Pique Spring 2024: The Unexpected and Experimental at Three-day Ottawa Multimedia Arts Festival

Photo by Valerie Boucher

Four times a year, Ottawa arts organizer Debaser hosts Pique, a “forward-thinking” festival featuring a mix of musical, visual, and multimedia artists, both locally and internationally known. 

Their spring 2024 edition was held last weekend from March 8-10 at the Ottawa Arts Court. It was their first time hosting the event over multiple days and their biggest yet. Not only did the event showcase various acts well into the night, but it also hosted a mixture of workshops and installations, leaning into their theme of “experimentation, exploration, and expecting the unexpected.”

The festival kicked off with Topique, a series of artist talks and workshops held throughout the weekend. Attendees had the opportunity to delve deeper into the ideas and processes behind the artists' groundbreaking work, exploring topics such as digital and analogue sound production techniques, mindful listening, womanhood and representation, and improvisation. Among these sessions were workshops led by international artists Maria Chávez, Val Jeanty, and Maylee Todd, who each also performed in the main lineup. Friday’s sessions, held on International Women’s Day, included panel discussions with artists including Zineb Allaoui and LuCille whose exhibit “Elusive Illusion: A Review of the Nude African Form” was on display all weekend. 

Part of the greatness of Pique is you don’t always know what you’re going to get, but you go along for the ride anyway. The building filled up throughout Saturday into the night, as attendees wandered around, experiencing a variety of atmospheres and acts across the venue's different rooms.

Nordting by Valerie Boucher

At 6:30 p.m., Nordting, ”a nomadic people’s parliament of the North” and “separatist movement for the Arctic colony” was engaging the crowd at the Club SAW stage while signs on the front doors of the building warned those entering of a “strong scent of fish.” Their show is part-rousing PowerPoint, part-throat singing talent, and part-immersive experience as they beat drums with frozen fish and encourage the crowd to vote on various motions before hugging the strangers beside them.

Meanwhile, in a nearby room, Montreal duo Echönymphia, consisting of pianist Vivian Li and harpist Coralie Gauthier. blends harp and synth into ethereal sounds. Attendees watched the show relaxing on the floor as the pink and orange lights flickered on stage. 

Maria Chávez by Valerie Boucher

In a seated theatre, abstract turntablist Maria Chávez kicked off her installation "Topography of Sound" by inviting attendees of her earlier workshop to break a collection of records. The records were picked up at a local store, something she does in every city she performs in. Throughout her set, she incorporated those broken pieces into her music, creating an eclectic mix of mystery audio, voices, and beats.

By 9:30 PM, Club SAW is filled with a crowd dancing and drinking to disco duo TUSH while Norwegian visual artist, chanter, and musician Marita Isobel Solberg is playing in another room. The crowd built up throughout the night, with DJ digital polyglot closing it out with a packed set “inspired by space and other worlds” at 1 AM.

TUSH by Valerie Boucher

Pique highlights the diversity of Ottawa's arts scene, showcasing local talents like N'nerjie, Queenyy, and Dimitri Georgaras while bringing in unique artists from around the world. The range of acts and crowded rooms at Pique highlights the talent coming to and out of Ottawa and the thirst that people in the city have for these kinds of experiences.

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Pique

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Debaser

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Valerie Boucher is a writer based in Ottawa, Canada. You can follow her on Instagram and learn more at valerieboucher.ca.

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Also Cool x Mags' FREE Drink&Draw Returns to Système

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

What's better than a wholesome evening drawing with your friends drinking a cute drink? We strongly believe in creating accessible creative spaces to hang with friends, meet new ones, or just to get out of the house for a while, which is why we're excited to host another free Drink & Draw event at Système on October 11th.

We're proudly co-presenting alongside Mags and are welcoming DJs Abbot and Rah, who will be spinning all night long. Our DJs have also been hosting a weekly event called Tunes n’ Toons, which we’ll get into!

Here's the TLDR:

Drink & Draw at Le Système (7119 St Hubert) in Montreal, 5 pm-close

• No cover + supplies provided free of charge

• All ages and skill levels are welcome

• Non-alcoholic beverages are available. 

Feel free to bring friends or come on your own! We had quite a few people come through last time who wanted to vibe solo.

We also put together a short interview with our DJs and some of the drawings from our last event. Check it all out below.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

Also Cool: Can you introduce yourselves to the Also Cool readers in case they aren't familiar with you?

Shem: Hiya! I go by Shem G. Aka Ramehs.eS (Rah for short)

Your snarky neighbourhood Neptunian, a general outside-of-the-lines animated character! Been sitting my way through life in Montreal for the last few years; it's good to be here!

Abbot: I go by Hanzo_da_bullfrog on IG, Abbott artist, Palu artist from "paluyota" (free Genghis album).

Mags: I'm Mags; most folks know me as part of the musical duo Strange Froots and occasional Also Cool collaborator, but outside of that, I'm an illustrator, music producer, performer and event organizer.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: Would it be correct to consider you all cartoon enthusiasts?

A: Yes, we are. Top tier.

S: ABSOLUTELY! I can't remember a time when music and cartoons weren't an obsession. I've been sleeping with the radio or TV on for over 20 years (who knows what health effects that's had on me, but hey, I'm still alive)! It only got deeper when I decided to pick up pens and brushes for myself in an effort to learn/integrate new skills.

M: Cartoons are my whole thing, my raison d’être. My love of animation predates that of music, and it's something that I can easily talk about for hours. Even now, I'm still getting hip to current-day shows such as Craig of the Creek, which was such a wonderful discovery being that it's a cartoon with a young Black protagonist set in a fictionalized version of my hometown in the DMV, and even reflects many aspects of my own childhood! I can never take for granted the power of animation.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: How have cartoons and visual art impacted your musical endeavours, and/or vice versa?

A: They strongly influenced my creativity past composing and writing music. I studied music and video art while learning music and playing games and found the highest sensory grooves, deepest backbeat, and most fly verses. 

S: Doing my own visuals for music or very closely collaborating with more skilled artists helps it all feel more cohesive. As a huge fan of manga and MMORPGS, I love some solid world-building. When immersion is solid, it helps me feel confident about the project.

Other than that, inspiration comes from many sources, but the primary would have to be what's been absorbed through the twistings of a more illustrative lens.

M: Interestingly enough, the music in many cartoons I grew up watching pushed me to make my own. From the cultural staple that is Tevin Campbell's contribution to A Goofy Movie to the DnB and mod music found in Cartoon Network shows like The Powerpuff Girls and Teen Titans, even my early exposure to city pop via Sailor Moon. 

While my dad and brother were big proponents in my getting into music production and electronic music, respectively, the music I first started making was giving main character themes. The first 'EP' (if you can even call it that) I made when I was in middle school was the official soundtrack to the manga I was writing at the time: JAGUARA: Felines United, an unapologetic ripoff of Sailor Moon, InuYasha and Thundercats. Nowadays, the music still gives off a cinematic vibe with more room for interpretation. 

Still, with projects like NuLOM (a tape I put out with Shem G in 2018) and Age of Aquarius (another tape I put out with JU!CE in early 2020), they both draw from (and quite literally sample) the cartoons, comics, video games that we blerds loved growing up and still love today. Nowadays, I try to find other ways for my audiences to cross over, such as playing Loop Sessions beats during my art streams on Twitch.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: Drink & Draws is an offshoot of the Paint & Sip concept. When did you first come across drink & draw events, and what motivated you to put on your own Drink & Draw events?

S: Summer rooftop parties with good friends, park hangs in the sun mixed with a staggering stationary splurge across my first years of learning led towards wanting to put on a more consistent concept while also having a good reason to hang in my favourite record store/cafés

I have yet to attend a paint and sip, but I can't wait to get the chance!

M: I'd never formally attend a drink and draw or a paint and sip, but I've heard of the latter from my older sister. From my understanding, it's a very cheugy activity comprising wine and possibly ceramics. Very #livelaughlove teas. 

Imagine my surprise when I found out how expensive they were! But truly, what motivated me to put on a Drink & Draw was that I came onto the scene over a decade ago as the girl who draws, and that's how I forged connections in the city; I even started a blog called Mags Maps MTL that was originally hosted on my webcomic site. I wanted to switch roles and see what the rest of Montreal felt like drawing, especially if they could draw inspiration from the city like I did. 

The idea first came to me around springtime when I was planning my birthday week (which was several months away, but as a Virgo, I've had to learn the hard way not to rely on folks with a different grasp on the passage of time), and as my date grew closer, Shem and Hanzo had also started their own series, and I saw its potential for a chill, low-stakes hangout with friends and sharing space in a creative environment. 

When my event with Also Cool came around, I had no idea just how popular it would be... because why now we got a whole bar drawing??

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: What has putting on these events been like for you? Any feedback?

S: So far so good! The only feedback would be to make more posters and have it happen more consistently, which is definitely the goal! I want to keep things up in a sustainable and rejuvenating way!

M: It was incredibly moving to see people tap into their inner child and revisit those memories or even express things they were feeling in the present moment through poetry and abstract art. A lot of the same notions kept getting repeated as I listened to people's reactions: "therapeutic," "wholesome," and "perfect weeknight activity." 

The truth is people want more access to creating art that isn't confined to daytime and just more variety in their nightlife overall. It's a great way to mix things up for happy hour, or even if you wanted to grab a drink by yourself, you can do that and pick up a pen and paper and doodle something with or without the expectation or pressure of someone coming up to you to socialize.

A:  It's been dope; people pull up to actually draw and vibe. It has opened the floor for us to continue working on our sets and support many of the local businesses in Montreal that we love. There is no better way to unwind after work than to drink and draw. 

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: What are your hopes for the next events, and what should folks take away from them after attending?

A: We hope more people find out about it and they can come vibe with us. We love ya'll. 

S: I'll disclose my first and end goal for Tunes n' Toons. If every musical artist leaves with a cover for a project or, on the flip side, if every visual artist leaves with a commission for a musician, I've succeeded!

Other than that, people have been making friends, tips, snacks, and stories; what more could we ask for!?

Big bonus points to the relief many artists feel about having a relaxed environment to enjoy art outside of a more "work-based" environment!

M: My hope for the next events is that people lean more into what inspires them today. We all love nostalgia, but looking back on my old blog posts about the things happening in MTL in 2013 has taught me that people don't realize just how nostalgic they'll be for the moments they're living right now. They say art is how we decorate space, and music is how we decorate time. 

I think the criss-cross version of that is true as well: I associate certain songs with Montreal and others with the DMV, and being able to draw comics and art pieces to document my time in places that mean so much to me speaks volumes more than any diary entry I could write. 

I want people to come away from this with a newfound appreciation for their artistic expression and how it can serve to heal your past, anchor you in the present, and, in some cases, define your future. If not, define it, at least give you something to look back on fondly.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

We can't wait for this next edition of our Drink & Draw series! If you can't make this round, we'll host the next one on November 8th, so mark your calendars.

