Benjamin Murphy has a new show in London: Iconoclasm

British artist Benjamin Murphy presents his latest work at UNION gallery in London. And we couldn't be more excited about it! We’ve known Benjamin since around the time our project ROOMS was being born; he’s always been so passionate about art and the artist community. We’re loving his new work and very much enjoying following his artistic journey.

Benjamin’s current work revolves around the use of charcoal on raw canvas, its challenges and unpredictability. His fascination for this medium is central to his work. And though houseplants and cut flowers are the pictorial protagonists, they are only the medium to explore deeper questions on the limited freedom and controlled existence of these green companions. Faithful to his monochromatic distinctive style, his pieces embrace beauty and chaos, contradictions. But it's their subtle darkness which keeps us as enthralled as unsettled.

We took this opportunity to interview Benjamin and find out more about him.

What made you become an artist? When and how did you decide you wanted to be one? 

It was a real accident. I studied art out of a reluctance to join the real world. I enjoyed the freedom from responsibility that art college allowed, and so I went to university in search of more of the same. I then moved to London on a whim and got an unpaid internship at a gallery/events space in Hoxton. It was a perfect combination of that reluctance to get a 'career' and the recklessness needed to forego stability (and money - because this pursuit necessitates many, many years of living in absolute penury). I lived in the gallery and ate poorly, getting used to the discomfort that's unavoidable when you start out on a journey such as this. 

I was making work obsessively and I started getting asked to be in small DIY shows around East London. Things just snowballed from there really. It was never the plan.

What does actually being an artist mean to you? 

Freedom. Not only the freedom to make what I want to make (which is great), but also the ability to choose how I spend my own time, unbeholden to anyone. That is the greatest thing in the world. I may not be a millionaire in monetary terms, but I am in time. To me that is much more valuable.

As an artist, what do you worry about? Do you ever feel like saying ‘fuck this shit!’? 

I've never been a worrier, but artistic block makes me feel under pressure, distressed, and overwhelmed at times. I'm fortunate that I have a few different creative outlets though, so if the artwork just isn't flowing I move on for a while and do some writing or something instead of trying to force it.

I don't think I could ever fully go "fuck this shit" and walk away from it all no. To me it's an obsession that is so linked to my very being that I wouldn't be able to abandon it. It would be like cutting off a limb.

Tell us about the kind of work you are currently doing?

At the moment I'm working in charcoal on raw canvas, embracing the chaos that such a medium presents. The works explore contradictions; delicate flowers with violent mark-making, beauty and chaos, yin and yang etc.

How important are the art materials you use? Are you picky about brands, qualities, etc, or you adapt rather easily to whatever is available?  

I use a variation of charcoals. Willow for the sketching out and the edges, compressed charcoal for all the dense black areas, and charcoal pencils for working on paper.

I've been recently making my own charcoal though. Experimenting with different types of woods and different burn durations etc. I'm yet to really nail the process, so I've yet to really use it in my work but it's getting there. Once I've nailed that I'm going to make my own paper too and use the charcoal on it.

Who has been a major influence to you, as a person and artist?

Here's a list: Leo Tolstoy, Marina Abramović, Edvard Munch, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Marcel Proust, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Cornelia Parker, Mona Hatoum.

What makes your creative juices flow?

ADHD.

Which artist would you like to go out for dinner with tonight? 

I've been out for dinner with Ant Hamlyn, Oli Epp, Peter Doyle, and Conor Murgatroyd a lot in the last year, so maybe I'd just have them all together, ideally somewhere with chilli margaritas.

Is there an artist you’d very much like to read their interview?

Marina Abramović - if you're reading this drop me a line on MSN Messenger and let's plan that two person retrospective.

David Bray’s Right Wrong Turn

David Bray is an illustrator and designer whose works are a glimpse into another world, a surreal landscape of cartoon characters and pin-up girls. His surreal new show Wrong Turn is open now at Stolenspace Gallery. 

