Grae Magazine Mulatto Issue

GRAE

2 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto Issue

the Mulatto issue.

The Mulatto Issue | Grae Magazine |3

March 2011


grae magazine.Publisher

Grae

Editor in Chief

Natalie Zigdon

content Editor

Sophie Lavac

Contributors

Steph GranshawJessica WardKyra RogersEdward Hewitt Jr.

Photographers

Natalie Zigdon

the treehouse

Alyssa Wood

Find us online at GraeMagazine.comPlease note all submissions to Grae Magazine are protected by copy-right laws which belongs solely to the artist. If you would like to get in touch with any of the artists, please email us and we’ll gladly pass it along.

Grae is always looking to expand our team. Whether you’re a pho-tographer, writer, illustrator or designer, we want YOU to be apart of Grae. Email us at [email protected]


I’m Natalie and I am the creator & edi-tor of Grae Magazine. Grae is a magazine was created to uncover underground artists who have a passion for creating. If you’re new to Grae, make sure to check out our talented artists and their take on this world. Read each word with an open mind, lose yourself in our treehouse and free your mind when indulging in our Rorschach Art Gallery.

For this issue, we wanted to create a world that was solely black and white to see how our minds react. When we take the color out of the big picture, does it affect how we view the details? Does the way we feel change? We wanted to take a look at art from a different perspective. We live in a world full of color and beauty.. what if that color was taken out? Would we still man-age to fi nd the color in our hearts and the beauty in this world? This issue reminds us to appreciate the small details in life and the power of sight in the world around us.

grae magazine.


Vacuum #1, graphite on paper, 50 “ x 38 by Melissa Cooke


March 2011


OUR MINDS ARE THE GREATEST WEAPONS WE HAVE. IT TAKES US TO PLACES WE’VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE, PLACES WE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO REACH HERE ON EARTH. OUR MINDS IMAGINE AND CRE-ATE THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. IT IS THE IMAGINATION WE HOLD ONTO THAT TAKES US TO WHERE WE WANT TO GO. THIS ISSUE

WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH A BLACK AND WHITE WORLD THROUGH THE POWER OF ART. WE COME TO REALIZE HOW LIVING IN A

WORLD WITHOUT COLOR WOULD AFFECT WHO WE ARE YET WE SEE THE BEAUTY AND SIMPLICITY IN BLACK AND WHITE. HAVING THE ABILITY TO DO BOTH, WE MUST NOT TAKE THE DETAILS FOR GRANTED. OUR MINDS HAVE THE POWER TO VIEW THE WORLD IN

COLOR OR IN BLACK AND WHITE.

WHICH WAY DO YOU VIEW THE WORLD AROUND US?




I AM THE RIGHT BRAINI am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning.

Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am

taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am move-

ment. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an emp-

ty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I

sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.

I AM THE LEFT BRAINI am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar.

I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Stra-

tegic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of

words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations

and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know

exactly who i am.

words by the Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R Interactive Tel Aviv, Israel


steph granshaw SIMPLE SOULFUL ART


simplesoulfulart.comart by steph granshaw


Steph Granshaw from Simple & Soulful Art, creates exactly that. Women who are simply beautiful in their natural essence and art that is fi lled with heart and soul, which brings those women to life. I had the pleasure of interviewing the women behind it all.

At times your artwork is only black and white, do you plan this before beginning the artwork or do you fi nd yourself doing it that way in the process?

-Yes, I tend to know how the work wants or needs to come out straight away. Graphite pencil is my fi rst love in terms of what I choose to create with, if the inspiration for a particular piece asks for a mix in mediums, such as watercolor pencil or digital color-ing in Photo Shop, then I usually know that right from the start.

What ways has living in Thailand inspired you?

-The solitude and being by the ocean has to be the two main factors for me, also the laid back lifestyle allows for contemplation, meditation anddreaming, I get a lot of inspiration from those three aspects. I live on an island that doesn’t really repre-sent true Thailand because it’s very touristy, so Ican’t say that I draw inspiration from the Thai cul-ture.

