How did your education and work background so far feed into the work you did for SOUL? SOUL was also part of our Liberate LUU campaign – as an illustrator, does your work tend to focus on liberation issues and projects?
Due to being an undergraduate student at the University of Leeds I am already in an extremely privileged position. I come from a black middle class family, which can be difficult due to a paradox between my race and my class and I am hyperaware of both the advantages and drawbacks of this.
When I was asked to be involved with the SOUL event as part of the Liberate LUU campaign I was really excited as my work is centred around racial injustices and inequalities, so this was the perfect opportunity to showcase my work. The message behind the SOUL event of celebrating black culture was important to me and I was really excited to get involved.
Did you enjoy the process of working with LUU ‘behind the scenes’?
I really enjoyed working with LUU behind the scenes due to the collaborative nature of it. As an illustrator, I was very much at the forefront of the decisions made and was really allowed to take ownership of what I wanted to contribute to the project. This was especially useful being a final year student with lots of deadlines looming. I was able to provide as much content as I wanted and had the time for which was really good.
What was the inspiration for the approach you took to your designs?
The inspiration for my designs is manifold. I use my own experiences and that of my friends and also use art as a tool for therapy. A lot of my designs are based on the intersections between systems of oppression such as race, gender, sexuality and disability.
My mental health has impacted me a lot throughout my teenage years and I have used various artistic practices to channel my energy, including dance. I aim to develop my artistic skills through creating more intricate pieces that reflect my life in my final year of university. I like to be able to relate to the people around me and feel like I can do this through my illustrations.
What was it like seeing your own designs across our social media and email platforms in the lead up to the night?
It was a good feeling to see them, and I really enjoyed being able to create promotional content as this is something I hadn’t done in the past.
How has working on this project benefited you? Has it helped you improve your skills or gain new ones?
By working on this project, I have gained a lot of confidence in my ability to sell my art. When I started @juxtajams I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to make money from it as it was never a thing I started expecting to receive money from. However, after some convincing from my friends back home and interest from people wanting to buy my work, I decided to give it a go and have never looked back.
At the moment, I am really busy with university work but I hope to be able to produce more content on Instagram and products when I am a bit more free. I have also met some friends through the project including Natasha (our Equality and Liberation Officer) and some other people from the event that bought my prints, one of which I saw recently which was nice and unexpected !