See you at Système!

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Counter Offence Returns With Renewed Relevance (Teesri Duniya Theatre)

Oliver Price and Sophie-Thérèse Stone-Richards of the play Counter Offence. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Melnyk

It’s something rare and special to see an original work of theatre remounted in a new era. Counter Offence originally premiered here in Montreal in the 1990s, written by Rahul Varma and directed by Jack Langedijk, and produced by a then-new Teesri Duniya Theatre, and its comeback in 2023 is timely.

The play follows the form of a police procedural, but deviates in refusing to privilege the police’s perspective in its unfurling of a murder mystery. A young Iranian man, Shapoor (played by Arash Ebrahimi), assaults his wife Shazia (Amanda Silveira), and his progress in obtaining Canadian citizenship is jeopardized by the legal process that Shazia is advised to take in order to be safely separated from him. Advising Shazia in her journey is social worker Clarinda (played by Sophie-Thérèse Stone-Richards), with much-involved pressure from her parents (played by Ambica Sharma & AJ Richardson). Adding to the rising pressure cooking in this piece is a passionate police officer, Galliard (Oliver Price)—lauded cautiously by the social worker for his ferocious work in the domestic violence department—and his supervising officer (Howard Rosenstein). Into this fray saunters the charismatic lawyer Moolchand (Aladeen Tawfeek), who tries to mine positive police reform (and a great career move) by representing Shapoor, insisting that the police force’s history of systemic racism was used against him.

Ambica Sharma and Andrew Joseph Richardson of the play Counter Offence. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Melnyk

For a story so caught up in “the system” and its flaws, “the law” and its slipperiness, and the State of Quebec and its shortcomings, Counter Offense has a glowing heart radiating out from its stage. Set designer Marie-Eve Fortier puts the audience in a jury’s box on either side of an alley staging while maintaining the warm familial homestead of Mr. & Mrs. Begum where they try (and fail) to keep Shazia safe from Shapoor. Across from this hearth is the promise of safety in Clarinda’s office, similarly carpeted and cozy. Then, there are the desks of the police and legal representatives, where the flags of Quebec and Canada do the subtle stating of the power that calls itself justice. 

Testimonies from every character in this ensemble run throughout the story as it jumps back and forth in time, and director Murdoch Schon gives their cast the beautiful opportunity to engage with each other’s bodies in expressive, dancerly movements. Throughout the play, limbs encircle the characters and their body weight is gently buffeted with and without narrative relationships. This artistic flourish broke the mold of the murder mystery into a more theatrical representation of the disparate power of testimony: from police, from lawyers compared to that of immigrants, and from women. These movement interludes were not always necessary, but they were consistent, impressive, and interesting.

Counter Offense seems in many ways like the perfect comeback show for Teesri Duniya Theatre. The theatre company co-produced the immersive, site-specific piece Meet Me that took audiences all over McGill’s campus with a cast of three, but it is so refreshing—and increasingly unlikely—to see a cast of eight on stage as we did at the Segal Centre. The number of actors manages to smooth out the notable difference in the strength of performance. Principle plot lines let inter-generational conflict play out, and this is where weaker characterization and performance manage not to hamstring the show as a whole, being balanced so well by the veteran actors graciously anchoring the story’s rhythm and pacing if younger ones fall out of sync. Counter Offense was a crackling finisher for the Teesri Duniya Theatre 2022-23 season. They have yet to announce their next production, but are currently hosting the second cycle of their Global Dialogues series.

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Teesri Duniya Theatre

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Vero Denis is a writer based in Montreal.

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She's Late // A Circus Show - Witnessing the World of Double Fantasy

Image by Document original

She's Late // A Circus Show by Double Fantasy is an experimental circus performance that blends dance and performance art to create a surreal and immersive experience. The show comprises two acts: an improvisation portion and the main dance performance.

During the improvisation portion, the performers explore different characters, outfits, and scenic devices while manipulating objects and exploring the theme of gravity. One character emerges from a giant, fuzzy egg shape with water sacks, while another plays with a hanging contraption of balloons. The performers manipulate different pieces around the stage, even sawing some of them open. The lighting and stage setting are equally impressive, with bold choices of color and a sense of randomness that added to the surreal atmosphere. The audience is treated to a unique experience of absurdity and visual spectacle, culminating in a captivating dance performance in the second act.

The stage setting and colors of the performance also caught my attention. The use of bold colors and random objects, such as the giant balloons and water sacks, added to the overall surreal and dreamlike atmosphere. The lighting was set beautifully, with different colors and intensities used to complement each scene. The combination of the stage design and lighting created a visually stunning experience that enhanced the overall impact of the performance.

Image by Document original

The main performance is a mesmerizing dance piece that sees the performers balance giant balloons over a fan, bounce water balloons up and down on a pulley, and use harnesses to move across the stage. The water balloon scene is particularly awe-inspiring, as the performers bounce the balloons up and down in a perfectly synchronized manner. The performers show incredible physical strength and coordination, seamlessly combining dance and circus performance. One performer even rises up on a harness upstage while another is naked on top of giant balloons.

She's Late // A Circus Show is a unique and thought-provoking performance that explores themes of impossibility, surprise, and tension. The performers share a complicity with the place, the objects, the scenography, and the public, creating a shared experience that blurs the boundaries between performance and reality. Nien Tzu Weng and Camille Lacelle-Wilsey are "soft clowns" who use their illogical gestures and misunderstandings to create an amusing and welcoming atmosphere, despite the surreal and absurd actions taking place on stage.

The artists’ unique perspectives and styles left a lasting impression on me, and I can't wait to see what they create next. For anyone who missed this show, I highly recommend following these artists to keep up with their future endeavors. It's clear that they have a lot to offer, and I'm excited to see where they go from here.

Image by Document original

Double Fantasy is comprised of two artists, Nien Tzu Weng & Camille Lacelle-Wilsey:

Nien Tzu Weng is a Taiwanese-Canadian interdisciplinary dance artist and lighting designer based in Tio'tia:ke-Montreal. She aims to build bridges between disciplines, pursuing an experimental approach to contemporary performance, and a laboratory based approach to lighting design. As both choreographer and lighting designer, Weng is curious about the relationship between movement and new media practices, and plays with the balance between reality and fantasy. She uses light and multimedia in order to play with perspective, perceiving performance as a process of transmitting dialogues between inner and outer space, where presence and image builds multiple, overlapping conceptions of time. Her projects have been shared in Node Digital Festival (Frankfurt, DE), Biennale Némo (Paris, FR), Ars Electronica (Linz, AUT), Les Percéides (Percé, QC), SummerWorks (Toronto, ON), 1-act SHIFT Theatre (Vancouver, BC) as well as OFFTA Festival, Elektra, Akousma, Tangente Danse, La Chapelle, and MAI Theatre in Montreal. She co-created the collective: Double Fantasy and is currently a member of LePARC (Milieux), one of the supported emerging artists with CCOV, as well as a resident artist at Topological Media Lab, where she develops her research on presence and interactivity. 

Camille Lacelle-Wilsey is a contemporary dance artist originally from Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and newly based in the Eastern Townships. After graduating from Concordia University with a BFA in contemporary dance, she continued her choreographic research, focusing on interference, transformation and sudden change of state. Since 2015, she has presented her creations Come a Bit Closer, Ghostbox, Dispositif and D'amour ils se gaveront, de haine ils déborderont at Tangente. She is currently in creation for the She's late - A Circus Show with her sidekick Nien Tzu Weng with whom she created the Double Fantasy collective. She has just presented a solo performance exhibition entitled Radiant  Investigation combining photography and dance at the VAV Gallery. In parallel to creation, she is interested in the creative process as a videographer, rehearsal director, member of a selection jury, movement consultant and performer-researcher. She has worked with artists such as Sara Hanley, Louis Clément Da Costa, Émile Pineault, Erin Hill, Nien Tzu Weng, Eryn Tempest and Catherine Lavoie-Marcus.

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She’s Late // A Circus Show ran March 15, 17 & 18 at La Chapelle Theatre.

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Performers + Creators Collectif Double Fantasy

Special guests Lael Stellick + Erin Hill

Costum Designer Marie-Audrey Jacques

Sound Designer Dae Courtney

Light Designer Jon Cleveland

Set Design Étienne Plante

Technical Director Darah Miah

Production Support François Bouvier Michael Martini

Artistic Coach  Sylvie Tourangeau

Supported by Danse-Cité + Conseil des Arts du Canada + Conseil des Arts de Montréal + RURART - art contemporain en milieu rural + CASJB - Centre des arts de la scène Jean-Besré + LA SERRE - arts vivants + Ranch Cheval de Soie + LOL Festival.

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She’s Late // A Circus Show

Double Fantasy

Info | Nien Tzu Weng | Camille Lacelle-Wilsey

Holly Hilts is a Core Member of Also Cool. She is a jeweler, coder & theatre worker currently based in Montreal.

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I do belong here: A Conversation with Flo Fortune

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Flo Fortune by Marie Marchandise

Editor’s note: The following interview and video essay mentions eating disorders and bullying. Reader discretion is advised.

Why do we take pictures of ourselves? Why do we share them? Why do we want to be published? Why do we desire to wear pieces that transform us–armors wrapped around us, there to reassure us–allowing us to become characters injecting freedom into our lives, and granting us the strength to become ourselves? Why do we give life to handmade creations, conceived by spirits whose thoughts only stop at the first clanking sounds of their sewing machines, or when their threads puncture fabric for the first time? Why do we create threads between all of us? Why do we forge ties? Why do we want to meet each other? Why do we create a human and colorful universe? Why do we inspire each other, and feed each other with beautiful visual stories–the ones that smoothly impact you–remaining embedded in your mind? The ones that give you hope, that beckon you, when leafing through glossy pages or watching a fashion show? 

All these questions suddenly find an answer when Flo Fortune opens the doors of this grand dance studio, enveloped between high trees, sun, and silence. Fortune, a professional model, arises quietly and elegantly, such as the echo of their steps on the floor. They are waiting for one thing only: the camera revolving around them; to catch and control it.

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Marie Marchandise for Also Cool Mag: How would you present yourself? How do you think you are seen? How would you love to be remembered?

Flo Fortune: I’m Flo, a 28-year-old queer, midsize model, social media consultant, mental health advocate, writer, and anorexia survivor. 

I think I am seen as a brave person, as I never shy away from stating the mental health issues I’ve dealt with. Being openly vulnerable, on and offline, isn’t easy, but I know for a fact that it can help people feel less lonely in a society that values so-called perfection and success at all costs.

People might also perceive me as a woman because I’m very femme-presenting, which can be difficult to process sometimes.

