captured in a still, enlarged and illuminated in order to depict & enhance its beauty and fragile nature.


Flower

This serie explore the land with stones and vegetation.
The first action was to immerse myself in quarries and uninhabited places before to take pictures.
After this, I worked on my images in darkroom. My rule was to not transform the image in a digital form. I didn’t wanted to transform the analogue quality like the grain. I also wished to keep the materiality in photography.

Then, I selected some parts in the films to enlarge it. Those enlargements relate to my experience in the environment; my perception in the visited places just as the sensibility felt in the space.
Finally, the work is presented in many different form. On one hand, there is the originals prints on matt baryta paper. On the other hand, the images are projected on large format to increase the immersion to the viewers.

The images are extracted and created from 3 original analog prints. 

LAND

Pods explores the surreal . Placed in flooded sand pits in Horsell common. The sand pits were the inspiration for H.G. Wells sci-fi book the war of the worlds and the place where his space ship landed . These pods are cast in aluminium resin , there organic bodily forms resembling surreal seed pods. Each po 50cm x 50cm . Steel supports varied heights max 180cm

Pods, Installation Horsell Common, Woking UK.

The Legend of Okjökull is a large scale painting, 72 x 120 inches (183 x 305 cm). Okjökull was an glacier in Iceland, but declared dead in 2014 by Oddur Sigurosson, one of the country’s leading glaciologists. The site is now marked with a plaque that warns “In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path.” It is Iceland’s first glacier lost to climate change. The painting is based on NASA’s September 14, 1986 arial photograph of the glacier. My goal was to turn the image into a sign of warning and a monument to the glaciers’ past majesty. With this in mind, I selected the color yellow to signify instability, caution, and sickness, while painting the Okjökull purple, a majestic color of nobility, dignity, and grandeur. 

The Legend Of Okjökull

'The Host' is a character I created specifically for my Degree Show. It was supposed to walk around interacting with the audience and other artists' pieces during the opening night - almost in a Disneyland-like way. Unfortunately, I was only able to wear it for a photoshoot with Johann Kööp. All photos are credited to him.

'the host' (2020)

Performance, 2019

35 minute performance incorporating an improvised vocal soundtrack.
I first created a white painting surface by rolling out paper on the stage.
I then changed into an all white outfit and donned a light blonde wig.
With a brush and black paint I sketched a large circle, I then began
painting the circle with my wig. Once the circle was complete I spoke
the words “no dignity in death” into a microphone connected to a delay
pedal. I stood in the center looking out into the audience as my words
slowly faded out over 3 minutes.


No Dignity in Death

The subjects that Zülal Çizmeci worked onfor her curiosity in psychology the basic subfields of psychology are concepts related to the human psyche and especially momentary moods. Only the moment is real in the background of your work, while arguing that everything else is temporary, it focuses on the human spirit that changes and transforms in the face of all the conditions of today's world. For this reason, she examines the effects of current issues that cause individual and social discomfort on human psychology and conveys them with her works.She uses  by opening the reality of the visuals the emotions and ideas  that she wants to highlight symbolizing it with the of marbling art presents its own surreal world to the audience.

Dear Diary..

September 2020

40x40x40 cm

apoxie sculpt, metal armature

Golem

Dans cette ville, la vie des habitants se construit autour de l'immense bassin d'eau, et, les maisons sur pilotis se développent à mesure que la population s'accroît. Le lac communiquant avec la mer, l'eau n'y est pas potable bien que le niveau de salinité varie avec les saisons. Les déchets liés au mode de vie sont déversés directement dans le lac par les habitants mais ce dernier reste préservé grâce à l'ensoleillement qui permet une désinfection naturelle. Les Ganvienou pratiquent ainsi la pêche et la pisciculture sur ce lac épargné par la pollution industrielle.

Ganvié la Venise de l'Afrique

„Resting Pieces“ | photography on Alu Dibond | 2020 | 60 x 40 cm

Resting pieces

As an artist, I’ve always admired and appreciated the formation process of a landscape. The dynamics of the landscape are strongly affected by the organisms that inhabit it and the elements that shape it. The structures of a landscape are created through a multitude of factors. In my opinion, this dynamic is the main reason why a landscape is an embodiment of a perfect creation. As an artist, I am striving to create something as sublime as a landscape.

In this project, I research my position in relation to the landscape and try to figure out what I can contribute. How does my ability to create, compare to the abilities of nature? What kind of positive influence and value can I provide as a human being?

To exercise this influence and to create the essential dynamic, I needed to use the same organisms and elements that one finds in nature. Through experiments with capturing landscapes through photography and drawing, I have gained a better understanding of the specifics of the factors necessary to create a landscape. Based on these findings I started to create my own landscapes. To construct, I was required to work together with nature. Within these landscapes, I have mainly experimented with the power of plants, animals, water, and human beings. Working with nature in this sense has made me question my position in the chain of creation. Only through partnership with nature itself, would I be able to achieve to gain a higher position within this chain.

As I shaped my self-made landscapes, the landscapes also shaped my vision. My perception evolved similarly to the evolution process of existing landscapes. One thing I’ve learned is to see the beauty, importance and influence of small beings instead of only bigger factors and gave them refuge in my own landscape. The landscape I created is a symbiosis of natural and cultural elements that are carefully selected and combined.

