Artist Interview: Zoe-Zoe Sheen

Meet Zoe-Zoe Sheen. Zoe-Zoe has been taking art classes since the age of 14, and is now a graphic designer, freelance illustrator, studio artist, and creative living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She has worked as a graphic designer for the Social Impact Space and Share Our Strength at GOOD Magazine. Her clients include Disney Nature, Bon Appétit, UNICEF, Toms, Star Wars, Microsoft, and UPS among others.

We are thrilled to talk with Zoe-Zoe today to share her unique and multidisciplinary studio practice, as well share her sources of inspiration, motivation, and upcoming projects! Zoe-Zoe has participated in several past Light Grey Exhibitions includes the Expletive Type Show and the recent Guts Exhibition, and the Make My Holiday Annual Art Swap! You can read more about Zoe-Zoe's practice below and follow her projects on her website here!

Could you tell me about your studio space? Where do you work, what materials are you surrounded by?

My studio space is a desk in the other half of my room. I post up notes and sketches from other current projects on my wall. I always have a watercolor/gouche project in progress, so that is always setup on the left of my desk. When I need more space, I'll work off the floor! I have materials for all kinds of projects: paints, brushes, pens/markers, drafting tools, stuff for dyeing textiles, stuff for sewing, fabrics/ felt, sculpey clay, sculpture tools, linocuts, other craft materials for things like jewelry, all kinds of watercolor/drawing papers, corrugated cardboard (cause you never know), drawing boards, easel, lightbox, plexiglass, wood panels, clamp lights, and more. It is all organized by type in drawers and flat files. I also have research materials like books or printouts.

Fun fact, I like to collect adorable "kawaii" things. I decorate with little vignettes around my room. I'll randomly make up narratives and voices when I pass by them. 



I see a lot of experimentation and play inherent in your work- Do you have a creative philosophy? What are you motivated/inspired by?

I'm a playful and curious person. It carries over into how I think and work. I do some projects just so I can mess around without any expectation. I’ll use whatever- charcoal, ink, acrylic, cardboard stamps to make messy patterns on newsprint or make silly characters out of sculpey. I want to have fun and continue honing skills. For my personal work, I try to create an experience, something that can incite wonder, curiosity or joy. 

My motivation is pretty simple: I love making work, illustrations, paintings, objects. I think about those things constantly especially when I’m away from my studio. I keep a notebook with me at all times and use my Evernote to build ideas- it keeps me excited about what is next. Narrowing down what inspires me is hard because there's a lot! The world is rich with things to learn, absorb, experience, that it's all reference material. I get excited about anything whimsical, things that strike me as having a bit of magic and hidden attributes. 



Could you talk a little about your approach to materials? There is a lot of cross over between illustration, design, and objects, and they all share a common sensibility.

Illustration is relatively new to me. I did a lot of vector based illustrations as a designer, and now I’m working on bringing in more experience from painting. I had teachers that strongly encouraged taking risks and experimentation- advice that goes really well with my curiosity. It's fun learning what a material can do, what its characteristics are, and how they interact. And when using Photoshop and Illustrator, I'll apply different combinations of brushes and gradients.

What has been your favorite piece to date? 

My first watercolor painting on wood panel I did about 7 years ago. Not really about the piece itself but what how I was working on it. It was the first piece where I experimented with a new process. It started me on a path of these large wood panels that I painted surreal figures in watercolor. I don't have the space to do those paintings now, but I think about them a lot. 



For the Guts exhibition, you were ask to investigate one subject and it's insides. Could you tell us about your concept and creation of your Guts work?

The connection between thought and physical embodiment is really weird to me. That something abstract like imagination and compassion can be contained into a squishy pale peach organ or how we view ourselves can be disparate with what we see in the mirror. My concept focused on dissociative disorders. In short, these disorders create a lack of connection between a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of self. Dissociative disorders have a wide range from gaps in memory to multiple identities.

For GUTS, I wanted to create a piece reminiscent of a scientific illustration with cross sections.  The first sketches I had looked very different, my original idea had a full figure in it, I also did some sketches using a sphere or pyramid. Once I locked down my composition I used tracing paper to refine details and color. I was originally going to do the illustration in gouache so I did some tests on paper. I realized I wanted to have a more flexible way of working so I switched to a hybrid of illustrator/photoshop/painted aspects. I used the tests I did to help inform how I wanted texture to work. The style of illustration for my Guts piece is a new thing I'm trying.  

What is your creative community like? Do you often get a chance to collaborate with other artists?

Mostly designers and painters. Since doing creative work can get solitary, it's nice when I get to work with other artists. So far I've collaborated mostly with my friends, a few I worked with on client based projects, so not everything was a personal project. I would love to collaborate with more illustrators though. It’s exciting to get people together with different interests and skills.


GOOD Magazine + UPS Small Business Collaboration

What are some of your other sources of inspiration? (books, media, artists, hobbies, etc.)