I want to be remembered as someone who always did what they thought was right and tried their best to achieve what they wanted, even when it seemed impossible.

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Flo Fortune by Marie Marchandise

Also Cool: What is it like to be a model in Paris?

Flo Fortune: No need to sugarcoat it, it’s really hard. Paris is the city of fashion, but in a very traditional way. There is, to this day, very little room for the misfits, fat people, midsize people, people of colour, and disabled people.

For the most part, we simply do not exist, and the ones who made it went through a lot to get there. Diversity isn’t a priority or a goal; it’s mostly a marketing tool. I couldn’t name more than five fat, midsize or nonbinary French models who managed to succeed in France. When it comes to disabled models, it’s like they don’t even exist in the French market. It’s a shame, and I think that the “Parisienne” myth has a lot to do with that.

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Flo Fortune by Marie Marchandise

AC: What defines a “good” model, to you?

FF: Someone who isn’t afraid of not looking pretty, who is ready to play a role, to tell a story. Someone who can use their vulnerability, their story, and their strength to create “the shot.” You have to be okay with the fact that you will give a piece of who you are when on set. Not everything has to be about measurements. Agencies are now, more than ever, looking for personalities, people who have a voice, and things to bring to the table.

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Flo Fortune by Marie Marchandise

AC: How can fashion be more political? What are the first “baby steps” to make the industry more in sync with our era and society?

FF: There are tons of topics that should be discussed and actions to be taken. Sustainability, access to fashion schools, diversity, and ethical work, to name a few. However, none of these issues will ever be truly discussed since most of the industry is still ruled by white, aging, cis male billionaires.

Brands, Maisons, magazines and agencies have to take responsibility and hire people of colour, disabled people, young people, queer people, and fat people, at every level.

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Flo Fortune by Marie Marchandise

AC: Are there any true changes that you’ve spotted?

FF: There are lots of exciting projects that keep me from being pessimistic. For example, I really hope that brands like Marine Serre or Ester Manas, who are getting recognition in France, will inspire others to showcase the same amount of diversity on the runway. Similarly, concerning their sustainable fabric-sourcing, I believe they can influence small designers to consider eco-friendly alternatives and new production processes.

In 2022, I came across many podcasts and Instagram accounts whose goals are to desacralize the fashion industry and share resources. Be it by posting upcycling hacks or addressing issues, such as the colonial dynamics that are still at play within the fashion industry. 

Another thing that comes to my mind is the current debate about nepo babies. We’re finally collectively talking about the fact that most people in fashion don’t come from the working class and that it has to change! 

That being said, I think it’s fair to say that change is being pushed by “small” creators, brands, journalists and so on, and not by those who have the actual power and the means to make a huge positive impact. 

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Flo Fortune by Marie Marchandise

AC: What are you hoping to change in the industry?

FF: Let’s face it, I might be queer and midsize, but I’m still a non-fat white person. I know that I have an easier path than others. That being said, I do think that working in this industry, being who I am, knowing where I come from and how narrow-minded the modeling industry is, is already a push in the right direction. Being "a face and a body" isn’t enough. I want to use my voice and work on projects that mean something as much as I can. Be it by working with sustainable, QTBIPOC-led brands, queer photographers, or truly inclusive agencies.

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Flo Fortune by Marie Marchandise

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I do belong here credits

Model: @manicpixiefuckk
MUA: @paulinemakeupro
Hair: @lapetitevictoulouse
Dress: @noemiedevime.paris
Lingerie: @eternel_ephemere_underwear
Nails: @nailedbyines
Jewels: @labricotbleu, @annashelley.fr, @jeannette.atelier, @cecile.dallaglio_jewellery, @maaadboutique
Location: @residencedesartstoulouse  

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Marie Marchandise

Marie Marchandise is a 28-year-old photographer, art director, and PR specialist living in Toulouse, France. When she was a child, she wanted to be a poet. Growing up, she was obsessed with the fact that she actually wanted to be helpful: she wanted to be a vet, a psychologist, or a lawyer. With arts and PR, she combines the inherent desire of her first dream job as a child, and her inner need developed from her teenage years into adulthood.  When she tells visual and written stories with brands, designers, models, and creatives, she contributes to a bigger picture. If you feel something when looking at her photographs or reading her texts, it means that her job is done. If you are inspired, motivated, looking for something new thanks to them, this is more than she could ever dream of. 

Instagram

Flo Fortune 

Fashion is, for me, a tool to get my own emancipation. A way to explore. A means to reach self-definition on its own. Fabrics and textiles represent artistic expressions, helping me to exist. As a child, fashion allowed me to be alive when the rest of the world wanted me to disappear. Today, when I’m wearing clothes, I am always diving somewhere else, into a new universe. Every time. Every day. My individuality is asserted thanks to fashion. I want to be loud. I am clear: I belong here. I am doing this job as I am craving poetry and creativity. I am eagerly looking for different ways and options to communicate and create a sustainable and healthy bond with persons who are not only like me, but inspire me. I want to give back that inspiration, I want to breathe in and breathe out in studios, catwalks, and magazines. I am doing this for the past versions of myself that thought too many times that I needed to suffer and starve myself to create beautiful pictures. I am doing this job to prove that you can fall many times, yet always pick yourself up, stand up, and rise up.

Instagram

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Proje(c)t; Les Bonnes - Language & power dynamics through an adaptation of Jean Genet's 'The Maids'

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Image by Phanie Ethier

This weekend, we’re especially excited to catch the play Proje(c)t; Les Bonnes, running at Centaur Theatre’s Wildside Festival from January 26th-29th. 

Proje(c)t; Les Bonnes is an adaptation of Jean Genet’s The Maids, presented in a format crossing time and language and praised for its “diabolical weirdness”. The play is performed in French, English, and Spanish, with English subtitles provided.

Roxane Loumède, the play’s director and adaptor, describes the show as, “strange, sexy and excitingly terrifying. It can make you uncomfortable, but that’s the point.”

The play revolves around two women, Solange and Claire, who work for a wealthy Westmount woman referred to as Madame. While she is out, they spend their evenings enacting different plots to murder Madame, until this ritual backfires. Loumède jokingly notes, “you’ll have to come and see the show to find out what happens next.”

Last week, we had the lovely opportunity to meet Loumède and discuss how this play came to be, and what incited the different elements of her adaptation, like language politics, power dynamics, and wealth.

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On bilingualism in theatre practice 

Roxane Loumède: It all started when I finished at Concordia in 2015. I graduated from an English school, but I was a Francophone. I was not really in the English or French communities, just in a weird in-between, so I wanted to start creating my own work.

I decided to start workshopping and thinking about bilingual theatre, where using French and English would serve the narrative and the dramaturgy of the piece. That way, I could bridge the gap and hire people that I wanted to work with from both the English and French communities. 

I worked on Jean Genet’s The Maids at Concordia as a performer. I thought about what it means to bring a piece from the 1940s to the stage, and how to do so, whether or not the play is outdated. It’s a story that talks about how these two maids are serving this really wealthy woman. When it was written in the 1940s, Montreal was in a place where the Anglophones had more money than Francophones. So I thought, if I put this in the original time period, then the Madame would be an Anglophone, and the two maids would be Francophones. 

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Image by Phanie Ethier

On starting the process and adapting the text

RL: When I got some money and a team together in 2018, I started workshopping the piece and rewriting the text in French and English, and also rewriting from French from France to French from Quebec, which is different. I used more of an older “Canadian English” for the Madame.

I asked myself, “Today in Montreal, who is more wealthy, who still has maids working for them?” And it’s not the same as in the 1940s. Now, Francophone people in Montreal have as much wealth as Anglophones. If you go into affluent homes in Outremont, or Westmount, you will find Francophone homeowners with South American domestic workers. So, thinking about that—and talking about it with the crew—I added a third language, Spanish, to the piece. This allows the play to reflect the reality of today. 

One of the cast members, Camila, who has been with the project since the beginning, speaks Spanish fluently. So, it was with her that we started thinking about the idea that her character would switch from French to Spanish. We aimed to show a shift in history by indicating who is dominating, and who works for who and examining the power dynamics… While also shedding light on how the circumstances of the women working in these homes haven’t changed much since the 1940s.

In this way, the piece by Jean Genet is still really relevant today because the issues are still present—not just in Montreal. Boundaries are more or less broken most of the time because you develop a close relationship with the person you are working for, and vice versa.

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Image by Phanie Ethier

On learning through Proje(c)t; les Bonnes development

RL: The Les Bonnes of 2018 and the one I’m presenting in now in 2023 is a big representation of the artist I have become. It’s really nice to work with artists who are willing to try your nonsense ideas and let you fail at them… When you say, “Sorry that was not the right choice!” they’re flexible. Being able to learn what works and doesn’t work with a team you trust makes you a better director, in my opinion.

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Image by Phanie Ethier

On the viewing experience

RL: I’ve built this show so that you can understand what is going on without having to grasp all the multilingual dialog perfectly. We’ve worked a lot with movement, sound and lighting so all of your senses are very much activated. This helps bring the actors’ stage business and onstage dynamics to the forefront, highlighting the characters’ struggles. 

If you’re not fully immersed in the words, you will still have a pleasant experience and get something from it. If you don’t want to spend the whole show reading the English subtitles, you can let yourself go and be fully in the action and get swept away.

Loumède’s other piece Ensaf attend was presented as a reading last summer as part of Jamais lu Festival. She has more projects in the works and you can watch this space to stay tuned!

image by Phanie Ethier

Proje(c)t; Les Bonnes runs from tomorrow, January 26th, until Sunday, January 29th at Centaur Theatre.

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Adaptation and Direction: Roxane Loumède

Performers: Marie-Ève Bérubé, Camila Forteza, Alexandra Petrachuck

Assistant Dramaturg: Geneviève Gagné

Costumes: Sophie El-Assaad

Set & Props: Bruno-Pierre Houle

Lights: Catherine Fournier-Poirier

Sound Design: Joseph Browne

Video & Technical Director: Vladimir Alexandru Cara

Assistant Director & Stage Manager: Trevor Barrette

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Proje(c)t; Les Bonnes

3e Espace Théâtre

Tickets | Info | Troisième espace théâtre

Holly Hilts is a Core Member of Also Cool. She is a jeweller, coder & theatre worker currently based in Montreal.

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Also Cool x Em&May 2022 Holiday Pop Up

It's almost the end of the year, which means it's time for another Also Cool Holiday Market. This year we're doing it in partnership with Em&May, a local sustainable clothing brand based in the Mile End of Montreal.

We've got two days of amazing vendors lined up this weekend at the Em&May studio, located at 5425 Casgrain #801. The market runs 12:00PM-7:00PM today with drinks (big thank you to DRAV) and music and 12:00PM-5:00PM tomorrow.