Positioning in the Chain of Creation

Brooklyn masculinity 


The concept of masculinity has been fueling my photographic research.

What fascinates me about the world we live in is the multitude of cultures, mindsets and actions spread across the globe. Social constructs develop over time, as society takes shape. I am in a phase of mass questioning; what are these boxes society created and put each individual into, and how we do, or don't, follow the norms of these social constructs?
Are we, as individual human beings, able to truly think for ourselves, or do we inevitably follow some sort of social guideline no matter how alternative and off the grid one may think to be. 


In this series I wish to open up the conversation regarding the concept of masculinity; what it means to men today and how they engage with it, navigating through the pressures of social conditioning. Through this photographic series I’ve interviewed my male Brooklyn subjects, asking them to reflect upon their upbringing and if they felt compelled to act accordingly. To my surprise, they answered with awareness that indeed they were attributed a roll which they  took on. 


Social constructs and conditioning keep on shaping behavior, and for the most part, people don't even question their beliefs, doings, actions and reactions. I wish to engage with my subjects, and viewers, inviting them to reflect. The process of taking a step back from our patterned life and habits, taking the time to actually think about our attitude in regards to what a citizen would consider the norm is my humble invitation to begin a thought process thus opening the conversation. 


Masculinity 

As long as we can open the window - Getting some fresh air these days, getting a new dimension.

Digital Collage
Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle William Turner Paper
50x65cm
Limited Edition of 10

As long as we can open the window

Name: Dreamer
Date: 2019
Size: 30 x 20 cm 
Medium: Mixed media on paper (framed)
Category: Collage 

Featured in the solo exhibition ‘American Poetry Through a Painter’s Eye’ (2020) and in the group exhibition ‘Athens Open Art’ (2020), both in Athens, Greece. Inspired by the poem ‘Dream Dust’ by Langston Hughes. 

Dreamer

2007 - 2017 - ongoing 

Digital photography project 

current edition:
52 x 52 x 5 cm
1 / 5 

Direct colour transfer on aluminium,
permanent ink marker, black aluminium frame. 

Border Lines is a minimalist photography project that spans for a period of over 10 years, with first prints being show at young art biennale in Moscow Museum of the contemporary art in 2008. It is a series of digital photographs of airport service vehicles guidelines on asphalt. Capturing the act of crossing borders, it focuses on the aesthetic of industrial mark making techniques framed in a minimalist composition, exploring the notion of borders as formal lines on the ground, which may remain abstract for one audience yet represent restrictions and rules for others. Suggesting that the city marked by the lines is place where set rules are being played out and experienced by different communities in different ways.

'BORDER LINES' 

These are made with a special technique that I developed inspired from a stone I found at the beach. 
Different colours stoneware, unglazed. 
Handmade with coiling technique, one of a kind pieces. 

Layers of time

Celebrating apart - my dad was 80years old at the end of January. A fine old age. He is fit & well, has listened to advice, stayed at home majority of the time since last March, and kept himself and my mum safe.
He has even had the first dose of the vaccination a couple of weeks ago.
​
The lockdown has disrupted many celebrations - a year ago we would have enjoyed a family lunch out, moaned about who was sitting where and argued over the bill!
​
Now it’s door step present and food parcel drop offs, plus zoom bingo - how things have changed!

Celebrating Apart

Yohana Oizumi is a Brazilian visual artist who lives and works in São Paulo. In 2019 she graduated from the University Center of Fine Arts in São Paulo. 

Artist of The Month ArtConnect Magazine February 2021 (Berlim).Contemplated by the residency FAMA MUSEUM Meios e Processos 2020. Finalist of the DASARTES PRIZE 2021.
Participates in exhibitions as in (BRAZIL) SUBSOLO, MuBA,  Goethe Institut, Instituto and Tomie Ohtake Núcleo de Cultura.(PORTUGAL) Galeria Ocupa and CAAA Centro para os Assuntos de Artes e Arquitectura.(GERMANY) NextMuseum io.(ITALY) Millepiani. (CUBA) FIVAC. (SOUTH KOREA) CICA MUSEUM.

Her research is focused on the resistance of some materiality, through the clash between "bodies"until the
exhaustion of matter and or self She is attentive at visceral aspects. 
"Getsemani", 2020/ "Sub Versões", 2019 and "After the Seventh Day", 2019 are performance that questions social control systems and their physical and psychological consequences by deconstructing, reconstructing, accepting and reframing marks and molds.

In "Inside Out", 2020 she crumpled a paper with her hands dirty with ink, until its fibers were exhausted and then she watched the light through the grooves and veins of this paper, i n this context, in "Flesh of My Flesh", 2020,  she reflected on discovering the inside out and on the internal possibilities that are similar to all people the visceral. The first work is a crumpled paper, the second is a sweet potato. The artist observes her daily life looking for aspects of the human body that characterize the visceral psychological.

Photography Credits:
"Getsemani", 2020 | Isadora Falcão. 
"After the Seventh Day", 2019 | Isadora Falcão, Raquel Cutin and Sophia Donadelli.

Add

Artists

Opportunities

For Artists

ArtConnect

Support