Do you believe that if suddenly the world became solely black and white that our emotions and our behavior would change? Do you think we would still be able to fi nd the beauty in the world that we do now?

-Yes I do think our emotions and behavior would change. We are greatly affected by color, it can raise our spirits, calm us down, energize us, make us happy. For me color has a spiritual element to it, it’s like water, it’s vital for our survival, plus of course a world with no color would be very boring.


When did you realize your talents in art and that that is what your heart was meant to do?

-I’ve always been a creative girl and always knew that I needed to be doing some sort of creative work. When I was young I wanted to express myselfin so many different ways, either through dancing, drawing, and theatrics, loved the theatrical make-up side of things, creating characters and moods with make-up fascinated me, I also dabbled in playing the guitar for a bit. Today I’m still the same, as well as drawing, which to be honest has taken on a whole life of it’s own in the past 7 or 8 years, I also prac-tice and teach the Healing Arts such as Reiki and Kundalini Yoga. I like to think of my creativity as multi facetted.

Do you feel like your mind thinks in black and white (more logical, simply black or white) or do you feel like your mind thinks in different colors.

-My mind defi nitely thinks in colors and light also. I have a very vivid imagination. When it comes to art I love to keep things simple, there is a real beauty in simplicity that can take your breath away, I hope I am able to create that response through my work, whether I use only graphite or not. Another major element to my work is being able to create a sense of light.

We don’t like labeling art but if you could describe the women in your art in a few words or a sentence.. how would you describe them. What kind ofwomen are they, how do you challenge yourself to portray them, or simply who are they?

- There is always a soulful quality to each woman I draw. I want people to connect with that essence, so I would say that they are soulful, ethereal andfull of light.








the treehouSe.

where imagination is created.


Into the mirror she looks, gazing upon the polished glass of what used to be her very best friend. Ages-- it has been ages since she has done so, though now it is with such misery. Her skinny hands cradle herself around her once pristine visage at the desk of the curly scuffed vanity. Only hours beforehand she had squeezed herself into her old tight-fi tting red polka-dot dress and crossed her legs at the ankle, one boney foot over the other. And now, for minutes that drag on, she stares breathlessly at her own refl ection, the saggy cigarette half-yellow and unimpressed between her once sultry lips.

She takes a drag, a long drawn-out puff that lasts ages, before leaning for-ward and analyzing every single fl aw. Exhaling, she pulls away the cigarette and ignores the red print of scarlet lipstick left behind around the circumference of it. Eyes scanning the glass, she spots the heavy lines around the top of her mouth, deep and ridge-like as if they’d been carved there by someone envious. She locates her head of once cotton candy blonde hair, and remembers

how it used to be full and wavy around the top of her skull. Now frail, the tragic truth was that it had lost its luster years ago.

Yet she has been left with only the ghosts, the transpar-ent outlines of herself that once were lovely. There is no longer the unmistakable shimmer behind her pair of upturned brown eyes. There is no longer the spark of electricity behind every slow suggestive wink. Back when she was young, and naïve, and twenty, she could have had any man she had ever wanted. Now, she is lucky if her neighbor’s dog comes up to snoop around her backyard on late Sunday evenings. And to herself, she poses the question, “What happened?” What happened to her clear skin, and straight teeth, and long lashes? Where had time hidden her poise, and her confi dence, and her youth?

The image of the woman in the mirror before her, it is the picture of someone she does not recognize. It is only the face of someone who has lost everything. Gone is the money, and the home, and the yard; gone are summer days at the pool. Gone is the

husband she thought she had loved once. He had left her years ago for a woman who was taller, and curvier, and exotic. Still, as she fl icks the cigarette ash on to the ground, she curses her ly-ing ex-husband and coughs up a brutal, blackened lung. Is this her life? Is this the existence that she had been indefi nitely damned to? At the realization that she will never again walk the streets with such confi dence, her aged heart sinks. She wishes to be able to turn the clock backwards, to watch the wrinkles smooth on her face, to see the laugh-lines fade.

