COVER ARTIST INTERVIEW: VISHINNA TURNER
1) Kvet is so excited to have you as a return cover artist after your beautiful piece from the last issue, Vishinna. Your art is so beautiful, always very ethereal and form based, lots of curvy and flowing lines. What has inspired you and led you to the art you create now?
Thank you for inviting me to be a part of such a marvelous and powerful zine! My inspirations throughout the years have been form, color and movement. I have based a large focus in most of my pieces on these elements. Mostly femme based airy hunting beauties, with splashes of vibrant color. I might come across a friend with color in their hair and base a whole scene around the feelings it gave me.
2) What did you like to draw when you were younger?
When I was younger I was the odd kid out. I was 1 in 5 black people, and 1 in 2 black women that went to my elementary school. So I would sit and draw with the few friends I had around the handball courts. What I mostly came up with were eyes, drawing them made me feel visible I think. After a year or so I started drawing mouths, then eyes and mouths with parted lips. Maybe the parted lips symbolized my growing comfort and visibility in my new school. And around that time I made a best friend. I will always remember her, it was Tara V. TV+VT.
3) What is your perception of the local art scene? What aspects do you love and is there anything you would like to see change?
The Fresno Art scene has blossomed (or bloomed <3) since the days of “H St. Studio.” That was the very first Art Hop I attended years ago, it may have been one of the first DIY art spots here in Fresno! I just had so much anticipation for Fresno’s artistic future and it came from the start of that space. I love all of the participation from different studios and venues these days. It seems like everywhere you go yousee an artist’s work being displayed. It’s almost criminal if you as a business owner don’t support the Fresno art scene in some way, and I love it! Not to mention the artists that show work themselves, and that pull together to create spaces where they can support each other! With that being said, most of those who support this scene are native Tower businesses/people, or south Fresno business and organizations. The Fresno DIY art scene is under-represented in the North and East sides. So much so that North Fresno has a whole different day for Art Hop, where artists who have been accepted (in that community) can show and sell their art for an amount that I feel only that community can afford/appreciate. But I digress, our art scene here in Tower/downtown is not perfect, there still is a lot of male representation, not so much queer or female. I just feel that there is a voice that is not being heard (unless accompanied by a well-known male artist)!
4) Besides art, what do you like to do for self-care?
I love to play music! Music empowers me in so many ways! Fatty Cakes and The Puff Pastries is one of the bands I love to play in. There is also The P.I.T.S.! I know this may come as a shock to some readers who know me personally, but I tend to struggle with myself in social situations. From the outside I appear to have a social grace. Inside I’m struggling with the image I’m portraying, and the need to leave that person feeling happy and complete, though I do not. I can be in a social situation, but I tend to stick only to the people I know, not really going out of my way to speak to others, sometimes even avoiding it all together. Just being in a situation with lots of happy people charges me right up! Performing puts me in a space to receive all of the happy good energy without putting myself in a situation that might make me uncomfortable.
5) Who are some other visual artists, whether they are historical, local or from other communities, you think more people should look into?
Well to start Craig Calderwood (Fresno native), now of San Francisco, is so incredibly talented and awe inspiring! Her attention to detail is flawless! Her pieces speak to you with the voice of a community that you may not be a part of that needs representation! Stephanie Allison is an artist I’ve had the pleasure of showing with and her style definitely speaks to my artistic style and eye. Ariel Birdie is another Fresno native that encompasses a style that spoke to her in her travels, which is depicted beautifully with vibrant color and line. Mauro Carrera is a Fresno artist that gives voice to a community that can be under-represented in the artistic movement, but he is doing big things right now. And last but not least, Cristy C. Road! Her style and content spoke to me as a femme queer artist of color. Her style mixes beautiful color and line that depicts that punk-ass queer counterculture that had been lacking in the public eye. Cristy gave me a vision into who I wanted to be, and how I wanted others to view the art I created. So much love and so many thanks to all of you. I’m sorry to all of those I’ve left out. There are just far too many of you amazing artist/lights/energies to list here. <3
6) What are the next steps in your creative journey?
Well sometimes that can be a bit unseen. I really like to just let my mind take me away, because that in itself is my self-care. Letting my emotions that day drive what I create has helped me heal. I try not to weigh my creativity down by too much expectation of what I want out of my pieces because of this. I really do enjoy sculpting onto my canvases though. So I see a lot more messy nights and pieces that involve some tactile exploration. ‘Cause seriously, who wouldn’t want to touch it? ;o)
Thank you again for having me as a guest artist! This Zine means so much to me and the people who have come in contact with it, may we all keep blooming. <3
pictured: Kvet cover by the artist, a selfie of the artist, “Siren”, “Genevieve”
Vishinna Turner is an Aries and also a member of the bands Fatty Cakes and the Puff Pastries and The P.I.T.S. Both bands can be checked out at the websites below and can be found on Facebook. https://fattycakes.bandcamp.com/ and http://www.reverbnation.com/thepits33
pixelskylines
ellievsbear
kaledo-art
turnnoffyourmind
blakekathryn