Learn a bit more about the vendors:

Baby Minou

Baby Minou is all about emitting joy, playfulness and fun through beaded bags and accessories by drawing inspiration from delightful childhood memories and experiences. All handmade with love by Minou in Montreal.

Boneless Girl

Gooey Jewelry

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Telamona - Chocolates made by hand for everyone. 🏳️‍🌈

Tooth Gems Papi

Martika aka “Tooth Gems Papi”, is a queer Latinx artist, who offers a wide range of Genuine Swarovski Crystals for those searching for a jazzier smile!

Jagged Lil Thrills

Crochet goodies handmade in Montreal, with some jewels on the side!

Hungry Diana

Hungry Diana AKA the Dumpling Queen is sharing her love through her food. Her dumplings are the first of its' kind in Montreal! They're fluffy, juicy and crispy all in one bite!

Le Sleepover
Y2k & reworked pieces ✧･ﾟ: 👡*✧･ﾟ: 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓁𝓈*:･👛ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ 💒

Inside Cooper’s Den

Cooper’s Den is dedicated to bring your fantasy world to life with handmade beaded bags and jewelry. Founded in 2020, the Den is a Montreal brand rooted in inclusivity, color and statement pieces. Coopers Den is driven by the challenge of pairing unexpected materials and creating quality designs that will bring you joy.

DANALOGEMZ

Soft Serve Pillows

Soft Serve is an independent Montreal-based designer making funky pillows and blankets for your home.

Mudmuddd

Çanta

All products are hand-knitted and carefully crafted. Çanta began as a project that was primarily dedicated to creating hand-knitted bags. Within six months, it expanded to include other hand-knitted garments such as dresses, turtlenecks, hats, shawls and pillows. Çanta directly draws inspiration from the streets, lifestyle, people and products from Shkodër, Albania where the creator of Çanta originates from.

Ci Cela

Maya Stewart Pathak is a silversmith and Reiki healer. Her jewelry line, ci cela, is made-to-order using silver, 14k gold, and recycled precious metals and charms. She has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

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Danica Olders / BAD WRLD

See you there!

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HOY: Creating Space for Latin American Diasporas and Creative Communities in the Mile End (Montreal)

Vanessa Maya in front of HOY

Situated in the heart of the Mile End at 5171 St-Laurent, HOY provides a well-needed dose of familiarity and representation for Latin American diasporas and creative communities in Montreal. In their own words:

"HOY es un espacio multifuncional dedicado al arte, al diseño y a la comunidad. Somos un espacio en el que se puede crear, aprender, compartir, intercambiar ideas y proyectos, asistir a una conferencia o formar parte de una plática ― en inglés, francés o español." 

Launched in early April, HOY was created to be a design and contemporary art hybrid project focused on catering to local artists. It is run by Vanessa Maya (Mexican artist and community builder), Laurence Boire (designer and project manager), and Etienne Murphy (graphic designer and art coordinator), and has had a total of nine shows this year. 

Vanessa with her ceramic work

Vanessa grew up in Mexico and lived in Montreal briefly during her teen years, only returning to live here full-time years later. She has been practicing pottery for over seven years, working primarily with hand-built pieces. Her work is recognizably organic, taking on simple and twisting shapes that are made to be integrated into your everyday life. From wine coolers to sculptures, there is a placid beauty in every aspect of her work.

Work by & photo provided by Vanessa Maya

Although pottery is her primary medium, she has recently branched out to create a community space (HOY) that hosts everything from gallery openings to workshops, trying to focusing on the Latin American diasporas and other communities that are often under- or mis-represented in Canada. She is also interested in profiling artists who’ve never had the chance to exhibit before, alongside artists who have had exhibits in other spaces. “The idea is to put ‘everybody under the same roof’—as we say in Mexico, ‘todos bajo el mismo techo’—because we all need to be able to have the opportunity to show our work,” she explains.

Work by Vanessa Maya

Vanessa is self-taught, and deeply inspired by her time spent with various artists in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Morelos, Mexico. After learning everything from how they collect the clay from the mountains to how traditional aesthetics are integrated or evolved by younger creatives, these experiences have solidified her deep appreciation for the craft. However, as she got older, she saw how tourists with "good intentions" have often exploited Mexican artists for profit in Canada and the Mile End.

More often than not, a tourist with "good intentions" will sell "artisanal" Mexican goods in a high-end boutique in Canada or the United States after paying the artist very little for their work. There will be some sort of "feel-good" story about "helping" the Mexican community or artist who created the work, but ultimately all of the praise and clout goes to the tourist who imported the work and the boutique that sold it. 

At a time when more and more foreigners continue to colonize Mexico by hiking up rent prices with their "work from home situations," HOY aims to put Latin American voices first, with no white middleman and no fetishization of culture. It's a safe space for underrepresented communities to come together to tell their stories—to be artists in their own right—and also for any other artists. 

HOY via Vanessa Maya

One of the shows that Vanessa curated, "TIANGUIS DE CERÁMICA", showcased various ceramic artists in a format similar to artist markets in Mexico. The "tianguis" is a pop-up, a public and informal gathering of local vendors selling everything from groceries, electronics, and clothing, to crafts and prepared foods. It originated in Mexico, but can now be found all over South America. In this spirit, the team behind HOY presented its take on the market with a collection of unique pieces crafted by local ceramic artists.

HOY via Vanessa Maya

Vanessa also co-curated “YA LLEGAMOS” along with Diane García. “YA LLEGAMOS” continues the celebration of identity, heritage, and connection that unites Latin American peoples as interpreted by a select few artists, designers, and craftspeople. It explores the effects of generational migration and experiences that have shaped communities — ultimately forging stories that inform contemporary Latin American artistic practices. 

This exhibition seeks to chronicle the works being produced by artists working in diverse mediums, underlining the historical purpose of communicating shared experiences, and the mindful continuation of cultural representation.

HOY via Vanessa Maya

HOY is "open sometimes," Vanessa notes, which is a cheeky nod to the wonderful Mexican culture that the space so beautifully embodies. Visit when you can, as the space is only open until December of 2022, and you'll be sure to find some new friends and good art.

Vanessa plans on continuing HOY in the future, and in the meantime will be sharing pieces from Mexican artists with her Pichancha project, as well as sharing them via her casapichancha account.

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HOY

Instagram

Vanessa Maya

Instagram (@vanessamayagutter) | Website (mayagu.work) | Instagram (@casapichancha)

Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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image+nation LGBTQ2S+ Film Festival: Top Picks

image+nation is Canada’s first LGBTQ2S+ film festival, with this year being its 35th year. The festival provides a platform dedicated to sharing the stories and experiences of LGBTQ2S+ voices, and opened yesterday at Cinéma Impérial on Bleury – a cozy affair led with speeches from festival director Charlie Boudreau and programming director Kat Seltzer. 

While in attendance at the festival, we were graced by the presence of Gail Maurice and a select cast from Rosie –the opening film of the festival and our first recommended film to watch! It was quite inspiring to hear Gail talk about the film’s development from a short—which was also selected and presented at image+nation in 2018—and its development to a full-length feature which is now getting recognition around North America.

For those who are curious about the festival, Also Cool is super excited to be able to share more of our top picks for what to watch this week. 

image+nation began on November 17th, and runs until next Sunday, November 27th. They offer virtual screenings as well as in-cinema screenings at Cinéma Impérial, Cinéma Moderne, De Sève Cinema, & PHI Centre.

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Still from Rosie, directed by Gail Maurice

Rosie

Set in 1980s Montreal, Métis writer/director/actor Gail Maurice’s debut feature follows a recently orphaned Indigenous girl, Rosie, as she finds chosen family in her artist (and recently unemployed) aunt Fred and her two gender-non-conforming friends, Flo and Mo. Already recognized as an Official Selection in a variety of festivals, including Toronto Queer Film Festival 2019, imagineNATIVE 2018, Dawson City International Short Film Festival, among others, it captures a unique, comedic and light-hearted image of a difficult situation. A true treasure of the film is title actor Aleah Hachey-Brown, who played Rosie with such genuine wonder and excitement that it felt infectious, despite the hardships that she faced. 

Rosie screened in-person at Cinéma Impérial November 18th at 7pm, and is available online from November 19th-23rd.

Tickets

Rosie

Instagram | About | Trailer

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Still from “Sex” of Death, directed by Mohammad Hadi Jamal

Iranian Shorts

image+nation has made an effort to support the ongoing struggles of Iranian women by curating a selection of shorts directed by and for Iranian women. There are a few films that we are looking forward to seeing – in particular, the campy short “Sex” of Death, about a de-railed suicide attempt via the unexpected arrival of a guest. Another that stands out in the lineup is the gritty and heartfelt story Titi, which follows a woman who, along her path to undergoing a gender-affirming procedure, finds out that she is pregnant.

Iranian Shorts are playing online-only and you can watch the entire collection at the link below.

Tickets

Iranian Shorts

“Sex” of Death Trailer | Titi Trailer

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Still from Falena, directed by Nancy Pettinicchio

Queerment Quebec - Shorts

Queerment Québec is a highlight of the image+nation festival each year, screening shorts from Quebec filmmakers and emphasizing the beauty and impact of queer culture right here where we are. We will be attending the in-person screening, and we’re specifically excited about Lèvres Bleues (Blue Lips) by director Philippe Hamelin – an animated film using synthetic images that shows a reconstruction of a loving memory. Another top pick is Falena, directed by Nancy Pettinicchio; this film tells the story of Leila, who explores her identity through nude photography and the re-analysis of a close friendship. You can watch the trailer for Falena here.

Queerment Quebec shorts are screening at PHI Centre on November 21st at 7pm, or you can find the entire collection online as of November 22nd.

Tickets

Queerment Quebec

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Still from You Can Live Forever, directed by Sarah Watts & Mark Slutsky

You Can Live Forever

You Can Live Forever follows ordinary grungy teenager Jaime, a transplant from Thunder Bay to Saguenay. The film follows Jaime as she discovers life within the Jehovah’s Witness community and explores her budding romantic relationship with Marike, who was raised a sister in the Truth. Already gaining recognition at festivals around Canada and North America, the film manages to convey the culture with respect while also being understanding of Jaime’s doubts as her relationship develops with Marike. A gentle and sweet depiction of love and rebellion, You Can Live Forever is not to be missed if you have the chance to catch it.

You Can Live Forever is screening at Cinéma J.A. de Sève tonight, November 19th at 9:15pm.

Tickets

You Can Live Forever

Instagram | Trailer

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Still from Standsinwater, directed by Jean-Michel Beaulieu

Indigiqueer / Voix Autochtones - Shorts

This series of shorts presents Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer perspectives and stories. We are particularly excited for the film Standsinwater, directed by Jean-Michel Beaulieu, which you can catch a trailer of here. The story follows Standsinwater Sutherland, a Two-Spirit Cree who describes her journey through Toronto back to her reservation, and what she has learned along the way. Another short film entitled Wherever You Are, Wherever I Am has caught our attention – the film chronicles two Métis-Chinese people engaging in hide-tanning together while their surroundings shift, offering a juxtaposition of industrial and natural landscapes.