Another minute passes by; another sixty seconds that marks that now she is just that much older. In her last few moments in front of the putrid refl ection glass, she prays for a miracle. And then, with her cigarette smol-dering as it ejects the rise of gray smoke, she hopes blind-ly for a fountain of youth.

Fountain by Alyssa Wood


What if you were told ex-actly when you were going to die. Would you use it to your advantage and con-quer your fears because you knew nothing else can kill you? Would you make every single dream a real-ity because nothing should be stopping you now? Would you actually


appreciate life and ‘seize the moment’ because you knew how much time you have left? Or would you constantly feel the com-plete opposite because every single day you’re a day closer to the day you die.

I guess you’ll never know.

-grae


J e s s i c jessicawar


a W a r dardart.com





You take hair and you make it a very creative contradiction in your art. The hair you wrap around the women in your artwork is beautiful yet eerie and mysterious. Can you elaborate or explain further on why hair is big part of your artwork?

Personally, here’s what hair means to me and how it shaped who I am as an artist. It started as a way to hide, I was called ugly for a good portion of my childhood and I felt like I could hide my face behind my hair. Hair was the ultimate symbol for feminin-ity and beauty which I so desperately craved. It seemed like the longer it was the more ideal you could be. If someone were to cut their hair it seems like a lack of control or when a woman shaves her head, a feeling as if they are letting something go to gain control. A rebellion against oneself, or self sabotage, or a cry for help. There felt like so many symbol-ic similarities between hair and eating disorders. The ideas began to merge and I choose to represent my Bulimia visually as hair. Rather than depict-ing vomit or things in a literal since I used hair. Now in my art it visually and symbolically encompasses all the unseen forces that as to do with eat-ing disorders.

Were you creative/dark/a talented art-ist as a child... as you are now?

Yes, probably more so as I feel I have mellowed out a bit in age. I had a happy childhood but never quite fi t in. From moving around allot, being a geek turned freak, and having one traumatic childhood experience in which I feel gave me a dark side, I was just lucky to be creative and have that as an outlet.

Besides hair, are there any other signature marks you include in most of your artwork?

I like to give my subjects sanpaku eyes, I did not realize I was do-ing this it was completely uncon-scious, until I fi nd out about it a few years ago. It really seemed to make since in going along with my themes, Sanpaku eyes is a Japanese term for people having the bottom whites of their eyes showing. It represents a physical imbalance in the body, while nor-mal at very old ages is abnormal for anyone younger and indicates an extremely unhealthy condition and possible premature death. In individuals with Bulimia they ap-pear healthy but are dangerously abusing their bodies I want show their beauty but also that they are close to death or illness with out being over the top.

Does your life or who you are infl uence the art you create? Your art is at times considered dark.. is there a reason for this that goes a little deeper?

Yes, I use my art as a way to visually express inner turmoil but it also refl ects not only what I am going through or have been through but everyone whom can relate on a universal level. I do things not only for myself but things I know could reach out to others and promote awareness. If it helps me shoulder the burden of what is constantly going on in my mind I fi gure maybe it could do the same for someone else in a similar situation and that means allot to me.

Do you feel that art is ever seen in a completely different perspective when it is solely black and white? As if it tells a different story then it originally has?

Yes, there is art out there that relies solely on it’s color like color fi eld paintings and Impressionism. Color makes them what they are and would be lost if it was only black and white but I also think it works the other way around. For example, if Lori Lipton’s drawings were full color they loose their deathly aesthetic and Travis Louie’s paintings would loose that Victorian postmortem photography style. I think it’s important for artists to choose their intention for how they want to depict their ideas and envi-sionments and stick to what works for them conceptual and perceptually. I experimented in art school in various media like painting, and in color, do-ing my style of art. Through trial and error I found what works best to ex-ecute both my concepts and style and most importantly what I like using.

If this world was suddenly only black and white... do you think we would still manage to fi nd the beauty in the world like we do now?