BM -Text is almost always present in your drawings, but often it seems to have little connection with the drawing itself, what is the relation between the two elements? 

DB - In my mind there is a connection, two separate elements from the same story. I try and invoke the drawings with a narrative. Maybe this gets lost as the drawings develop but the text remains - like a chapter title or a header. There is a hint of misdirection with the text.

BM – You often draw onto unorthodox papers, e.g. lined paper, hotel paper, postcards etc. This gives the work a spontaneous and haphazard quality, which contrasts nicely with the exquisitely drawn forms. Is this an intentional thing or do you just draw on whatever you have to hand? 

DB - I'd like to say it was intentional and could claim a more intelligent reasoning! I draw on whatever is to hand, there’s no reason to not draw just because you don't have the posh paper. I'm glad that you see the spontaneous nature - it very much is to get the drawing down as soon as the idea comes, so it is using what is to hand. No point in waiting to get to the art shop to get material. No point in procrastination. Not all the drawings come out right, and not all the ideas are particularly smart - but the itch needs to be scratched.

BM – I have noticed that you seem to sketch a drawing first before you draw it, and then exhibit the sketches as well as the more polished drawing. How important is this process of sketching and then exhibiting both? 

DB - The quick sketch is to get the idea on paper before distractions fritter it away. Old brain needs cue cards. I never use to show these naive little sketches, but they have their own charm and thought, and they add another to dimension to the whole.

BM – What relevance have the cartoon characters which you often parody, to the artworks that you juxtapose them into? 

DB – I was obsessed with cartoons as a child and would copy them repeatedly. Maybe something about this repetition was comforting against the chaos of the outside world. I'm dragging back the comfort of childhood and soothing my fevered brow as the bills stack up and real life comes calling.

BM – In the press release I noticed that some of your influences are very sexual, (Eric Stanton, Nobuyoshi Araki) and oddly perverse (Eric Gill). Why do you think that sexuality is such a great source of inspiration for a lot of artists? 

DB – We are all perverts. I see a similar influences in your work Mr. Murphy.

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BM – Did you really meet the Yossarian character or is that a reference to Catch-22, and if so can you please tell me a little more about the encounter? 

DB – I went with Georg Lubitzer to the States because he wanted to make field recordings of soil for a project he is working on. I don't ask why, but always glad to be on board. Unfortunately we are very poor at orientation and took a few wrong turns. One in particular that led us up a mountain to a small encampment/community. At first there was a bit of suspicion with a hint of hostility but I think when they realised we were not C.I.A. and just a couple of European idiots it became an interesting week. 

They introduced me to the Illuminatus Trilogy amongst other things and when we left they handed us a list that we needed to use in our next respective projects. I've stayed true to the promise I rashly made.

The main man up the mountain was calling himself Yossarian, and he was the most 'alive' person I have ever met. He seemed genuinely interested in the things we were up to in our everyday lives. I'm not sure he thought too much about a lot of what I'd been up to, and said he would create a list of elements that I had to use to 'open the gate that I found myself barred by'. He was very insistent. I was drawn in and fell right in line, which is why the show looks like it does. Each piece has what looks like randomly placed elements, but these are actually placed specifically to map star constellations. These constellations contain a message from the Earth to the Universe (so I’m told, and who am I to argue? I’m not going to argue with the Universe, I’m from Bromley) there are many other codas that I barely understand / understood but visually they work and make a cohesive show, so I think I followed the right path.

Everything is painted on found boards and framed in reclaimed timber. The paint used was found while clearing my Father's garage - the same with the brushes. On the list that Yos wrote, the first 3 lines were 'find wood', 'find paint', and 'find brushes'. Within a week of returning home all this stuff had appeared, previously hidden but now ready and available. It made me feel quite weird to be honest.

For every influence I told him I was currently into he wrote a 'counterpoint', with versus against it. So if I said 'Eric Stanton' he wrote 'versus Eric Gill' and so on. The drawings became a blend of these elements and subjects.