The full collection of short films is available online at link below.

Tickets

Indigiqueer / Voix Autochtones

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image+nation

Website | Instagram | Twitter

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RELATED ARTICLES

La Luna Naranja: Exploring the Collaboration of Amalia Naranjo, Luna Nashar, and Oriana Confente

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

“Every night, I am alone. I transform into

different shapes

Every 28 days.”

As seasons begin to change, I have found myself getting further swept up by pensiveness under the night sky. The evenings draw longer, leaving a collection of charcoal clouds and twinkling stars which further illustrate the vastness that surrounds us and the bittersweet reality that everything must shift. Who are we in relation to each other, to our environment, and to past versions of ourselves?

The latest creative collaboration between Montreal-based artists Luna Nashar, Amalia Naranjo and Oriana Confente contends with such questions, linking tote-bag aficionados across the universe with a transcendent connection. La Luna Naranja was released earlier this summer; its canvas was carefully designed by Naranjo and Nashar, and captured by Confente with a warm and decadent editorial photoshoot. On La Luna Naranja, the trio shares:

“La Luna Naranja offers a unique fragment of what forms a Bigger image. In this fast-paced life, we go through ours with a small perspective of what's happening around us, letting our surroundings affect how we grow and reshape into our new self. The uniqueness of a Luna Naranja bag represents the beauty of individuality while still being a part of a more complex whole. A 1x1 metre canvas, hand painted by Amalia Naranjo. Each tote bag, unique, is a part of a greater picture. United, they create the original piece. However, the canvas was never meant to keep its beauty for itself. Cut, folded and sewn, it shares its true purpose: unity through art.”

The project alluringly melds temporality with an everlasting vibrance – what began as one has been reborn as many, and the many have been immortalized as one. Although the fragments of La Luna Naranja have each found their forever homes, their bond—much like ours with the past, present, and future—remains fused throughout the phases of the night sky. Also Cool Mag recently connected with Naranjo, Nashar, and Confente to discuss their creative bonds and their visions for La Luna Naranja.

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

Rebecca L. Judd for Also Cool Mag: Thank you all for sharing your creativity with Also Cool! To start, I would love to know a bit more about each of you and your respective practices. Can you elaborate on how this collaboration came about? How did you folks cross paths, and which artistic values or interests have you bonded over?

Luna Nashar: Amalia and I met on set of my first editorial in 2020, and I met Oriana at my very first art exhibition a year later! Since then, we have created opportunities for ourselves to connect and grow together as creatives. 

I am inspired by Amalia’s unapologetic approach to her art. She is a multidisciplinary artist, and [through this project] I really wanted to challenge her and get to know her as a painter. 

Oriana is a perfect fit on the project. Her use of film photography reinforces the “one-of-a-kind” theme of the project. I also love discussing sustainability in fashion with Oriana – we both are big on thrifting! It was interesting to have her on this project where a new art piece is recycled into a tote.

Oriana Confente: I actually met Amalia on the same night I met Luna at her exhibition last year. That was the first time I had seen Luna’s textiles and Amalia’s paintings. 

It’s funny how sometimes you encounter people and you just click. Like Luna mentioned, we connected over sustainability in fashion and I admire her approach to design. I love that Luna often repurposes deadstock fabrics, and I’m obsessed with her interpretations of the female form. I mean… pussy pockets. What a concept! I have at least three at home, and I’m sure that I’ll own more soon. 

I fully agree with Luna – I’m also inspired by Amalia’s unapologetic approach to her work. Getting to know her more through the events and projects that Luna organized has been lovely. It was especially fun to have an opportunity for Amalia to model with pieces she co-created. Funnily enough, this shoot was supposed to just be for e-commerce at first, but it evolved into so much more. I am thankful for transformation!

Amalia Naranjo: Like Luna said, we met in September 2020 for her editorial photoshoot. A year after that, I met Oriana at Luna’s art exhibition The Red Room. Their energy always felt so pure and real to me, when Luna proposed to me to collaborate with her on a tote bag project where I would get to paint, I was really excited to jump in. 

I immediately bonded with Luna. I loved her style, her creativity and her aesthetics, but mostly her perspective on arts and community values. She has the gift of bringing interesting creative people together so we can share and collaborate on our creations. Oriana’s artistic approach on themes like nature and technology and how they can co-exist really captured my attention. I admire the complexity of her projects and how she talks about it in an effortless manner.

Also Cool: La Luna Naranja fuses individual pieces into a greater narrative about transformation, reflecting on interconnectedness between eras and experiences. Tell us more about how this is thematically reflected in the collection, and what you’ve learned in creating it.

Luna: I feel like a bond of sisterhood developed throughout the project, as we learned from each other and spent time with each other's art. It was fruitful to share and be part of different challenges when it comes to our different mediums. As I sewed the totes, I could tell where Amalia put more paint! It was really fun to imagine her creative process as I was transforming her art.

Also, it was lovely seeing people choose which tote would be theirs. It reflects their uniqueness. I feel like La Luna Naranja created a small community where each one-of-a-kind tote is carried by an exceptional soul who shares a love for the art piece. The sisterhood that we shared together is for the community.

Amalia: When I had to come up with a design, I knew I wanted to bring a sense of uniqueness to every individual bag, so I knew that it wouldn’t be a single pattern throughout the whole fabric. But I also wanted it to be all connected and dynamic to represent movement and change through time and space – hence the lines that travel through the whole piece. There are also the different shapes of what seem to be naturally-rounded balls, but whose shapes change depending on their surroundings – just like us. Humans are affected by our surroundings, and we change as we move through time and space.

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

AC: I’m interested in the prospect of “unity through art”; how the repurposing of this piece into tote bags helped it to achieve a higher level — “its true purpose”. As artists, was there a moment when you felt that this was achieved?

Luna: Great art is life-changing. Traditionally, a painting is appreciated in a specific space. Repurposing it into a timeless piece elongates its narrative. I love the idea that you get to spend time with a piece that makes you feel a certain way. 

Transforming Amalia’s art was a very big moment for me – especially the first cut! I feel like a bond of sisterhood developed throughout that process of transformation. Although, the greatest feeling is knowing those tote bags are part of someone else’s life now. Maybe we should do a reunion with all the La Luna Naranja carriers!

Amalia: I could not say it better, Luna! By giving the art piece a utility, its purpose definitely adds more to the symbolism of moving through time and space with the user, and the sense of unity with all the people involved in this creation and the consumer is defined. I feel like this project keeps reaching higher levels. From doing a playful photoshoot, wearing the big painted fabric, to wearing the individual tote bags while doing more of a conceptual photoshoot. I feel it even more when I see people using it in their everyday lifestyle, and finally, when I see it published in a magazine for all eyes to see!

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

AC: I’d love to hear more about the intentions with colour in the piece, both as totes and in this photoshoot. 

Luna: Each emotion that each colour communicates, I want to feel and experience. I wear what I feel, and I am very comfortable expressing those feelings. I like finding balance in those emotions and I believe Oriana did a great job capturing that!

Oriana: Luna and Amalia are both incredibly vibrant human beings, in terms of the work they create but also in terms of who they are. Capturing their essence in this editorial was important to all of us. 

Amalia came to the set with electric blue eyeliner, and Luna had the spontaneous idea to throw some yellow lace she had in the studio over the backdrop… It came together quite naturally. 

Amalia: I cherry-picked the colours to create a vibrant palette of a nice variety, one that represented a diverse range of feelings and states. I also had fun blending various colours inside the balls, which was again to represent free movement and transformation. I chose to paint the lines black so that they could be neutral while the balls do all the eye-catching with their bright changing colors. When it came to the photoshoot, we approached colour in the same way: we went extra on the colour palette with the electric blue eye makeup, the extravagant red backdrop and the bright yellow lace. 

AC: Thank you all for your time! To close things off, what are each of you up to next, creatively? Are there any future collaborations in the works?

Luna: I am currently working on a new collection of bags in collaboration with a vintage store in Montreal, where transformation is also a major theme. Truly, collaborations are essential to every artist's growth. 

Oriana: Luna and I are starting a new project together! My practice, through photography and other creative means, is interested in disrupting consumerism and repurposing materials. I work with electronic waste (e-waste) a lot. Right now, Luna and I are co-designing garments that incorporate e-waste we’re collecting from friends and family. 

I’ve created e-waste accessories before—like earrings made from microchips—so it’s exciting to be working with a skilled designer like Luna to make more elaborate wearables. Plus, sharing talents and merging practices continues to commit us to transformation and unity through art. Collaboration and making-with is crucial for any type of community. I’m grateful I can experience that artistically with really cool folks. 

Amalia: I am very proud to say that as La Luna Naranja sold out very quickly, I am currently working on a new collection of painted tote bags with Luna. I am also working on a collection of paintings to have my own art exhibit soon. I am looking forward to more collabs with more creatives as I believe we can only do so much more amazing stuff when we work together.

Medusa, a “pussy pocket” bag produced by Luna Nashar. Photo courtesy of Luna Nashar

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La Luna Naranja

Modelled by Amalia Naranjo

Photographed by Oriana Confente

Garments produced by Luna Nashar

Tote bags designed by Luna Nashar and Amalia Naranjo

Hair styled by FirstClass Hair

Make-up by Dorianys Naranjo

Assisted by Vladim Vilain

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Luna Nashar

Website | Instagram

Oriana Confente

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Amalia Naranjo

Instagram

Rebecca L. Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag. She writes and creates out of her studio apartment in Ottawa, kept company by vivid dreams and a cuddly grey kitty named Dora.

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Artist Spotlight: Jen O'Connor (Part II)

Jen O’Connor. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

In our first chat with Vancouver-based artist Jen O’Connor, she dove into the series of events which initiated her purpose to integrate consumer waste into creative works. It all started with a rejection of what she’d been taught was the first step to making art: purchasing materials. After beginning to source items that were simply around, she was propelled into garbage sculpture and subsequently constructed a public stage where she hosted a TV show-formatted performance titled Trash Talk. 

Following her sculpture and TV show endeavours, O’Connor’s divergent uses for what society refers to as ‘single-use items’ and other discarded materials have evolved into a painting practice where she merges garbage with oil paints on canvas. In part-two of our conversation with O’Connor, she further elucidates on the confluence between her garbage works and consumer culture, as well as why she documents many of her pieces via film. 

AC: Your artist statement acknowledges that society's discarded materials—which you integrate into your works—hold embedded narratives of our consumer culture. Can you elaborate on the stories that pertain to the waste, and the greater narrative that comes together once waste materials are transformed on canvas?