Well, I see the world in black and white, it’s all or nothing. So when you are looking at my art work you are looking essentially at the world through my eyes, my fi lter the way I see it. I still see beauty around me even through my distorted point of view.





rorschach.dont see with your eyes,

percieve with your mind.They reflect your own desires and fantasies right back at you. They are a stolen world in which you create the streets, the faces and the sky. These pic-tures will be whatever you want them to be.

To me, art is exactly like a rorschach. There is sim-plicity in what you are looking at but it is your mind that creates a beyond ordinary place.

Every month this section will be filled with brilliant artists who strive to have their art lose you into an entirely different world.When appreciating art, let your mind wander. Let your mind be free.


Mercedes Helnwein


Alex Cherry

38 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto Issue Alex Cherry


40 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto IssueMelissa Cooke



Nicole Mc Evilly


Bethany Monsted

44 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto IssueMichael Ostermann



Malte Pietschmann


Conrad Roset


Melissa Cooke



Raquel Aparicio


Michael Ostermann


The Mulatto Issue | Grae Magazine |53 Elena Jasic

54 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto IssueAustin Kamps



Alex Cherry


Ben Tour

58 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto Issue Michael Ostermann



Malte Pietschmann


Alex Cherry


She is Frank


64 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto IssueMelissa Cooke




Alex Cherry



Jo Holden

70 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto Issue Elena Jasic



Benitta

Chrissy Lau


Zaeger Jones

Mimi Illustration


Mercedes Helnwein


Thierry Lebraly

76 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto IssueShe is Frank



The Mulatto Issue | Grae Magazine |79 Pedro Julien


Michael Ostermann


Sarah Hankinson Javier Lovera


Ben Tour


Pedro Julien

84 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto IssueMarcos Huerta



Malte Pietschmann


Elena Jasic

88 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto Issue Thierry Lebraly



operationf.

photography & concept by natalie zigdon





I was running, I should actually say I was dy-ing... but I was running, and I could feel my heart pumping out of my chest. There was barley any air left in me and I wanted to quit. Why were my legs even still running? What was stopping me from telling myself to stop running? Oh yes, the barbie dolls on the next four treadmills next to me. I was so sick of being that little short chubby girl to come in last. Just looking at them made me want to chuck something their way so I could claim some vic-tory. As I was running, I was feeling extreme self pity for myself because of the fact that I couldn’t run like they could. Be-cause of the fact, that I had asthma.

Asthma isn’t the end of the world but it has always been an obsta-cle in my world. I could never keep up, and I was always slowing down. I was sick most of my

sometimes the fl aws feel like they’re written all over us, although they aren’t being spoken out loud, they are so strong that sometimes it feels like they are.

There are so many of us who are ashamed of our fl aws and let those fl aws become obstacles in our lives. We let them hold us back and change who we truly are just to please everyone else. Operation F. was about letting those people know... you’re not alone. We all have monsters inside us, but there is no need to let that stop us from living our lives, the way we want to. This isn’t about asthma, or myself… this is about our fl aws and how we hide behind these walls because were so afraid that somebody might tear them down, brick by brick and see what is really going on. Let them. Let them tear that wall down because if they can’t handle what is behind it, they don’t deserve to.

childhood and was al-ways spending my days in bed with a nebulizer and the care bears to keep me company. As I was running on that treadmill I thought to myself, it’s amazing how we have fl aws that keep us from being who we truly want to be yet no one can see them. These aren’t fl aws you can see, or fl aws that you can tell about a person when fi rst meeting them. What if these fl aws were written all over us? At that mo-ment, I had wished there was asthma written all over me, so people knew why my body looked like it was about to collapse.

There are fl aws that we can hide. They’re not acne, thunder thighs or big ears. They’re deeper than that, they’re worse than those. They eat you up inside because they are fl aws you can’t con-trol at times. Flaws, that no matter how hard you try to get rid of, they fi nd a way to keep coming back. Ironically,

“once i accepted my flaw, I could finally breathe.”




Flaws will always be here, society will always create them, and others will always judge us but it is up to you to decide how you’re going to let a

flaw affect your life.