Animism has to be my favorite concept. It's why kawaii things are awesome. Minimal abstract paintings, toys, flowers, plants, the ocean, gradients, things that glow in the dark, fantasy illustration, cartoons, gestural patterns, pastel colors are some things that inspire me a lot. I frequent sites like Vimeo, Dribbble, Tumblr, Artsy, also Instagram has led me to artists I like.

What is your dream project? What would you love to do if time was no issue? 

Music and art videos. That is- if my dream project also came with a dream budget. I would like to create sets of stylized colorful worlds that I can choreograph weird narratives in with characters.

What projects do you have on the horizon? Where can people find your artwork?

Since I want to do into more editorial illustrations, I have a series on food I'd like to start. Right now I'm working on finishing a watercolor illustration of zombie arms scratching a record and a gouache abstract painting on wood.  I like to have a couple going on so I'm never bored. You can see my work at my portfolio site: zoezoesheen.com. I post a lot of process/fun stuff on my instagram (@zzsheen) and tumblr (twozee.tumblr.com).



Other thoughts or advice?

Have fun, if your not enjoying the work you do then something is out of balance and you might end up burned out. 

Thanks! Zoe-Zoe was one of the contributing artists to the Guts Exhibition. You can see this her work alongside the 60+ artists on the Light Grey website here!

Artist Interview: J Zachary Keenan

Meet J Zachary Keenan. Zach is an illustrator, designer, and art educator based in Minneapolis, MN. He is most known for his brand design, advertising, and hand typography. His work ranges from packaging to screen printing to animations and sound. He has worked with clients such as Readymade Magazine, the Walker Art Center, MPR, Target, Piece Studio, and many others. In addition to freelance projects, Zach is also teaching Design classes at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. We have had the pleasure of working with Zach on several exhibitions including HOT PARTY, the Expletive Show, You Can Do It, and the current Guts Exhibition.

His work is vibrant, playful, and filled with visual puns! We are thrilled to talk with Zach today about his studio practice, thoughts on illustration and design, and upcoming works! You can read the interview below, as well as see his work here: jzkeenan.com.



Hi Zach! Could you tell us about your studio? What materials do you most enjoy?

My current studio is small. And it fills up fast. I like having raw materials around that inspire me. Usually, my organization method is “stacks of things,” which gets out of hand sometimes. I have bins of markers and pens that I probably should have discarded because they no longer lay down a clean, crisp line. But the marks they make still hold value for me. I love how a tool affects the process of making. A sharp knife will cut but a dull knife can give an unexpected result. I try to find beauty in the unexpected.



What is your creative process like? How does your process differ depending on the medium you're using? How is it the same?

With illustration and design, my final products tend to be digital. So I try to keep the initial process analog for as long as possible. I alway start with a sketchbook and a pile of content that relates to the task at hand. I like to think that whatever the medium (ink, pixels, wood, plastic, sound, etc.) or the type of project(imagemaking,brand design, art direction), my aesthetic sensibility and critical thought provides a common thread throughout everything I do. I’m not sure if that’s true—I hope it is!

What inspires you? What imagery you are drawn towards using in your artwork, and what about it excites you?

Visually, I really enjoy folk art and old rural signage—from all different cultures. The creator maybe isn’t so classically trained, but she/he is driven and passionate about what they’re making. Visual communication, self expression and a person’s life experiences all come together to make that final beautiful thing. On a larger scale, I’m motivated by nature and the outdoors. I think nature is one of the few things that we all have in common.



What are your favorite creative resources?

Everything, seriously. The cities (MPLS/STP) are a great resource. There’s enough cultural institutions, libraries, food and good people around to help my head get unstuck. Can you talk about your idea and process for creating your piece for Guts? What inspired you? How did the idea form? What did you encounter in the process?

I knew immediately that I wanted to make something tactile. And I wanted to talk about “guts” in surreal and magical terms. I think I started with a pallet of images, colors and textures that I like, and then figured out how that could represent the theme. I also wanted to present a contrast between natural textures ( the wood from the tree) and bright, saturated colors. Whenever I have the chance to work in 3D space, I look for ways to work 2D elements into the piece. I really love pattern, especially on a surface where the physical attributes have an effect the graphic. The whole process was a complete experiment. I had a clear image in my head of what I wanted to make, but I had never worked with a lot of the materials that were used to make the final piece.



Are you working on any exciting projects? What are some of your "dream projects" that'd you'd really like to work on?

I just started developing some creative concepts for a food truck. What a wonderful canvas to work with! I’d really love to do more super large scale work, in environment or retail, where pattern and material ideas could be let loose in a big space. I don’t know what that would be, specifically. But somebody should get a hold of me if they do.

Thanks, Zach!

You can see Zach's piece for the Guts Exhibition on the Light Grey website here! You can also follow Zach's work on his website and follow new projects on tumblr.