We were lucky to catch up with Givens recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Givens thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

The first time I earn money as a creative was working, as a keyboardist for my parents church. In the moment I didn’t understand the value of what was happening, but now I can see there is an undeniable grace specifically, black children who are pushed creatively and their adolescence in black churches creatively have. It’s the secret sauce for truly experiencing the depths culture and then having to climb out to create your own identity. In my experience from what I’ve seen, a lot of people reason the same environments, who then go on to be giants, creatively in their own rights

Givens, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always been in a creative industry, funnily enough. I’ve started playing the keyboard in church around age 6 and by 15 I was leading the worship team at church and even continue to do so now. During my collegiate years, I discovered my love and disdain for working in production, and wanted to find ways to make sets become world of their own, rather than just backdrops for videos or events. This carried into my personal art practice where I found I could make light and code be more than sources, but sculptural and architectural assets. Through this, I found my love for creating these scenes to be the most applicable to music and fashion in my personal life but I also found my love wasn’t for architectural sculptures and technology, It was truly for world building. As a designer, I have the ability to design for movies, photo shoots, fashion, runaways, and anything you could truly think of and delve into create individualized encounters.

As a creative Director, and designer my clients come to me for brand, stability and world building. I believe what sets me apart from others in my field is that I am a one-man production studio. For example for a fashion show I can start by designing models of work and blender or AutoCAD, then continue by also making those designs into whimsical figures that are animated for marketing, then I can later fabricate them in real life or even make an augmented version of products for a mixed reality experience, bridging the gap between the digital and physical world, and from idea to reality. This would still include running all of the creative behind my work down to scoring music for the show, or the runway that my pieces will be encountered counted on.

I’m currently really grateful to have the opportunity to express the expansiveness, of my skill set for the upcoming New York, Paris, and Kenyan fashion weeks I will be designing runways for. I will be including architectural, design, augmented, reality, sound, light, And more. This is one of the first opportunities I’ve been given to really show what’s in my wheelhouse and I couldn’t be more excited. I feel like a lot of my work that I’ve exhibited has only expressed my artistic infancy, and I’m ready to start basically the first chapter of my career.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Honestly, the only driving forces for me and my creative journey is proving to myself I am who I know I already am. I have this image of me may be a few years from now or less that if I explained, I would probably sound crazy or even arrogant but it doesn’t matter. I know the Heights I’m capable of, and I’m determined to reach them… and frankly you know when you’ve been chosen and I’ve never been so sure of some thing in my life. I grew up in a household and way of life, that probably would not support most of the things I do or who I am, but regardless of that, the fact has always been established in my family and with the people around me. I’m happy to have grown in an environment that nourished my mind and spirit so in moments when I don’t feel like my life is moving in that direction, that those feelings are futile when it comes down to the inevitability of life.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had fallen on hard luck as most people had during the pandemic, and basically lost all the momentum I had garnered in my art career after hitting what seemed like a pinnacle that would propel me into the next chapter of my career. After moving back from Austin, Texas and settling into Chicago, I took on a new job that was selling death insurance…. During COVID. Although the pay was great, and the certification was easy enough, I had always struggled with mental health issues, and this job definitely did not make it any easier. But being faced with death every day Especially during what time where it was ramped was not easy. And when I truly hit a dangerous place in my mental health era, I decided to quit and just try Art again.

Contact Info:

• Website: Giiivens.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/giiivens?igshid=MmIzYWVlNDQ5Yg==
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giiivens