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BM – The title Wrong Turn suggests that you are taking a different route with your artwork, or that you regret what has gone before. Is this the case, and if not what does the title mean to you? 

DB – the show is called Wrong Turn...without the error in direction none of this would have happened. But this also reflects that the new body of work is a swerve to a different route, a different way of presenting my ramblings. 

I don't regret anything that has gone before, I’m just looking for new ways to test myself and keep myself interested. If you stick on the same path, the familiar route then you create a rut - there is safety in the security of repeating yourself but sometimes you have to climb out of the ditch and try run up the hill. You might not make it to the top but at least you gave it a go. For me to talk about running up hills is actually quite wrong. A better analogy would be shuffling to the pub but ordering a gin and tonic rather than the usual.

David’s show is on at Stolenspace gallery until the 12th of April.

David Bray

Stolenspace

Benjamin Murphy

TOY, A psychedelic update

TOY, a rising band on the rock and psychedelic scene, made a significant breakthrough last year with their new song It’s been so Long.

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Bursting through in a wave of 80s nostalgia and an updated beat, this is a song that paves the way to a new era in today’s music. Say goodbye to the angry four chords of the Noughties and hello to the mellow tones of Tom Dougall, alongside rippling strumming and an interesting manipulation of backing vocals. 

This isn’t a tribute band to the great eras past; this is an updated, interesting and totally re-invented perspective on the idea of rock and post-punk invention. Electric pianos have not sounded this cool since 1989; and this band hits a hard punch to the criticism of modern music. This band proves you can be new different and relevant while drawing on the ideas and forms of the past. 

The album Join the dots is a bit like an Klimt painting; it is dazzling, outrageous and undeniably beautiful, while unashamedly bringing what worked from the previous genre and leaving what didn’t. The musicians, especially guitarist Dominic O’Dair and bassist Maxim Barron perform with a fluid talent and ear for tempo, while the dark softness of the vocals contrasts with the metaphoric lyrics.

Every song is different; you time travel from a dark concert in the late eighties to the strange lucidity of sixties indie concerts. There are even elements of goth from the nineties somewhere in the collage of ideas and forms, that actually work really well. It sounds overwhelming, but, as much as it shouldn’t, it really works. 

One member, Alejandra, the phenomenally talented keyboard player, stands out as bringing a great deal of mystery and depth through her formulaic but unusual interpretation of electric keyboard and synth melodies. She adds not only a brilliant update on the breakthroughs of the past but a strong identity. to the work of the band

We spoke to her about her experiences working in the band and the genre.

When and why did you start playing? 

We started playing a few years ago, we all have played instruments individually since we were very young, but as a band we have been playing for at least 5 years.

What are your fondest musical memories in your environment around you?

My fondest musical memories would definitely have to be with my mum, she had a great record collection which we used to

listen to together in different situations. It was never forced, music was just always going on in the house.  It was just normal.

What was the first tune(s) you learned?

Well, I am the synth player in the band.  I don't think I have ever tried to learn tunes like a

guitar player would do. You just have to get used to your machine, experiment and see what happens! 

Which musicians do you admire?

There really are many, in different genres, eras, bands... I guess the first who comes to mind is Lou Reed, he is very important, but naming just him would be limiting myself, there really are many many many...

Describe your first instrument. 

My first instrument was a Spanish guitar that I got when I was 6, I still have it and has holes and cracks everywhere, but it's a classically built guitar and it still sounds better than any non electric guitar I've ever heard.

Which sounds/visuals/artists/albums give you a real buzz-how do you stay inspired? 

I stay inspired by making music, I get inspired by any record, artist I listen to that means something, I get inspired by playing together, by anything meaningful really, I don't think there is anything specific or tangible.

What is a day in the studio like?

We play through ideas, develop songs, practice songs we know already, or just see what happens, we always have a great time, it'd be pointless otherwise.

