POW! WOW! Long Beach: Interview with Hueman
POW! WOW! Long Beach is fast approaching to gather local, international, emerging and well-established artists in the process and creation of art.
As proud media partners of this edition, we will be there every step of the way, reporting on ground to take you along on the POW! WOW! journey.
POW! WOW! comprises a global network of artists to organise gallery shows, lectures, screenings, installations, mural projects and concerts among a range of other events. With the central event taking place in Hawaii, POW! WOW! has now expanded to cities across the globe. Among its latest endeavours is Long Beach, California, which will soon see a burst of colours and art, exhibitions, screenings and talks spread across the city.
To kick off the POW! WOW! Long Beach festivities, we spoke to one of the artists that will be colouring the city with her vibrant work, Oakland-based graffiti artist and painter Hueman.
fluoro. Tell us a little bit about you and your style?
Hueman. I’m Hueman, based in Oakland, CA, and I got my BA in Design | Media Arts at UCLA in 2008. My style is a mixture of figurative forms and colorful abstractions. I like to create the sense of motion through streaks and splashes and fragmented faces and shapes.
Everything I make has an ethereal quality to it. It’s like the moment when you’re just waking up from a dream, everything is cloudy and you can’t quite recall what happened but you can remember bits and pieces of color and mood.
f.What elements of your life, personality, education, etc. play a significant role in shaping your style?
H. The search to find balance has always been a big part of my life. I appreciate the idea of yin and yang – opposites working in harmony.
I have two very distinct parts of my personality: The part of me that likes to go out and be loud and party, and then the part of me that’s very reserved, introverted, and enjoys being alone. I don’t like to stay too long on one side, and I don’t do anything in excess. That’s the same approach I bring to my work, I pay attention to dualities. I try to balance the soft with the sharp, the abstract with geometric. For a long time I was working as a graphic designer, and I think that’s where the geometric, graphic part of my style comes from.
f.How has your work evolved over the years?
H. My work has gotten more and more abstract as time goes on. When I was starting out it was more figurative and illustrative. Now it leans more on the abstract side. I think starting out as an artist, I felt like I needed to prove how well I could render the human form, like that was indicative of how good an artist I was. Now I’m not as concerned with showing off my rendering skills, and these days I prefer to communicate simply through form and color. It feels more powerful to me.
f.Your work has attracted clients such as Nike, Disney and American Express. Does your commercial and non-commercial work influence each other?
H. I wouldn’t say they influence each other. A commercial piece will look very much like a non-commercial piece. I don’t take on any client work that will compromise my vision or style.
f.You are among the participants of POW! WOW! Long Beach, what attracted you to want to get involved in this particular event?
H. I’ve been following POW! WOW! for the last few years, and through social media I’ve watched the event grow and become this worldwide phenomenon. I was fortunate to be a part of the event in Hawaii earlier this year, and I had so much fun. The people that are involved with putting on the event, along with the artists, have such a great energy and I’m happy to be involved again for Long Beach. POW! WOW! has managed to organise some of the world’s best talent in one place, so I’d be crazy to say no!
f.What can we expect to see from your piece at POW! WOW! Long Beach?
H. I’ll be teaming up with the awesome and talented Madsteez. We’ve both got bright, fluorescent color palettes and have similar approaches to painting, so you can definitely expect a crazy mashup of color.
POW! WOW! Long Beach is set to take place from Monday 22 – Saturday 28 June 2015. The event will unfold across Long Beach, California. We will be bringing you the latest updates from the event. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for real times updates from Long Beach.
www.powwowlongbeach.com
www.huemannature.com
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