“You don’t h

You are a soul. Y -


have a soul. You have a body.”

C.S. Lewis


GRAE MAGAZI“OUT FOR A STROLL” AN


INE PRESENTS ND “THE HIPSTER PARADOX”


OUT FOR A STROLL.

we shoot on Super 8mm. The film choice was Kodak Tri-X B&W Reversal which we shot at 18 frames per second to try to get a nice, grainy look.

The story is one that most every-one can relate to. It shows theinteraction between the sexes, specifically the way women make men act. They (women) can make us (men) be romantic, and sing songs just to getthem to look our way. But there’s also the more physical side of things. Sometimes it isn’t all about love, but rather we just want to... for lack of bet-ter words: get into each other’s pants (euphemistically repre-sented by dancing the tango). And women as well as men are fickle creatures with short at-tention spans. If someone else comes along and gets our

attention, it’s easy to forget about what we were previously so fo-cused on. After The Man and The Villain realize that a third man (The Jogger) has started vying for The Love’s attention, they team up and beat the snot out of him. But as soon as they walk away they run into another girl and the whole thing starts over again. It’s a vicious and inevitable cycle.

The villain’s look was more dedicated to the original idea for the film, which was two compet-ing musical personalities: The Man (represented by “Minha Menina”) and The Villain (repre-sented by psychobilly music). So even though the 1950s rockabilly greaser type doesn’t usually exist with the 1910s silent movie/Ha-rold Lloyd type, he’s just got such a good, villainous look. And the tattoos and makeup were just too much fun.

The original idea for the film came from listening to the song “Minha Menina” as done by The Slackers. It’s just super up-beat and probably the happiest sound-ing song I’ve ever heard. And that gave me the idea for themain character in this: an un-believably up-beat Harold Lloyd-like character.

It would have been much cheaper and far easier to shoot this project on a digital format and just put filters on the video in post to make the image look like film. But honestly, I don’t really care for that fake film look. The film as a whole pays homage to the si-lent movies of the early 1900s for example the characters played by Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. So in order to achieve the look I really wanted my DP, Just Aguirre, suggested

TEXT EDWARD HEWITT JR



“YOU CANUND

The Crew. Edward Hewitt Jr (Writer, Director, Producer)

Justin Aguirre (DP)

Kachain Thongmanee (Producer, providing crafty, grip)

Alex Crews (grip)

Jasmine Etienne (makeup)

Alicia Castile (tattoo art)

Federico Friciello (Original music, titles)

The CastJonathan Castile (“The Man”)

Lisa Wardell (“The Love”)

Federico Friciello (“The Villain”)

Winston Peters (“The Musician”)

Todd Christian Hunter (“The Jogger”)

Alicia Castile (“The Young Girl”).


N’T PLAY JAZZ UNLESS YOU DERSTAND THE BLUES.”


THE HIPSTER


PARADOX...


TEXT KYRA ROGERS

Last year, toward the end of post-production on my previous short, “Me & Al Jolson,” I felt that my next fi lm should be a step in a different direction. While “Me & Al” wasn’t exactly a commercial short, I felt that ideally I would be doing work with a little less plot. I wanted to create something that was essentially a tele-pathically communicated thought branded onto celluloid. I’m not sure the fi lm will be totallysuccessful in this way, but so far it seems headed in the right direction.

The fi lm itself is not plot-heavy by any means and for this I am a little proud, but what I’m most proud of is the fi lm’s “idea-heaviness” I

guess you could call it. I took many emo-tions I had for the Hipster culture, worked them out in my head and on paper, but then I had way too much to work with. I became overwhelmed, and then decided to take co-writer Scott Morgan onto the team. He really helped to translate my ideas into the language of cinema. It was even tougher to go through this process than to explain going through it but we both did our best and I’m happy with the way things are turning out.

The inspiration for this fi lm came mainly from the Jorgen Leth Film “The Perfect Human” and the Jean-Luc Godard fi lm “Le Gai Savoir.” I also took into account


Jesse Richards’ Remodernist Manifesto (which I like but have mixed feelings about) and good friend Guy Maddin’s so-called “postmodern” cinematic delicacies. Richards and Maddin played a big role in the decision to shoot on fi lm instead of going RED (digital) like I’d done before.