TOY

Catching up with Rachel Kennedy from FLOWERS

THE BEGINNING 

I started playing piano when I was about 4, and have played music ever since though on a variety of different instruments.

I loved singing along to music with my mum in the car on long journeys or even just home from school... She always had loads of Dolly Parton, Nina Simone and Tom Waits CDs in her car, and all the Tarantino sound tracks, so it was always stuff like that.  Also my dad is an amazing classical cellist, and I used to go stay at his flat on weekends, and I loved waking up listening to him practising the Bach cello suites on Sunday mornings. 

FIRST LYRICS  

"C The Cat"... Followed eventually by "D The Dog" (the first consisted of playing LOTS of "C" notes on the piano... You can guess the second!) 

FASCINATED ABOUT…

I just always think it's amazing how someone can write a song and it come out so good... I don't even know how we do it when we write a song we like ourselves!  It always seems like magic to me.  

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MY INSTRUMENTS

My first instrument was my piano... I still have it today, had to get a winch to get it out of our old flat into this one through the window!  It's over 100 years old now so it sounds very soft but it still sounds bell-like and beautiful.  Currently my favourite instrument to play with is a Fender Jazzmaster... I'm really bad at guitar but the neck on the Jazzmaster really fits my hand well and it just sounds great so it's helping me get better at guitar, along with lots of help from Sam!

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO…

We go through periods of listening to different albums over and over, so the answer to the question is always different... But the last few days we've been listening to Closer by Joy Division lots, as well as Ramones (we always listen to lots of them) and Evans The Death's new album which we think is brilliant.

STAYING CREATIVE

For me anyway that's not really a conscious thing or something I have any control over even... I feel like I've always had bursts of feeling very creative and wanting to make something (not always music necessarily), and some days I just don't feel like it.  I never try and force it because if I'm having an uninspired sort of day and I try and make myself write a song or paint a picture it won't come out so good.  Luckily, most days we feel like writing songs so we have a lot of them!

A DAY IN THE STUDIO…

Mostly our home is our studio so we just sit down with some tea and have fun making noises and eventually a song comes out!  We usually write them very quickly and record as we're writing so that all happens very quickly and spontaneously.  Once the song is recorded the process of mixing starts (which mostly falls to Sam as he's much more technically apt than I am) and that's a very concentrated few hours and usually we end up with big headaches and tired eyes, but also with a new song to be excited about.  

MUSIC IS…

Pretty much everything.  Music and the people (and dog) I love are my whole life.

LAST WORDS

We're on tour tomorrow, and very excited about it!

TOUR DATES

Tue 3 March - BRIGHTON - The Prince Albert
Wed 4 March - FALMOUTH - Shipwrights
Thur 5 March - BRISTOL - Roll to The Soul
Fri 6 March - MANCHESTER - The Castle
Sun 8 March - BIRMINGHAM - Hare and Hounds
Mon 9 March - NEWCASTLE - The Cluny
Tue 10 March - YORK - The Basement
Wed 11 March - LEICESTER - Magic Tea Pot
Thur 12 March - RASMGATE - Music Hall

Introducing French Touch 3.0: French Kiwi Juice

Founded in 2012, the Roche Musique label generates a signature sound that is futuristically classy and – better still – unmistakably French. Found amongst the Roche Musique alumni, which is one heavy-hitting bunch including artists such as Kartell, Cézaire and Cherokee, is 24-year-old resident FKJ. His criminally smooth sound, sophistically transcending the limitations set by traditional music making, is totally addictive (and a personal favourite). We had a chat with one-to-watch FKJ about music, Paris and all things groovy. 

Tell me a little bit about yourself?

