We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Idris Veitch. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Idris below.

Idris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

This is such a challenging topic to condense as I have experienced this in some form or the other throughout my life.

Growing up in Jamaica meant you were defined by a certain set of guidelines and were pretty much an outsider if you fell out of them. With music as a big example, I constantly listened to metal and electronica over reggae and dancehall, so I was called “white” or “oreo” (black on the outside, white on the inside). My home country was also very homophobic growing up and I struggled with my queerness there. You had to bury those sides or you’d get singled out very quickly.

I also experienced a lot of alienation during my 11 years living in Japan. You could say it was the first time where I realised I was “black” from a multitude of factors such as purposefully being avoided while on public transportation, having to field off-handed negative comments from strangers about my skin colour or ones based on narrow stereotypes, to being physically touched by strangers out of “curiousity”. I continually internalised these occurrences, which had a mounting impact on my self identity for years.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I lived in Japan between 2009 to 2020. My initial intention was to teach English and save money to further my studies. A chance encounter with a friend of a friend at a bar led to my eventual move to Tokyo to study fashion design full time. The theme of my graduation collection focused on identity. I wanted to address this as I had no familiarity with my half-Nigerian side while at the same time still having difficulties navigating and fitting into the country. This curiousity lead to a cross-cultural examination which resulted in combining Japanese and African influences into my final garments. Part of the media produced during the research process were two collage pieces that combined masks from different parts of Africa with uki-yo-e, a traditional form of Japanese art using woodblock prints. I continued this practice after graduation, which eventually turned into a series titled “African Masks X Ukiyoe”. This body of work would eventually lead to both solo and collaborative exhibitions in Japan, Nigeria and Jamaica, and features in different publications – both print and online.

My current body of work started a few years later as I wanted to expand my inquiries to not only be about my own identity, but to also address the many facets of the black experience. When I started a few months before leaving Japan, it wasn’t enough to make artwork that would go against those confined boxes and negative stereotypes. I wanted to push that narrative even further and to myself through a lens of fantasy. Using bright colours and contrasting elements, I was also motivated to open up my palette to include as much media as possible in order to create deeper stories in my work.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I haven’t the slightest idea on a step-by-step guide for building an audience/gaining followers! There are however some things I’ve learned from my own experiences over the years that I’m more than happy to share.

As a creative in a space where media is plentiful and constantly accessible, it’s really important to stay in your lane, even if it doesn’t match with what you see around you. If you are on the road to discovering your own design language don’t go chasing trends for the sake of. Your art will be stronger if you allow it to evolve naturally and improve on its own.

If you post for the sake of keeping up with the algorithm or chasing likes and followers, I can guarantee that you will go crazy! On that note, avoid comparing yourself to other artists’ followers or likes. That will make you crazy as well!

It’s ok to keep some creations to yourself, don’t feel like you need to share every single piece you make. Instagram, or whatever social media you use will always be there, so don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything whenever you’re not plugged in.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.idrisveitch.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/idrisveitch