Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a place called Victoria, it's an island off the coast of British Columbia. It's kind of like a pretty free, hippie island, kind of secluded. I'm in my third year of school at Emily Carr in Vancouver. I'm studying visual arts. It's not a huge school and it's pretty relaxed.
What is Vancouver like?
I like Vancouver. Sometimes I get annoyed with it because the weather kind of sucks. It rains a lot, and I don't like that. But there's a really good music scene and there is always a show you can go to. The creative community is pretty small, so people all know each other and people are really into doing lots of things. I like that, and there is lots of good food and lots of different types of people. It's kind of multicultural, which is nice.
What's your daily routine like?
I have school so I wake up pretty early to do that. Then I'll come home and have coffee and sit at my laptop and catch up with all my Internet stuff. My days are pretty flexible. Some are pretty hectic, and some are more relaxed. I usually try to make sure I get a walk in, because that's when I come up with a lot of my ideas, instead of sitting around the house.
What will you do after you graduate?
I will probably do more school. I would like to go to school overseas. I have a lot of ideas, but I don't know what to pick. I was thinking of maybe studying fashion design at some point. I would like to do some more schooling definitely.
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Favorite Movies
The Holy Mountain: A visual stimulation overload.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1981): My jaw dropped when I first saw this movie. Teenage girls who start a band with wicked hair! There's also a feminist sub-plot
On the Silver Globe (1987): Very crazy visuals. Also great face paint. What more can I say?
Christiane F (1981): I do get sad when I see this film. It's about a young girl in West Berlin who falls into heroin. Besides the gloomy story there are some good shots of a more stark Berlin. There are also great clothes and a Bowie soundtrack.
Diva (1981): The story derives from a novel by a favorite author of mine, Delacorta. I get lots of style inspiration each time I see this film. Not to forget a great soundtrack.
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Favorite places in Vancouver
La Grotta Del Formaggio, 1791 Commercial Drive: Great cheeses, meats and cheap sandwiches.
Audiopile, 2016 Commercial Dr.: Great selection of vinyl, friendly staff and I often trade my records here
Prado Cafe, 1938 Commercial Dr.: A couple blocks from my house, their Cappuccino keeps me intact.
MacLeod's Books, 455 W Pender St.: Lots of great used and rare books, perfect place to spend an afternoon.
Lucky's Comics, 3972 Main St.: Comics, 'zines, books, music and an art gallery in the back. Lucky's carries a lot of print from local Vancouver artists too.
Tell us about your website, UUIUU.
UUIUU is more my fun blog where I just kind of find things and collect images off the Internet. Things that aren't supposed to have any design merit but I think they look good. It's basically just an image bank. I wanted a domain and I wanted it to be UUU because I just liked the way that looked, but it was taken. So I was playing around and when I wrote out UUIUU it looked kind of cool, and that's the only reason. People are always like, 'Oh, what does that mean?' but really, it's just supposed to look cool.
Have you met people through your blog?
I have. Actually, my current roommate I met through my blog. They wrote me an email saying they really liked my blog Mafia Hunt, in like 2008, and we became friends and now we're roommates.
When I went to Europe in May, I had some people who wanted to meet up with me in Amsterdam, but it ended up not working out. But I'm sure if I went to another city, I could totally meet up with people from my blog. I get emails from a lot of people and I keep in touch with them, but I haven't met that many people physically. It's fun because you get to be in contact with like-minded people.
What do you think makes an image bank blog interesting?
I notice that there are a lot of Tumblrs with themes, where it is strictly images with themes, and I find that interesting, when people stick to a theme and it is not just all over the place. I feel like with mine, all the images kind of connect with each other. People are probably going to have art shows soon of all the stuff they've found on Tumblr. It's kind of a phenomenon.
How do you find the stuff you post?
It's stuff I collect throughout the day. It's not very uniform. I'll go on Google image search and look for like an hour. I source out images pretty hard. Sometimes it's frustrating because you're finding nothing. I do it throughout the day.
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Favorite Blogs
www.dropsnap.jp:
I look at this for style ideas.
ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com:
Lots of great illustrations and graphic design that have been sourced from old books.
butdoesitfloat.com:
Showcasing art, illustration, graphic design, architecture from a more unconventional side.
haw-lin.com:
A daily mood-board. Always filled with a slew of fantastic images.
www.garbagedress.com:
I love this girl! I enjoy snooping through her life.
How long have you been drawing?
Since I was a child. For as long as I can remember, it was something that I always really enjoyed doing.
Illustration is more commercial, and drawing is more abstract. I do a lot of stuff on my own outside of school. I draw pretty much every day in my notebook. I made a book of my drawings and I am working on another one. I am going to do a bound book of all of these drawings that I did over the course of April and May. I've been working on big drawings, probably three feet x three feet. I also do freelance illustration for people here and there.
What kind of stuff do you like to draw?
I like to draw shapes and monster creatures. I like to look at images in all sorts of sources, and I'll take one thing and draw it and add it on to something so it almost comes alive. Like I'll see a glove, and then I'll add some legs, and then I'll add something like a bug and see what kind of living thing I can make out of that. I like to play around with different objects and making them into creatures.
What kind of freelance illustration do you do?
I am working on a something for 01 Magazine. For their first issue, I did an illustration of some spring/summer fashion items. I did some weird—I call them hair people: people with their bodies kind of taken over by their hair-dos wearing clothes from different designers. I had them wearing designer shoes.
How long ago did you start your blog Mafia Hunt?
I started Mafia Hunt probably September 2007, and that was kind of to keep track of things I found on the Internet. I had friends who worked at jobs where they were on the Internet all the time, so I kind of created it with them in mind so they wouldn't be bored at work. It is basically just interesting things that I find online, like design or art or fashion. Now it's grown into this thing that I feel like I have to update every day.
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Favorite artists
Karel Appel: I grew up with his work as a child. I really like his sculpture works.
Adolf Wölfli: He suffered from psychosis, which led to hallucinations. His drawings are simply amazing. A great inspiration.
Richard Lindner: There's a strange eroticism to his work. He always seems to paint women in amazing attire.
Magdalena Abakanowicz: I'd love ho have one of her giant fiber sculptures in my house! They look fun to live with.
Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights...not to sound like a hippie...trips me out.
Do you do design your own clothes?
Sometimes I have this idea in my head that I'll make an outfit and I'll draw it. But I don't really have much experience with fashion illustration. I used to make my own clothes, but usually I have an idea and I'll just take it to my mom and she'll sew it, because she's much better than me. So I do more directing. She's made bags out of canvas, like tote bags for school. She does a lot of tailoring, so I'll get stuff from the thrift store and she'll tailor it for me.
You recently launched a music project, Eyeball Sandwitch. Tell us about it.
I am very interested in noise music and sound art. It's always been in the back of my mind to add sound to my music practice. I took a course in sound at school and learned some useful tools. It was only a week ago I was at home with the flu that I decided to make create some music. I am learning the guitar right now, but I don't have an AMP yet. This left me with using very little tools. I just started dissecting other music, using home-made instruments and my own voice to create layers of sound. Then a project was born! It's still pretty new and I am still learning and I hope to add my guitar to the mix soon.
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Favorite albums
Amon Düül II Yeti (1970)
CAN Ege Bamyasi (1972)
Slint Spiderland (1991)
Sleep Sleep's Holy Mountain (1993)
Neu! 2 (1973)
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Favorite pieces of clothing
Y's by Yohji Yamamoto coat: It's pretty much a blanket to me. I wear everyday in the winter. I feel Amish in it.
Vintage motorcycle jacket: It's been tailored to fit my body and makes me feel very powerful.
Vintage winkle picker boots: They are very pointy. I feel like a witch when I wear them.
Red leather gloves by Agent Provocateur: An old boyfriend of mine gave to me as a gift. I have had them for three years now.
My mother's silver engagement ring with garnet: My mother's fingers grew with age, so it doesn't fit her fingers. Now its been passed on to me.
