lvndr.

An Interview with lvndr.

Ciara: I was originally drawn to your art through your hypnagogic hallucinations series, which really suits our theme of illusion this issue. What made you choose to focus on that as a project?

lvndr: one of my favourite feelings in the world is being in between awake and falling asleep! my body starts floating in this wonderful black hole and strange wiggly creatures dance around me, all of different shapes and sizes and colours! i remember the first time that happening to me as a kid and being horrified and amazed at the same time, which has be been my state of existing for the last year or so, manic and depressed, terrified and excited, angry and peaceful, and that project was the best way i could express living in these extremes! 

Ciara: What is your favourite medium to work with and why?

lvndr: it changes all the time kind of sporadically, and i’m really grateful i can jump from medium to medium as i please, because my brain moves more quickly than my body does! recently it’s been music, but my favourite medium more depends on what is allowing me the most output of emotion / what excites me at the moment! 

Ciara: As a visual artist, a tattoo artist, and a musician, do these practices ever overlap for you? And what drew you to all these different forms?

lvndr: i love that question! YES! everything intertwines together very harmoniously! i bounce from medium to medium partly because of that! sometimes i do a tattoo design that helps me understand what i’m trying to say lyrically, sometimes i make a sound that looks really pretty and i have to go draw or paint it out quickly before it leaves me! it’s very chaotic wherever i live because of this! when i’m really focused i’m just running around making as many things as possible as it explodes out of me! 

since i knew what art was i knew i wanted to do it! anything, everything! i think when i was 7 or 8 i knew i was going to be an artist because it was all so exciting to me! so i guess the combination of the excitement and my intense need to push out my feelings were what drew me to all my mediums, all filling up something slightly different but all with similar reason!

Ciara: Who/what are your biggest inspirations? Art, tattoo, or music wise?

lvndr: SO MANY THINGS! recently i’m inspired by the people i love and that love me, words, sea shells, nail polish, campy 80’s horror movies, volcanic irruptions, worms and the difference between fairies and faeries! but it’s constantly changing as well, i try to be as fluid as possible when i create! it’s more fun and interesting and inspiring that way !

Ciara: Biggest dreams for your work in the future? 

lvndr: i wanna make a children’s book, maybe a series, about sun goddesses and people walking upside down under the ocean! other than that, i just want to get better, try out new ideas/mediums, see what i can do! i feel like i am too new at all this to really have specific dreams! i’m just dreaming of what do or make next! 

Ciara: Can you describe your creative process?

lvndr: very all encompassing, fluid, chaotic! when i get inspired and start i won’t really stop for days to weeks! i continuously try to have a better working relationship because it’s really hard on my body to not sleep for days, or push out several pieces a day, but it seems to be the way i work! i’m just basically running manically around the apartment with paints, pens, notebooks, instruments, and half empty coffee mugs all over the floor! 

Ciara: Do you have any advice for any people trying to start to pursue art or music? 

lvndr: not so much advise as encouragement, which is that making art is extremely important, healthy, and human. i encourage experimenting, having fun and creating for you, as i believe art to be a positively selfish expression first and foremost! peruse the drive to create at all costs, PLEASE!! as a side note, i consider art to be anything you do with passion and intention, and should never be confined to “classic” art mediums. 

Check out lvndr on instagram to see their visual art and tattoos, or head over to the Kai Bravewood instagram for their music content! You can also find them on spotify.