JO: The narratives of consumer culture are embedded in a way that we do not notice them anymore. The most banal object, such as a can, is so commonplace that we take for granted the necessity of cans when there could be alternatives to single-use objects. 

Through the process of smelting the can, its own narrative is betrayed by revealing that it is not made of solely aluminium but also a composite of plastic. The paintings may appear as an optimistic solution for the issue of waste, but this is not the reading I intend to illustrate. I want to depict, rather, the great deal of effort that must be made to reintegrate something as simple as a few pieces of refundable waste, and give them the dignified status as “diverted permanently from the landfill”.  These paintings should raise the problem of reintegration of waste. 

Even in my video work, the detritus does not become a new entity on its own. It simply gets documented through its narrative journey to the landfill. My work aims for proportional representation of waste in the gallery, of which I have barely scratched the surface.  

Jen O’Connor. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

AC: Upon completion, you archive many of your works that are too big to store using video documentation. How did you formulate the idea to preserve your larger pieces using this approach?

JO: When I decided to produce works using garbage, I had to abandon my painting practice. Since there was so much material available, I rapidly began to work on a larger scale. These objects were not commodifiable, nor could they be stored easily, so the only hope for them to exist as artworks was through an ephemeral assemblage. In an effort to preserve my work, I chose to document.  

AC: Can you give us some examples of works which you documented via film?

The first body of work that I made entirely out of garbage was called “The Apartment”. It was a replica of my bachelor apartment made entirely out of garbage. After completing this work, I realised that I could also use both my body and others’ as free materials through performance; I then decided to build a theatre in the parking lot made entirely out of waste. This was named the Garbage Conglomerate Theatre and became the stage of Trash Talk.

Following my work through the GCT and my post-graduation art practice has veered towards film and video where I do not make the usage of garbage explicit. Instead I produce short films with a collaborative group named Sacred Projections; we have no funding which leads us to make use of free, found, scavenged and borrowed materials.

AC: What’s next on the horizon for your upcoming works?  

JO: I like to paint, draw, and illustrate tattoos when I am working solo, but I am invested in creative collaborative work at the moment. I believe that collaboration is just as important, and that it can be quite a difficult skill to have people working together towards a goal or a dream. Given the polarized directions in which our society is being pulled, I think that the community working together is of paramount importance, so I’ve been channelling my energy into producing Sacred Projections.

Sacred Projections is an open call to artists where we come together to produce short films on a monthly basis. Any type of collaboration can be difficult, so working together creatively gives us some room for abstraction. We work together to solve problems without the situation needing to be overly stressful. We are all participating because we want to, and everyone brings something to the table.I want to continue creating in this way for the time being. 

Aside from that project, I am still smelting cans and receiving interesting results in doing so. As I continue to smelt, I am collecting these materials for a future series of paintings. I also have a series of painted works in progress, entitled “22”; this series draws upon archetypes, alchemy, astrology, psychology and human behaviour. It will illustrate narratives that are reoccurring in the sphere of human activity. 

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Jen O’Connor

Website | Sacred Projections YouTube | Garbage Conglomerate YouTube

CJ Sommerfeld (she/her) is a Vancouver-based freelance writer with a particular interest in the convergence of language, art and society. When she is not writing, you can find her experimenting with harmonic minor progressions on her keyboard.

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Artist Spotlight: Jen O'Connor (Part I)

Jen O’Connor. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

Jen O’Connor loves garbage. Confronting it as something other than society’s discarded materials, she merges this sourced waste with oil paints to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Once coalesced on canvas, her foraged pieces are preserved and a new narrative around their existence is constructed. In questioning the perceived lack of utility that surrounds garbage, O’Connor rejects consumerist culture and its intersection with creation, and instead finds use in these rejected objects. 

After graduating with a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2020, O’Connor continues to create out of her space in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Anticipate a constellation’s worth of beer cans, debris and other seemingly prosaic items metamorphosed into plausible art-making materials in O’Connor’s works. Don’t expect blatant trash attached to canvas, but instead waste transfigured. By exposing her scavenged cans to high temperatures—a process known as smelting—the cans anodize, extinguishing their silvery colour and transforming to one that’s golden and, at times, iridescent.

Also Cool recently sat down with O’Connor to jump inside her world of beer cans and oil paints. In this first-half of our conversation, we dove into her critiques of consumption in the art world, her TV show titled Trash Talk, and sourcing debris from an off-grid island for one of her most recent works — “Smelt Series”.

The Smelt Series, created on Lasqueti Island B.C. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

CJ Sommerfeld for Also Cool: Hey Jen, thanks for taking the time to chat with Also Cool! To get things started: you very cleverly integrate waste into your painting works, how did this practice first come about?  

Jen O’Connor: While completing my BFA at Emily Carr, I had some profound realizations about the necessity of consuming products for the making of art. I rejected shopping as the basis for art-making, resolving instead to produce works while buying nothing. This led me away from painting and towards garbage sculpture. I scavenged, found, and borrowed materials, all while also using bodies (mine and others’) through performance. I wanted to know how much I could create without consuming.

This led me to construct an entire theatre in the Easy Park parking lot adjacent to Emily Carr. I then hosted a performance entitled Trash Talk, which was a TV show-formatted performance about waste. I was the host,  and would ask participants to join me onstage to discuss issues related to waste. This became an incubator of ideas for sustainable practices; a forum where ideas, jokes and even a think tank emerged in response to the changes that we wanted to see. This series is available to see on my Garbage Conglomerate YouTube channel. 

Since this work, I have developed two parallel practices. I’ve resumed my painting practice, and have most recently produced a body of work called “The Smelt Series”. This is an effort to combine post-consumer materials with the traditional materials of art-making, such as paint and canvas. I have also continued my work with video, where I document and animate sculptures and sets through reusing, borrowing materials while incorporating collaborators to create moving paintings. 

Also Cool: Your painting practice is self-described as an "analogy to alchemy", one that seeks to derive its redemptive substance from “base matter”. Can you further demystify your work's comparison to medieval chemistry?  To clarify for our readers, can you elaborate on the term base matter with regards to your works?  

Jen: Alchemists thought that at the root of all matter was the supreme substance of gold, and if they could refine them enough, they could transmute all metals into gold. Each alchemist would have a different definition of what would be considered “base matter”, depending on their practice. Some considered ocean water to be “base matter” because it is the largest ratio of substance on earth. Other alchemists would refer to a “base matter” simply as the material they worked with the most.  Personally, I consider my base matter to be garbage or waste — anything that can be acquired for free. When I work with my materials, I seek to transform unwanted garbage into art that has value.  

As we know, iron cannot become gold except for perhaps in a particle accelerator. Many other alchemists encountered the difficulty of what it was they had set out to do, and began their work instead on the metaphysical level. If one could tune into the creativity of God and the universe, this transformation could happen at the level of spiritual realization, and it would give them control over all matter. 

I also work with the spiritual element of creation in my work by developing my intuition. When working with my materials, I leave a lot of room for the matter to express itself through the processes. I like to think that my process is reflected in the work, and hope that viewers  see my paintings as matter expressing itself.

AC: What are some examples of waste materials that we can see in your works? Where do you typically source them? 

JO: My definition of waste is broad. I would argue that materials used in the pursuit of reaching certain standards in painting, for example, also create a lot of waste. During my time as a painter, I created dozens of paintings that weren’t any good; they later became building materials for the awning on my Garbage Conglomerate Theatre.  

Emily Carr was an excellent place to source materials, and their dumpster became a horn of plenty to an artist like me. However, with increasing bureaucracy and legislation, these free rides became  short-lived. ECUAD has since made a great effort to contain their waste under lock and key, so I am no longer able to access it.  

Since graduation, I’ve resumed painting practice. Today, my work blends traditional materials such as canvas and paint with what one might consider “waste”. My favourite material to use is beer cans, since they are light and they can be affixed to either canvas or panel. Not only do I use beer cans, I prefer to have them undergo a process of smelting to allow them to reveal their more interesting properties and express themselves as matter before they are incorporated. The smelting process is where I expose the cans to flames and high temperatures, so that they begin to melt and anodize. Since aluminium has such a low melting point, the cans are promptly removed and often have interesting effects. Oftentimes, the anodizing causes the cans to take on golden properties that are reminiscent of alchemy.  

I also source a lot of debris from an off-grid island where I like to spend a lot of my time. It is difficult to dispose of waste in this environment, so there are a lot of materials for me to use. I curate the most interesting pieces and what would be easily incorporated into my painting practice and find a lot of visually interesting waste to use. 

Check back in to read part 2 of our conversation with Jen O’Connor!

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Jen O’Connor

Website | Sacred Projections YouTube | Garbage Conglomerate YouTube

CJ Sommerfeld (she/her) is a Vancouver-based freelance writer with a particular interest in the convergence of language, art and society. When she is not writing, you can find her experimenting with harmonic minor progressions on her keyboard.

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Dance Spotlight: BLEU NÉON

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Kim-Sanh Châu is mesmerizing in her piece, BLEU NÉON. Between dance, movement and Vietnamese rap is a journey to the rediscovery of an imaginary homeland.

In a short series of sold-out relaxed performances* at Montreal, arts interculturels (MAI), Châu moves methodically through variations of squatting, glowing in a magnificent, multicoloured haze of neon light, designed by Jon Cleveland. The room is set up in thrust (audience on three sides), with chairs and cushions on the ground. Cables are loosely hanging around the back wall, coiled along the edges with neon lights piled on all sides.

Photo by Kinga Michalska

As we waited for the performance to start, we read translation booklets for the performance’s texts in in Vietnamese, English, and French. There were colouring pages, snacks and prior to the performance, we were told exactly how the show would unfold and that our seating could be adjusted without a problem if we were not comfortable.

With Châu , we discussed how nostalgia acted as a coping mechanism for Vietnamese refugees in the 80s; helping them to imagine a world and home that no longer existed for them. The Vietnam that Châu knows well is so vibrant, bustling, and youthful. This performance integrated the music and movement of these different eras, these varying nostalgias, the loss of language, and difficulties surrounding sexual objectification along the way.

Though Châu does not speak Vietnamese, she learned each rap for this performance phonetically. In the talk-back after the show, she explained how Toronto rapper JONAIR wrote the pieces in Vietnamese, elaborating on the distance children of diasporas have from their cultures.

Châu’s collaborator Chi, of Hazy Montagne Mystique / Chittakone Baccam, grew up in Laos, right next to Vietnam and was able to access these points of nostalgia through his grandparents’ audio tapes. Together, Châu and Chi create a dreamy and dark soundscape of ambient music, modern rap beats and cassette tapes from another time.