My interest in music started early on. I would visit my uncle’s studio in Sydney and even though I didn’t know how to use any of the equipment I was completely hooked. I would even sleep there. My earliest musical encounter was listening to my father’s records from the 70s and 80s – you know, Police, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd... that kind of thing. Later my friends and I would listen to Hip-Hop on the radio. I was really into that for a while. I always loved music and sure, it was a dream to be able to make music for a living, but that dream was big. When I moved to Paris three years ago I had a job letting sound equipment for photo shoots and commercials. I didn’t like the job much but I got to use the equipment and was able to do some recordings. There wasn’t really a “defining moment”. I was doing odd-job gigs one moment and suddenly I was making music!

Tell me about about the way you work?

For the last two months I’ve had a real studio, which has made an enormous difference. Before I was working in my bedroom and because of my roommates I had to stop at 10pm. Now I can go on until 5am, if I’m feeling it. I share the studio with two other artists from the label – Kartell and Darius. Whereas especially Kartell keeps quite a regular schedule, I work more hardcore hours. During the day I’m out a lot, taking pictures, having lunch with friends, going to art exhibitions and often having a few drinks at night. I live in Paris and I love to get lost in the city – there is always something to do and I manage to find inspiration everywhere! If something hits me, I will record a vocal melody on my iPhone and then go to my “emergency studio” at home, where I have the essentials to compose if I need to. The best songs are the ones in my head – the spontaneous ones. I often find that too much planning makes mediocre music. 

What does music mean to you? 

For me it is about the music in itself, not the genre or style. Some periods I am deeply into one thing, two months later it’s something else. When you listen to a lot of different things, and listen properly, you begin to understand the style and the different elements proper to each style. You appreciate not only the music, but the context as well. For me the main thing is having fun in the studio – with a stick, a glass, vocals, anything really. If I feel something is missing I will explore that particular cord obsessively until I really know it. I am always discovering and there continues to be stuff to learn. The beauty is that you can learn anything from anyone; the more open you are, the more you can absorb!

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And Roche Musique, what’s the story?

I’ve been part of Roche Musique for two years and it is like a little family. The manager, Jean Janin (Cézaire), is one of best friends and we were friends long before either of us got into music. We are eight to ten artists under the label and we all know each other and hang out every week. Sometimes we do tracks together, mixing sounds and playing around with some tunes. The process is interesting because you never know how it will turn out. Despite the similarity in style we all have different tastes and approaches. For example, I recently created a track with Darius and the way we combined our styles to create something distinctive from both our sounds was awesome and it really worked. On the other hand, the first time we tried it didn’t work – it was too planned! 

So, to you, what makes Roche Musique stand out? 

I don’t know any other label that brings this level of French groove – that uniquely French touch. I really feel like we are the best representatives of French funk. Apart from that, and the environment of course, I also like the visual side of the label, the cover artworks. For someone who has always loved visuals and photography, that means something too. Essentially, it’s a super supportive environment, in which we all share one main goal – it’s all about the groove! 

What inspires you? 

I am very much influenced by the atmosphere around me. If I were alone in the world, if nobody was around to listen, no doubt my music would be different. That atmospheric inspiration would be missing. But, once that is said, I make music first and foremost for me. There is a lot of pressure on young artists, once their music starts to take off, to conform to what is “expected” of them. Because of the type of music I make I am often associated with the club scene, but personally I don’t really care about fitting a certain scene. When I was younger I was more concerned with these artificial boundaries, trying to “fit in”, but all that really resulted in was fixing limits for my creativity. You have to stay true to yourself and the kind of stuff you enjoy making – even if it transcends borders. That makes your music honest and honesty is vital.

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For sure! And finally, what’s the best part of making music?

When my state of mind is right, it’s euphoric. It’s better than any drug, and such a big part of my music. Of course travelling and making gigs is always amazing. Meeting people and performing, having the opportunity to communicate the euphoric state I was in when I created a track is a special feeling. More than anything, I’d like to be able to think of myself as a composer of good atmosphere. That’s it, that’s what it’s all about for me – creating something groovy and having fun while I do it. 

ROCHE MUSIQUE

ANNA POGOSSOVA-Playful Master of modern still life

Moscow-born Anna Pogossova studied Fine Arts in Sydney. With a major in Photomedia and a flair for the waggish, Anna explores the dialogue between old and new, between still life and fashion. 