All in all I think if you like these fi lmmakers and fi lms, there’s a good chance you’d like “The Hipster Paradox” as well. I tried to use it as a medium through which I could commu-nicate some emotions I felt toward the hipster culture but I really wanted to make this stew of emotions and ideas fun and accessible too. BonAppetite!

THE FILM ITSELF is NOT PLOT HEAVY BY ANY MEANS AND FOR THIS I AM A LITTLE PROUD.


never give advice ylifestyle photograp


you wouldn’t take.phy by Natalie Zigdon




lifestyle photography, is about not only capturing the world around you yet capturing the world in it’s natural, raw state. just the way we see it with our own bare eyes. the lens is an extension of what

our minds can’t capture in a single moment.

its about CAPTURING the many beautiful things this world has laying around waiting to be discovered. its about the things we pass by every single day and never take the time to truly appreciate. its about the

simple things that make up our lives and come together to make us who we are. lifestyle photography is about the lifestyle around us.

candid, raw and simple... how photography should be.





















Labyrinth (n)- Complex system of paths or tunnels in which it is easy to get lost.

A face, is one of the perfect definitions of a Labyrinth. Every move of the brows, the lips, and the eyes go in different di-rections when affected by emotions. Another person’s face is the biggest place a person can get lost. The mouth is saying one thing and the eyes are saying something completely dif-ferent. We never know what a person’s face is truly trying to portray.

Send us all the art of faces you’ve got. We want to see dif-ferent types of emotions and how well they are portrayed through art. Portraits and unusual distortion of faces are encouraged. Send your art to [email protected] to be featured in the next issue.

the labyrinth issue coming april 2011


Contribute to grae.

Rorschach.Want to have your art work featured in Grae? Send your art work to inspire [at] graemagazine.com. How do you know you’re qualified? Grae is searching for underground artists and people who simply have a passion to create. Whether it is a picture, a song, a canvas or a story. If you think your creations are creative and inspiring then you are more than qualified… you’re exactly what we’re looking for!

The TreehouSe.Consider yourself a writer? Send us a sample of your writing or a piece you wrote especially for Grae’s theme of the month and your work could be featured in our treehouse section. We only take fiction and creative writing. We’re not trying to sell anything or promote anyone in this section. The treehouse is all about writing with a twist. Show us your creative side by sending your work to inspire [at] graemagazine.com.

Featured InterviewS.Think you deserve a featured spread showcasing your art and your mind? So do we. Send us 3-4 photos of your artwork to inspire [at] graemagazine.com and we’ll answer back with the intriguing questions. You can get a featured spread with an interview by simply speaking up. How will we ever know you’re there unless you don’t use your voice? Don’t be shy.

Feeling the opposite and think you know of the perfect artist to interview? Do your thing and send us the artwork and interview you’ve set up for them. We’ll be more than happy to feature you as the brilliant writer who found such an inspiring artist. Maybe you’re not a brilliant writer, just really good at asking questions. Hey, we’ll take it.

138 | Grae Magazine | The Mulatto Issue Natalie Zigdon


Jo Holden

Chrissy Lau

Benitta

Zaeger Jones

Mimi Illustration

Thierry Lebraly

Javier Lovera

Pedro Julien

Marcos Huerta

Melissa Flores

Ray Kim

Niccole Marciano

Danielle Marciano

Sahar Malekpour

Rachel Winter

Steph Granshaw

Mercedes Helnwein

Alex Cherry

Melissa Cooke

Nicole Mc Evilly

Bethany Monsted

Michael Ostermann

Conrad Roset

Malte Pietschmann

Raquel Aparicio

Elena Jasic

Austin Kamps

Ben Tour

She is Frank

Edward Hewitt Jr

Kyra Rogers

Thank you To ThoSewho live to create.

Documents

Grae Magazine Mulatto Issue