Photo by Kinga Michalska

Creator and performer Kim-Sanh Châu is a Montreal-based Vietnamese-French contemporary dance artist. She has lived in Montreal for over 15 years and has a parallel life in Vietnam, with a dance studio, community, lovers and mentors. Her practice comprises choreographic installation and video-making. Châu is interested in the emergence of imaginary landscapes through the body, distilled from far away dreams, imaginary memories and psychotropic reminiscences.

It was an absolute pleasure to watch this performance in a tiny space. With an audience all around, facing each other, we took a dive into her magical world.

This show will be back in Montreal for Vietnamese Culture Week in September and will also be performed in Vietnam later this year.

The BLEU NÉON soundtrack is provided by Montreal's Hazy Montagne Mystique / Chittakone Baccam (composition), JONAIR, Duy Quang Vu (paroles rap), and Vietnamese experimental trio Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective

*All BLEU NÉON performances have a more relaxed attitude to noise and movement within the theatre. The reception, soundscape and visual atmosphere are adapted to create a calm and inclusive environment for all.

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Theatre Spotlight: Black Theatre Workshop's "Pipeline" Design Team

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Black Theatre Workshop is making big moves — their bilingual production of Pipeline, co-produced with La Manufacture, has swung us right back into gear with this emotional, challenging piece and beautiful, bold creative choices.

The play follows Nya, a single mother who teaches in a public school and her teenage son Omari, who attends a private institution. As Omari struggles with the everyday factors working against him in the school system, an incident occurs that puts his future, and the education his mother worked so hard for him to have access to, at risk.

Pipeline’s stellar design team deserves to have a light shone upon them while audiences still have a chance to catch the French version of the production from April 26th to May 8th at Théâtre La Licorne.

On set and costumes, Nalo Soyini Bruce thought a lot about the uniforms we wear everyday: in school, for work and as members of society. A theme throughout Nalo’s work is her non-traditional mix of pieces to create asymmetry in her characters. In Pipeline, the architecture and shapes throughout costume and set created the perfect industrial, chilling rigidity that characters manipulated with their frustrations.

It is important to highlight Nalo’s stellar team of Black women supporting her design: Courtney Moses (Set & Costume Assistant), Mlle Geri (Make-Up Assistant), & Enyse Charles (Costume Assistant). Nalo has expressed that their work was instrumental to the process and collaborating exclusively with a team of Black women in costume, makeup and sets was a first for her. She feels it is important for youth to see this example and be inspired to enter creative fields as performing artists as well as designers.

Elena Stoodley, Sound Designer, felt personally connected to the story of Pipeline, having grown up in the Quebec school system. “Like Omari, I was sometimes targeted and with no other ways to protect myself, I used to result to my fists to stop the verbal bullying,” she says. She even wrote a piece about her constant fear of ending up in prison because the school system at an early age made her feel like she needed to be contained.

In creating the production’s sound design, Elena thought about how prison systems are mirrored in other institutions and “how weirdly, a prison soundscape resembles high school hallways. The cafeteria, the intercom, the bus that gets you to class or your cell, how time is counted...” She mentions the threat of being just a number is latent, a theme echoed in the video and costume designs, as well.

Lighting Designer Tim Rodrigues, a staple of the Montreal theatre community, knew he would be working on this production as of 2019. Rodrigues was drawn to the emotional layers in the script, as well as the importance of the issue at the centre of the story: the school-to-prison pipeline.

Starting with identifying moments where light or quality of light is mentioned in the script, Tim also follows and elevates the emotional journeys of the characters with lighting. He looks into different cultural references mentioned in the script (poetry, music, etc.) and carries his impressions of the story and the world into design meetings and conversations with the creative team and directors. Tim’s lighting for Pipeline created a moody, chilling colour palette that elevated the intensity and depth of the content presented.

Video design team Andrew & Emily, of potatoCakes_digital, were also enthused to be a part of this production and developed their design virtually using Unreal Engine and a draft of Nalo’s design to pre-visualize their mapping. The video design mapped throughout the show onto the actors and stage, providing context, shape, and texture; elevating the emotional peaks of the performance.

To find out more, go check out the show at La Licorne from April 26th to May 8th! Tickets are available here.

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Artist Spotlight: Nora Kelly

Nora Kelly Band press photo via Nora Kelly

If anything, Nora Kelly is multi-faceted. She's done everything from painting murals in Mexico City to creating editorial work for the NY Times, not to mention playing rock shows in Montreal as Nora Kelly Band and Dish Pit.

We spoke to Nora about her creative practice, advice for other artists, and more.

via Nora Kelly

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: How did you first get into visual arts? 

Nora Kelly: I was a reclusive teenager, and drawing was something I had control over, could pick up and put down whenever I wanted. I think my continued dedication to art is for similar reasons. I need a lot of alone time, and paintings and drawing are great ways to spend one's time.

Also Cool: Have you always practiced with the same mediums, or has that changed over the years?

Nora: First, I was into drawing. I didn't start painting until I was in university. I was probably the worst painter in my class when I started at Concordia. Now I can't get enough of it. 

via Nora Kelly

AC: When did you first start doing murals? What was your experience with the creative scene in Mexico City?

NK: I had always dreamed of being a muralist, but it's kind of a catch-22 getting your foot in the door. No one wants you to paint their wall if you have never done it before, but without any murals to show on your resume, you aren't going to get that first wall. 

When I moved to Mexico City in 2017 and a mural company called Street Art Chilango hired me, I was so excited. At first, I was handing spray paint cans to more experienced artists, but eventually, they gave me my first wall. They are a very prestigious company, working with clients like Vans and Ray-Ban, but after 6 months, I quit because I had always been into the democratic quality of street art. I like that it's accessible to anyone walking by, and I didn't want to be involved in painting glorified ads for large corporations. I went door to door, asking smaller businesses in Mexico City if they wanted a mural and have gotten all my work that way since, even in Canada. 

AC: Do you have any advice for anyone looking to do more professional / commissioned work as a visual artist but doesn't know where to start?

NK: I'm kind of type-A, but my advice would be to get into spreadsheets. Email 20 people or businesses a day and keep a log of who you're spamming. Eventually, you'll get a hit, I guarantee, and it then it only gets easier from there.  

via Nora Kelly

AC: Do you find there's a difference between your commissioned work and the work you make purely for yourself? How do you balance the two?

NK: Definitely. My commissioned work is usually based on pictures and comes out more realistic. When I'm doing something for myself, I tend to work from my imagination and take risks, which keeps the whole process exciting. 

AC: What's your creative process like? 

NK: I like to walk my dog and come up with ideas. Usually, I paint at night because I stay up late, and it gives me something to do while my roommates are asleep. 

via Nora Kelly

AC: Who are some other creatives who inspire you?

NK: The most inspirational people are usually the people closest to me. I have a kind of friendly competition with myself, and seeing the people around me giving it their all makes me want to work harder. In terms of favourite acclaimed painters, I've always been fond of Rousseau, Peter Doig, Hilma af Klint and, of course, Francis Bacon. 

Watch Nora Kelly Band's latest music video for their song "Hymn for Agnostics" below.

Nora Kelly

Website I Instagram

Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Artist Spotlight: James Collier

Art by James Collier

Enter the world of James Collier, one filled with birds in suits on their ways to work, night time walks and industrial environments slowly becoming overtaken by nature.

We chatted with James over email to learn more about his creative practice and inspirations. If you find yourself wanting some work of his for your own, you can DM him on Instagram.

Art by James Collier

Also Cool Mag: How did you get into making visual art? What mediums do you use most often?

James Collier: Drawing and cartooning have almost always been part of my life. I learned how to read from Carl Barks' Donald Duck comics and grew up drawing all the time. My dad is a great cartoonist, and there were always comic books around which I would consume voraciously. I never really questioned art-making as a kid and thought making comics and drawing was just an intrinsic part of life, a way of making sense of the world. I stopped drawing altogether for a while though, and it wasn't until age 18 or 19, after a particularly bad mental health episode, that I picked it up again.

Mediums are pencil, ink, paper. Most of it is done in various notebooks with cheap pens or graphite on Stonehenge paper when at home. Though drawing is the most accessible, both cost and space-wise right now, I'd like to explore printmaking more in the near future.

Art by James Collier

Also Cool: What kind of work and aesthetics were you interested in early in your creative practice? What inspires you now?

JC: Again, Carl Barks was a big one. There are a lot of people like Milt Gross and E.C. Segar who were/are big influences. Julie Doucet is continually inspiring – I can't wait for her new book, coming out in the spring.

I'm looking at the printmaking work of people like K the Kollwitz and James Ensor a lot these days. Herge, Joost Swarte, E.S. Glenn. The comics and drawings of Walker Tate as well. The comics and zines of U.K.-based artist Michael Kennedy are very inspiring. I've started looking at Walt Kelly again. I really like Charles Burchfield's paintings. I've also been looking at photographers such as André Kertész and Alfred Stieglitz.

Art by James Collier

AC: Where did you grow up? How did your upbringing shape your ideas about art and design?

JC: I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton is a city known for steel manufacturing. It's pretty grey, generally. Plenty of abandoned vacant lots, which I've gone back and drawn. There were also hidden bits of nature that you could get away to. There was an overgrown area known to my family as the "secret spot" that you could get to by canoe, as it was across the Hamilton Bay. I spent a lot of time reading and drawing there. There were also people around that you could collaborate with. My first printed work was with a local kid on my block, where we created a small photocopied zine entitled "The Guy who Never Returned" at age six. I don't remember what was in it, but we went around selling it on the street.

Art by James Collier

AC: How has your personal style developed over time? Can you tell us a bit about your bird characters?

JC: It's just the result of continually drawing in sketchbooks. It's a subconscious development, so it just changes incrementally over time. It's hard to track development. 

As for the bird characters, while working as a window washer, I would be very tired at the end of the day and barely have time to make a few doodles and scribbles before bed. The birds emerged in my sketchbook one night while fatigued, and I've kept drawing them since. Related to this, I'm working on a comic right now about a duck with insomnia.

AC: Tell us a bit about the creative communities you've connected with and any artists/projects within them who inspire you.

JC: I'm lucky that I currently live around many talented artists. Being able to show things to people around you helps with not becoming disillusioned. I've found creative communities even in the world of minimum-wage work. When I was working at Metro Food Inc., as a greeter during the height of the pandemic, I had many discussions with the security guard about old animation and art history. Right now, I work at an art supply store with nice people who are very encouraging when I show them drawings.

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James Collier is a cartoonist and visual artist originally from Hamilton, Ontario and currently living in Montréal, Quebec.

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A Visual History of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours Illustrated by Michayla Grbich

Also Cool is proud to present a visual history of Rumours by Fleetwood Mac by Michayla Grbich. This is the first in a series of illustrated musical histories by Michayla.

We’ve included the full album below so that you can listen as you read for the full experience.