Would you say your art is provocative? 

Not intentionally no; my objective is more playful than provocative. The erotic collages for example, were made up of many fairly mundane landscape images and household fixtures. None of these are provocative in nature, whatsoever, until they are layered in a particular way to suggest bodies. Suddenly they become something of a more pornographic nature. I think that kind of thing is quite funny.  

What is the common denominator of your work? Your concept, so to speak?

There is one underlying idea across my art practice, which is concerned with the experience of familiarity in fiction.  This is something I observe closely throughout the process of creating an image, or while reading fictional works. I am always thinking about how it’s communicated and read in a way, which makes sense and triggers recognition, regardless of how fantastical the content might be. This is so, whether it can be attributed to the artist’s fluency in sign and symbol, which is learned and handed down, or if there are truly archetypal forms, which are created and understood, time and time again, intuitively. 

And how does this manifest in your work?

Each body of work, so far, has focused on a particular iconography, where cultural snippets were abstracted and regrouped to create an identifiable narrative. I approach every series as a kind of experiment, hoping to reveal something about the nature of our collective imagination.

Could you talk a little bit about a recent piece and the inspiration, creative processes, material etc. behind it? 

I had a very clear narrative and tone in mind for the H series images, which would borrow heavily from film, particularly science fiction. I imagined a fully realised world, with very specific scenarios and locations, which I wanted to execute (the shipping container in the middle of the road, the cinema, and the billboards), in which the identities of seemingly autonomous objects are embodied, to convey aspects of the human condition from multiple heterogeneous perspectives. 

Most of the works needed to be constructed as small-scale sets, which were photographed in a studio setting, and later digitally composited with real-life landscape images collected during my trips overseas. I’ve built up a library of images of various landscapes and skies, which I often pull from to construct my fictional environments. I would generally shoot two versions of everything, one on medium format film and the other on a DSLR, depending on what kind of quality I am after.

Does your work have any connection with renaissance artists?

I identify myself as someone who only works with still life, but I’m always looking for loopholes within that genre, often asking myself questions like: “how can I make the body still life? What can I get away with?” There are some elements of my images, particularly in the Empires II series, which appear to be similar in composition to that of some renaissance artists. I was thinking about Old Masters paintings at the time, and was pulling out specific forms to include, which triggered associations with classical antiquity; the columns, clouds, statues and the shell vase, pictured in Venus, which instantly reminded me of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. As I moved further along in the process, it became more intuitive and less directly referential to any particular era or style. I was more interested in the types of imagery that I instantly responded to as having seen or experienced before without being able to pinpoint where. 

And finally, what is the muse of it all?  

The Moon.

ANNA POGOSSOVA, saatchiart

Look me in the shoe. Meet designer CHIE MIHARA

A look inside the creative world of Spanish-based shoe designer Chie Mihara. Delving into the inspirations and stories that inform her unique designs, we reveal the complexity and depth behind her collections.

A household name for her practical approach to shoe design, whilst also maintaining a fun and feminine aesthetic - Brazilian born shoe designer Chie Mihara is every woman’s dream designer, for her comfortable yet creative foot furniture.

Working “in a man’s” industry as she describes it, in order to offer something different, the Alicante-based designer, who launched her shoe line in Elda, Spain, in January 2002, prides her brand on “footwear designed by woman for women.”

Architecture and craftsmanship is at the core the Chie Mihara designs. She believes comfort and design are married together - her designs tailor to the modern, active woman, who wants to look “attractive but without giving up comfort.”

Since her first collection in 2010, the designer has reflected an intrinsic vintage influence, predominantly from the 1970s, an era she describes was a “great decade of expressing oneself and breaking social barriers,” though she draws on various style inspiration, from 1930s femininity to 1980s humour. Her latest eclectic collection is inspired chiefly by Disney, with Cruella Deville, Mickey and Sleeping beauty particularly influencing her designs. 

