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Micheal Two Bulls is an Oglala Lakota artist from South Dakota whose work spans an eclectic array of disciplines and mediums. Two Bulls weaves together elements of photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, songwriting, and other creative disciplines to create multi-layered compositions that invite his audiences to question and explore. At the heart of his creative process is a unyielding commitment to collaboration, community, and family. This commitment is reflected in the nature of this interview, which includes Douglas and Reed Two Bulls, family members who feature in many of his creative projects, including The Wake Singers band.

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#artist #musician

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]]> Zykera Tucker is a multi-faceted creative in southeast Washington, DC whose work is fueled by a desire to challenge the spectres of gun violence and designed disconnection within her community. Zykera’s creations, including her flagship gum line called “Gums not Guns,” inspire neighbors and community members to stick around, stay connected, and create solutions to the challenges that fuel their discontent.

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#designer #poet

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]]> Mitzi Akaha, lead in the forthcoming horror film, Bashira, is an actor based in New York City with roots in gymnastics and art. Originally from Ohio and California, she spent several years in Japan learning the language and modeling before making the move to NYC to pursue acting full-time. We caught up with Mitzi at Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn to discuss her winding path, finding joy while striving for perfection, and how curiosity plays into her legacy.

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#actor #illustrator

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]]> From being forced to leave art school before graduation, to jumping straight into freelance design with little to no experience, John Zabawa has taken anything but a traditional path. We talked with him recently about what prompted his move from the Midwest to California (he’d lived in Chicago for ten years before landing in LA); the realities of living and creating as a low-income artist; how point of view may be the great differentiator in the age of the ubiquitous image; and why place and space are everything.

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#artist #designer

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]]> For more than fifteen years, Noah Kalina has carved out a freelance career that manages to strike a balance between fine art and commercial photography. Here, the Barryville, NY-based photographer talks to us about the path he took to get there—the high school awards that gave him the confidence to keep taking pictures; attending art school, and jump starting an independent career by taking $20 head shots out of a small Manhattan apartment; and why he chose to move his life and studio to rural Upstate NY. Despite the ups and downs that working solo can often present, Noah still says he wouldn't have it any other way.

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#photographer

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]]> Portland, Oregon-based designers Elsa and Tyler Lang, AKA Always With Honor, were an ideal match from the start. Though they grew up in seemingly disparate worlds—in Colombia and Florida, and in Vermont—they share a number of similar interests and experiences that continue to inform their lives and creative work today. Here, the duo talks with us about childhood afternoons spent perfecting their favorite sports-team logos, falling in love with the flora and fauna surrounding their homes, meeting in design school and where their path of collaboration has taken them since, and how they manage to remain balanced as a creative couple who lives, works, and enjoys downtime together pretty much 24/7.

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#designer #illustrator #entrepreneur

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]]> Deepa Subramaniam was born and raised at a cultural crossroads—in California's Bay Area and in southern India. As a result, she's learned how to successfully shape-shift between distinctly different worlds; a skill that has made her a better thinker, collaborator, and problem solver. From tiny, disruptive non-profits, to large, high-functioning corporations and startups, and even the Hillary for America campaign, the NY-based digital product director had seemingly done it all before making the move to working for herself. She spoke with us recently about what led to that decision, and how her broad range of experiences has only made her hungry for even bigger conversations and greater impact.

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#digital product director #consultant

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]]> Allan Yu has felt creatively and aesthetically driven his entire life. But it wasn't until he had gone well down the path of predictability—an education and early career in accounting—that he found the courage to finally break away from the identity his parents, and culture, had prescribed. With a client portfolio that includes the likes of Google and The Line, the Brooklyn-based designer has also observed a daily sketch practice over the past two years in order to confront his fears and to continue pushing himself in new, riskier directions. We caught up with him recently to talk about how failure initially fed that daily practice, Mars Maiers; about straddling the line between stability and predictability as a freelancer; and why self-forgiveness and coming to terms with his identity are two of the hardest things he’s had to tackle as a creative.

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#designer

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]]> Shawna X was born and raised at a cultural crossroads; her Chinese heritage on the one side, and a newly-formed Asian American identity on the other. When she moved to the US from China at the age of 7, she quickly realized that language was a barrier to connecting with other kids. So she learned to cultivate a different, more universal kind of language—drawing. Here, the Brooklyn-based artist/designer reflects on rejecting her family's expectations for her future, and how she eventually reconnected with her roots through art. Touching on ethnicity, sexuality, tokenism, and cultural pride, Shawna gives us a glimpse into the backstory that's informed her iconic illustrations and paintings.

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#artist #designer

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]]> Adam J. Kurtz has been making, commodifying, and promoting what he makes since he was just a teenager using the internet to connect and share with community. Here, the Brooklyn-based artist and author reflects on his self-made creative path and process; from setting up shop at church-basement emo shows in the Baltimore suburbs, to the novelty t-shirt that saved him during a period of unemployment, writing his first book of essays, and the accidental mantra that's made all the difference in his outlook.

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#artist #author #designer

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]]> Angel Olsen's music defies any single genre. Since her 2010 EP, the Asheville-based musician/songwriter has released multiple albums, including 2016's acclaimed My Woman, and her most recent, Phases; each with its own distinct vision and sound. Here, Angel reflects on her past year of extensive touring and recording, the inherent politics of making music, the person vs. the performer, and what one stands to learn through the process of looking back.

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#musician #songwriter

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]]> Jessica Bellamy works with creatives at the local and national level to promote conscious and responsible design practices for social change through traveling workshops and motion graphics. Here, the Louisville-based designer discusses her mother’s early influence on her creative drive, the powerful effects of collaboration, and how she’s inspiring designers to join forces with their local communities through GRIDS, the Grassroots Informational Design Studio she founded in 2015.

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#designer

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]]> As the child of designers behind one of Spain's most well-known fashion brands in the '80s, Paloma Lanna spent much of her youth traveling the world with her parents—learning the ins and outs of the industry by closely watching them work. Here, the Barcelona-based photographer and designer talks to us about both the rewards and challenges of growing up in the family business, what she learned by working alongside her mother before starting Paloma Wool, and why experimentation and collaboration with other artists has been critical to keeping the vision for this totally unique fashion project alive.

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#photographer #designer

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]]> Gary Taxali's body of work has influenced many artists and illustrators over the years, and the imprint of his distinctive aesthetic has touched everything from children's books and toys, to album covers, men's fashion accessories, and even 25¢ coins for the Royal Canadian Mint. Here, he recalls childhood days spent in Toronto's Little India, and the impact both Bollywood "bad guys" and Hindustani classical have had on his work; why he's always felt like he was born in the wrong era; and how he's channelled his lifelong love of the classics into a successful, decades-long career as an artist, illustrator, and educator.

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#artist #illustrator #educator

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]]> Laura Letinsky grew up in Winnipeg, where she had the freedom to experiment artistically without any concern over who was watching or judging her. Having since made her life in the US, she continues to push societal norms and expectations though the artwork she makes. From her studio in Chicago, she spoke to us about the roles that tenuousness and imperfection play in her process, why it's important for her to provoke and unsettle by way of the photographic still life, and how there's really no such thing as 'balance' in her life as an artist, professor, and parent.

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#artist

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