Faux
Brand Packaging/Design
- My goal in working with package design is to blend graphic design elements with illustrative work. This particular gallery of work is from an independent project where I reimagined a faux company in the cannabis industry.
Artist Statement
My artwork is an illumination of the mundane world seen through my eyes. I reimagine subjects, themes, and ideas that may be considered crass and I translate them into an airy, whimsical product. I derive inspiration mainly from people; the way they look, how they act, how they feel. Using a range of living subjects, from people to plants, my artwork gives vibrance to a world that could be seen as uninteresting to everyday people. I also procure creative inspiration from other artists. I often consider this quote by Pablo Picasso, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” I steal inspiration from everywhere; stolen little moments or scenes from people's lives, their faces, their facial expressions. I also became highly inspired by retro aesthetics that began to shape my work into something more graphic. My artwork also exploresdaunting, possibly macabre, themes and depicts them using a vivid bubblegum aesthetic, anaesthetic which combines hyper-femininity and childlike aspects of art with teenage and adult self-expression. I sign my works under the pseudonym, Mysterinx, aka MX. I put a lot of myself as an individual into my art. Many of my older artworks were more “realistic” digital portraits. Sincethen, my art has evolved into a more illustrative, less realistic and more stylized, aesthetic. I became increasingly inspired by obscure horror and light gore themes, and began incorporating that into my more current pieces. I also became very interested in the 60s comic book aesthetic, which is when I started to add more texture to my pieces to give it a nostalgic paper feel, eventhough it is a digital artwork. I would often describe my work as modern pop art, influenced by pop art from the 60s.
Recently, I have graduated with my Bachelor's Degree in Art, focusing on Illustration. In the past, I have worked as an artist with multiple independent businesses, including an edible cannabis company to design their logo and packaging, an independent photographer/videographer whose logo I designed, as well as a hair salon’s business cards that I produced. I have also designed fabric patterns, different clothing designs, as well as a bit of jewelry that I have sold independently. I also experiment with traditional media, such as inks orwatercolors. Recently I’ve begun a journey into using oil paints, which I would like to explore more. I've also gained a love for ceramics and would like to practice the medium more. My preferred works are portraits, but I also experiment with other subject matter as well. I had gained a love for packagin design throughout the years as well. I enjoy adding art to items people use daily. When designing my digital artwork, I start with a traditional sketch using graphite. I scan the sketch into a program such as Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop, and begin the digital process. Recently, I’ve begun to finish my work off by adding a halftone print effect, giving the work a vintage comic book like texture. This gives a bit of nostalgia to the work for certain people, as well as is more aesthetically pleasing to some.
As a graphic designer and illustrator, I occasionally enjoy a structured prompt or idea, giving me a different form of creative freedom, not overly focused on the outcome, but the process of working through the prompt to get somewhere I’m happy with. This method also helps me create a different styled product that I might not have made otherwise. This idea of thinking when creating my art can take time, but in the long run I produce something a bit different from my usual aesthetic. I believe this process helps me become a more versatile artist as well. In the end, I’m proud that I created something, especially if it’s something I made my own. I aspire to impact people with my art, whether they feel a whirlwind of emotions or just enjoy the aesthetic of my work. I don’t always have a huge underlying reason for why I make art. I just look for beauty in the things I find beautiful, and I find a lot of things beautiful. It is important to me to stay true to my art and myself as an artist. I work hard towards making my art an inspiration worth stealing and I hope people are impacted by the idea that it is okay to add a vibrant liveliness to the many aspects of life because that’s art.