HVISK X BIJOU KARMAN
HVISK ATELIER IS AN ONLINE COMMUNITY AND A DIGITAL SHOWCASE. WE COME ACROSS A LOT OF INSPIRING ARTISTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND THROUGH OUR ATELIER, WE ASK THEM TO INTERPRET OUR COLLECTIONS AND EXPRESS THEM THROUGH THEIR ART. THEIR DIFFERENT WAYS OF APPROACH INSPIRE US TO LOOK AT OUR COLLECTIONS DIFFERENTLY. - AND HOPEFULLY THEY INSPIRE YOU TOO. FOR THIS ATELIER WE TEAMED UP WITH THE LA BASED ARTIST, BIJOU KARMAN. WE HAD A TALK WITH HER ABOUT HER WORK AS AN ARTIST AND WHAT INSPIRED HER TO DO THIS PROJECT.
HVISK: HOW DID PAINTING BECOME YOUR CREATIVE MEDIUM?
BIJOU: NOTHING IS MORE RELAXING FOR ME THAN PAINTING. I LOVE THE HANDMADE TEXTURES IT CREATES. I STARTED PAINTING WITH ACRYLIC GOUACHE IN COLLEGE WHEN I WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT MEDIA AND HAVE USED IT EVER SINCE.
HVISK: WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
BIJOU: LIVING IN LOS ANGELES, WHERE I GREW UP, I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN THE MOMENTS FROM THE 1960S THAT SURVIVED TO THE PRESENT. GOOGIE ARCHITECTURE IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT INSPIRES ME. I’M DRAWN TO BRIGHT BOLD COLORS THAT MAKE A STATEMENT. MY SUBJECTS ARE OFTEN STRONG, UNIQUE, AND FASHIONABLE WOMEN SURROUNDED BY NATIVE PLANTS. IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ME THAT MY PAINTINGS GIVE A WINDOW INTO A MORE PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD.
HVISK: YOUR PAINTINGS ARE INSPIRED BY HVISK’S LATEST COLLECTION CALLED SPEED. HOW DOES THAT SHOW AND WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE IN THE PAINTINGS??
BIJOU: I TOOK THE CONCEPT OF SPEED INTO MY OWN “BIJOU” UNIVERSE OF VINTAGE, FASHION, AND PATTERNS AND LOOKED THROUGH MY ARCHIVE OF PHOTOS. IN LOS ANGELES WE ARE KNOWN FOR OUR CAR CULTURE AND I LOVE TO LOOK AT THE FANTASY OF VINTAGE CARS. I ALWAYS LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO INTEGRATE THEM INTO MY WORK. I CREATED DREAM SCENARIOS OF WOMEN IN FABULOUS CLOTHES WITH THE HVISK BAGS. THEY’RE IMAGINED PORTRAITS TO ME. THE WOMEN I PAINT ARE USUALLY INSPIRED BY A FACE I SEE BUT THEY AREN’T MEANT TO DEPICT ANYONE IN PARTICULAR. FOR THIS PROJECT I USED MYSELF AND MY OWN WARDROBE AS REFERENCE AS WELL.
