As part of our new ongoing digital festival, #undistanced, we put out a call for queer artists to submit their finest work to share with you all.
We were inundated with hundreds of brilliant submissions and will be showcasing some of that queer brilliance over the next few weeks with a series of virtual galleries.
For our second one, we have exhibited the work of three artists coming from London and Hannover.
You can see their work below in our virtual gallery and find out more about the artists behind the pieces.
Pop Redux
London, England
Tell us about your work.
I’m interested in hyper colour and photo manipulation and use images I have taken to form an original base which I then distort to reflect a potential psychedelic reality.
Who inspires you?
I’m inspired by artists like Jean Michelle Basquiat, Richard Hamilton And George Braque who use collage and colour to challenge the norm in terms of taste and beauty.
How are you finding lockdown?
I suppose everyone is finding their own challenges in lockdown. I’m on my own, so the sense of isolation can be overwhelming but at least I’m not stuck with people I don’t get along with. Art is a tremendous refuge and having something you can get lost in is useful.
What are your top tips for other creatives who are enduring social distancing?
I guess creativeness is your greatest ally whilst social distancing. We all have more time on our hands to throw ourselves into our work but my top tip would be to not be too hard on yourself if you’re not feeling or being creative. Acknowledging that isolation isn’t necessarily going to help you create a master piece is important. I would also say trying out new creative mediums at this time is a good way to stay connected with art whilst challenging yourself. I’ve been writing some hopelessly bad poetry.
What’s the concept behind the work you have submitted?
My work is a playful and lurid take on modern life, using photo collage and image juxtaposition to comment if a range of societal issues.
(Mohammad) Adika Rahman
Hannover, Germany
Tell us about your work.
I’m a classically trained pianist who does some photography and painting on the side. Some of the photos that I submitted came from the first week of quarantine, which was somehow a reminder to me of how I discovered or explored sexuality without really having the physical aspect in my closeted teen years, resorting to objects I could find at home, ranging from reading „dirty“ words from a dictionary or the sight of construction workers from across the street. It had to do with incorporating your imagination to a certain object and having the whole movie played in your head.
Who inspires you?
Coming from a musical background, I get inspired by music a lot, not only how it sounds, but sometimes also a structure of a piece or the approach of a certain composer’s in their compositions. Brahms has been of a great influence lately, the way how he creates complex compositions that derive from just one or two ideas. Other than that friends and people I follow on Instagram and also revisiting childhood memories.
How are you finding lockdown?
I’m quite introverted and I only have two to three friends I regularly meet before this thing started, so that is somehow not a problem. But I do realise that I miss being around strangers and just observing people. Also the lack of a daily structure has been a nasty kill-joy. I’m quite lucky that the lockdown regulations in Germany are not that strict, so that I can still just go out to the nature or ride my bike around my neighborhood whenever I feel that practicing piano at home gets too stressful.
What are your top tips for other creatives who are enduring social distancing?
I’m still trying to get my days better planned and what helps me most is not to get too mad about not ticking that one box on your to-do list and to just be kind to yourself.
What’s the concept behind the work you have submitted?
Fetish/kinks at social, contactless, person-less, only to be completed with one’s own imagination.
Nick Cozier
London, England
Tell us about your work.
Queery aims to educate and lift up the LGBTQ community through a campaign that includes a set of concertinas which explores aspects of the community; Laws, Hate Crime & Discrimination, Sexuality and LGBTQ Icons. When unfolded the 4 concertinas show a relevant poster on the back that relates to the 4 topics. The campaign is aimed at young people 16-24 years old at school or university as well as teachers, family and friends who want to learn more about the community.
Who inspires you?
Paula Scher, design wise, and Christina Aguilera, always!
How are you finding lockdown?
Lockdown hasn’t been easy but I’m lucky enough to be still working and with my partner. We’re trying to keep busy and just take it day by day.
What are your top tips for other creatives who are enduring social distancing?
Keep in touch with your friends and family if you can but also with other creatives, especially ones that inspire you. Also make sure you’re keeping your mental health up; for me I’m finding not always looking at the news helps and giving myself a break when I think I’m not doing enough.
What’s the concept behind the work you have submitted?
Creating a platform that educates and lifts up the LGBTQ community.
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