The iconic clean shapes, semi square toes, simple soles and flat bows widespread throughout Miharas designs, display her real passion for the 1960s. We see the 70s influence with the use of irregular lines and geometrical shapes in black and white, as well as metallic suede, perforated leather and platforms.

When creating her collections, Mihara draws on facets of her multicultural background, she believes the Brazilian influence informs the feminine details, the American influence contributes to the practicality and comfort, the Japanese influences the slightly more abstract approach to design, and the European crucially is reflected in the quality. She says: “when you talk about quality, you really are talking about Spain…there is no other place in the world that can make a decent level of quality.”

Each product is crafted with meticulous care, working in a mathematical sense, Mihara plays around with volumes until she is assured it provides optimal comfort. When creating, the designer likes to emerge into her own world of playing, enter into a free spirit and revert back to child-like ways of playing. Seeing each product in its own individual world, Mihara says she does not produce collections, but items.

She says: “creativity is the light of humanity, if there is no creativity there is no life… My personal view is that there's no need to suppress creativity because of social, economic and political factors, because art is the hope of mankind. Without art or creativity, there's no life! So, why limit our imagination? We should grow and prosper to the highest levels!"

The designer derives a variety of inspiration from museums, art galleries and her collection of books on pattern making, packaging design and illustrations that have nothing to do with shoes. She says: “sometimes you find a book with patterns, or flower patterns and it’s the colour combination you’re looking for.”

The truly unique designs emerge out of Mihara’s innovative techniques she practices to find the right compilation of colours. From placing small cutouts of the outlines of shoes on a magazine page to find the perfect palette, to playing around with pieces of leather she has cut in various shapes, to adding straps and ornaments to her feet - the exquisite footwear is born out of her organic creative flare.

Working with the philosophy that the instantaneous emotion felt when a consumer looks at her products is key, and the comfort, quality, and price of her handcrafted shoes are taken into account subsequently, Mihara  focuses on channeling her fun loving energy into her shoes. She wants women to visually and emotionally connect with her shoes, which is why when working on each design she believes it is so important to feel genuine excitement which she can transmit that into the product, so women can receive her energy and “fall in love” with her creations.

She says: “if you put passion in something and you really feel that your heart is coming, and you feel so great about what you’re doing, in the end, that product maybe six or eight months later, maybe thousands of kilometres away - somebody is going to feel that same thing you felt.”

Graduating in fashion design at the Kyushu Design Gakkuin in Fukuoka Japan and accessories design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where she focused on shoes and handbags, Mihara said: “after a few months doing sculpture I really felt the need to have fashion with me, so I thought whats the combination of both things - and for me the answer was so clear - I can just remember now - shoes… and since then i’m so addicted into shoes!”

Mihara says she loves the concept of setting up a new children's line - a challenge she believes will be easy as her collection is “already very sweet.” She sees the Chie Mihara brand expanding and setting up new stores in Berlin and Paris, to add to her Tokyo store and outlet in Elda, Spain.

ROOMS 16 presents: LUCY LUSCOMBE

The Filmmaker Method

Lucy Luscombe's career is like cracking open a bottle of Moët et Chandon with the toughest cork, it felt stuck at first but once it's open, it just keeps gushing out in all her stormy glory, drenching her in a sea of projects that she comfortably swims though. Vogue, Channel 4, Nike and many other organizations are just a few of her high profile clients. Since the interview she's already released another music video for artist Juce! for her single “6th floor”, in which the banality of London lives of a few individuals are amplified and celebrated, in similar fashion to some of her other works including Tiny Ruins' video “Carriages” which features Channel 4 actor from “My Mad Fat Diary” Nico Mirallegro. The sentiment is very much reflexive in her works, it's invoked rather than shown or told. ROOMS exclusive interview with the 28-year-old Lucy Luscombe can be found in ROOMS 16 Superluminal