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Michayla Grbich is an illustrator with strong interests in portraiture, storytelling, history, music, and pop culture. She enjoys exploring and pushing narratives through her art, utilizing symbols, icons, and colors to set the tone for her work.

If you’re as in love as we are with Michayla’s beautiful work, you can find information for commissions, and more of her work below. For freelance or commission inquiries please email michayla.grbich.art (@) gmail.com

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Artist Spotlight: Sophie El Assaad

Hello, and welcome to a small walk-through of the world of Sophie El Assaad.

Sophie is an award-winning designer, director, and theatre-maker, and she cannot help but ooze her lovely sweet creative aura. I would describe her energy as a light fluffy mist that may crack with a low rumble or quick flash of lightning. 

With her company, Theatre Nuaj, she has developed the project Black Balloon in many iterations: live outdoors in Centaur Theatre’s Portico Project late 2020, as Leila, a short film presented at Centaur Theatre’s 2021 Wildside Festival, and through multiple residencies.

This interview was held over two sessions with the intent to give a non-linear progression and experience of Sophie’s thoughts and world through visuals, direct quotes, as well as some snippets of her work or inspiration.

Sophie has curated a playlist here, that I would encourage you to listen to as you read through.

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Segment from experimental video ( Sophie El Assaad, circa 2014)

I thought about this word yesterday.
[ Underbelly ]

Maybe I should have used it when describing themes I like to work with artistically; the hidden violent side that exists in people.

“For my birthday, my dad got me a cake, my mum got me a cake, and my sister got me a cake. It was perfect.”

On working in residency on Black Balloon:

In the past, I approached work via building a very solid core and working my way out of it, but what my last creation residency has done (working with dancers and movement actors) was it allowed me to be use impulse and intuition, working from the outside in, and discovering what that means afterward — the whole process of trusting the work and the process has been super interesting — very scary and always kept me on my toes, but, in the end, amounted to something reliant on body and emotions rather than intellectuality.

I really like involving artists that don’t necessarily specialize in the medium, who can contribute to the piece in unexpected ways and teach me. I just love surprises. The actor who played Leila (Maria Marsli) was not an actor before we worked together, for example.

Segment from Sophie El Assaad’s video Leila, shown at the Centaur Theatre’s Wildside Festival in 2021 ( This process is made possible by the support from the Government of Québec and the City of Montréal as part of l’Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal, and from the Canada Council for the Arts)

Sometimes in film, I think that theatricality is lost because you have the liberty to take many takes to get it exactly how you want and perfect it. Filming a mistake rather than having to start again could be a form of theatricality in video that I am interested in exploring. Those moments really drive me - those moments of live, unpredictable human behaviour, mistakes.

I really love paying attention to the little details that happen in the in between space — the micro moments before going into action. Observing that – it’s so beautiful when you can see it and take the time to watch the brain processing and how it translates through the body.

It’s been amazing to shift my process upside down and give more control to other artists involved in my process- it’s liberating and collaborative! It leaves a lot of room for surprise and the unpredictable.

The photo was taken by Sophie El Assaad of Chadia Kikondjo for the project Black Balloon: Portico Project. 2020

An important image for Black Balloon was the moon. There’s a theory that the moon was created by a collision that happened between the earth and another planet and all the debris that was created from the collision that was floating around the orbit of the earth came together through gravity to form the moon. So it was through destruction that this essential part of our world was created.

“I’ve always wanted to be the kind of person to memorize poetry and say it to someone in the right moment.”

On decolonizing work and family history:

I am trying to decolonize my work by doing a lot more research into my own culture and bringing that into the process. I’m Lebanese, and I grew up in Bahrain, but I find I am very Western in how I was brought up; my mum is British, and I went to Western schools. So everything I learned in terms of history and art is from a Western perspective. So I’m going through this process right now — it’s kind of like an identity crisis or rebirth — of rediscovering my father, his culture and baggage, through my art. In a way, it feels like the longer I am physically away from my Middle Eastern roots, the more I try to get closer to it through my work. There is an invisible thread tying me to the sea, the sounds of street cats and the call to prayers, the salt in the air, the sand and the rocky desert. It’s like a past life that I constantly mourn. Even though I love my current life and probably wouldn’t move back, there is a certain void.

Image of my paternal ancestors. My grandmother is the young girl between the man and woman.

My dad shows his love through cooking. Every Sunday, my dad cooks and my sister and I go and spend time with the family (as much as we can). He actively plans his weekend around what he is going to cook for us. It’s a great way to bring me back to my past living in Bahrain, or summers spent in Beirut with family, because he mostly cooks Lebanese food (even though my mum’s British palette doesn’t always leap for joy at it). He’s a very silent man and there's a lot about him that I find very mysterious. Sometimes it’s hard to connect. That’s kind of why I feel driven to researching and creating through my ancestral culture. It’s also a way for me to connect with and rediscover my dad.

Image of a broken mirror (photo by Sophie El Assaad)

Something that has been inspiring me lately are the traces of life that you can find in dead material. I am obsessed! An example would be a shattered mirror – it holds the traces of the action in its appearance. It has so much energy locked into its absolute stillness.

Flayed Man Holding a Dagger and His Skin, From Juan Valverde de Amusco, Anatomia del corpo humano, 1560

Some of my favourite ways of working costumes are when I can put a lot of energy or emotion into a fabric – new fabric (especially when it is machine made) is “dead”, but the more you manipulate it, the more it absorbs your energy and holds traces of that love or hate – like human skin. You can often tell the kind of life a person has had from their skin and it’s the same with material. If you give love to material, you can see it. And I try to put that into consideration as much as possible when I’m thinking of design and how I treat my materials. They’ll share their life story with anyone who’ll pay attention, using their own unique language.

I love the body. That’s why I love theatre, performance and dance. There is something I am really drawn to in certain art – it’s this primal connection that, as humans, we tend to neglect or actively conceal in our daily lives. I love to see the body do things that I don’t get to see in my daily life because it’s a part of my being that I don’t really get to explore. Witnessing our primal side, or the animal within us, is cathartic for me. There is a violence inside all of us that I think is dormant but easily awoken. We see it in times of war, or political hysteria.

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“There is a secret part of me that I would really love to have more opportunity to explore – my clown.”

When I say clown, I mean a weird creepy out of control thing. I have this clown that I only present to some people. I don’t know what their name is yet, but she’s a troll. She comes out sometimes when I am in a special mood.

Self-portrait of one of my inner trolls. 2022

When I get into my clown, it just happens naturally and not very often – it’s funny, talking about it makes it sound as though it’s a real thing that is developed, but I have only recently discovered her. She comes out when I say something mean or that I consider unreasonable (or when I get exaggeratedly emotional/passionate) – “ah there she is! The troll is out”. It’s my way of coping with my inner animal.

I don’t know if stories belong to anybody – it’s not necessarily about where a person is from or what they have personally experienced, but how a story is told. I definitely think that if someone wants to talk about an experience or an identity that isn’t theirs, they need to make sure they work with people who have that experience or identity, to make sure the story is developed in an informed way. It is important to have that authentic perspective.

I think artists need to be accountable for how they represent people, especially if those people are marginalised in society and already have that weight to carry. There is an ethical question to ask about whether you are profiting from a situation that misrepresents others. I think there is great responsibility that comes with the privilege of being an artist who is given a public platform.

Unfinished painting of a horse by Sophie El Assaad

Image from a workshop of a creation piece by Sophie El Assaad ,2022. Lighting designed by Zoe Roux and modeled by Nasim Lootij.

Image from Sophie El Assaad’s video Leila, shown at the Centaur Theatre’s Wildside Festival in 2021 (Chadia Kikondjo as Mother Moon; This process is made possible by the support from the Government of Québec and the City of Montréal as part of l’Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal, and from the Canada Council for the Arts)

On process:

I saw a lot of my early work as internships – there wouldn’t be a lot of budget or pay, but what I did get was experience and a platform, so I saw those as my opportunities to go all out and take risks (I also chose projects that really inspired me, so it fueled me in other ways than just financial). For me, the extra time put into the work was worth it. I don’t know if it’s what I would recommend to others, but it’s what I did to get my career started.

Costumes designed by Sophie El Assaad for the show Jonathan Livingston: A Seagull Parable, (Surreal SoReal/ Geordie Theatre, photo by Marie Andrée Lemire)

“If I have an idea I think, ‘Can I do it? Maybe not, but why not try and see what happens?’”

Mask created by Sophie El Assaad for the band Fleece for album Stunning and Atrocious in 2021. Photograph by Cameron Mitchell, Styling by Kayleigh Choiniere, Clothes by Lucas Stowe and modeled by Owen.

“I would also love to make a play about pigeons. Write a play, or ask someone to write a play and just have giant pigeons having a conversation.”

My pigeon friends Pin Pin and Smithy (the ones that live on my building, that I feed) – they’ve started this repetitive occurrence. Every morning they have a choir session. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard pigeons but they gather so close to my windows and it’s a cacophony of chirps and bubbles. It is so beautiful.

I have a fascination with birds. I love seeing little sparrows in the winter when they’re in the bushes — because they look like leaves but then they move around — so it becomes a sort of like, magical and alive bush.

I think recording rehearsals can be useful in my future projects – seeing how accidents can become pieces in themselves. But I also see it as a way of approaching the process. For example, what would happen if you filmed something, like a small gesture, edited it on video to slow down or twitch it, then brought it back into rehearsal. Being influenced by the technology and what that offers and finding how it can bring meaning is something I want to experiment with. I think it could bring unexpected approaches to movement and performance. Video is like a second pair of eyes, noticing the little details you can’t capture during a rehearsal. 

“There is something about the early rehearsal process, the magic that comes during improv. Because it’s live and in the moment — it’s so raw and unrehearsed, completely reliant on intuition — it’s truly magic.”

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Sophie El Assaad

Holly Hilts is a core member of Also Cool. She is a maker of things: theatre sets, jewelry and websites, currently based in Montreal.

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Artist Spotlight: Nico / babysbabybaby

Nico in their studio by Kate Addison

In a small studio on the border of Montreal’s Plateau and Mile End neighbourhoods, self-described ‘DIY tattoo artist’ Nico (they/he)  - known on Instagram as babysbabybaby - invites me to take a seat on a low leather couch and flip through a sizable collection of sketchbooks.

Nico’s art immediately demands your attention. His sketchbooks which hold all of his flash are teeming with colour. As you flip the pages, you’re greeted by bright pinks, greens and oranges and freehanded carnivalesque doodles which oscillate between charming and delightfully unsettling. With over ten thousand followers on Instagram, it is clear that Nico’s unique style resonates with a large audience.

I spoke with the artist in their studio about how they began tattooing and what this art form has come to mean for them in both their creative development and in their experience with a larger community of creatives. 

Nico in their studio by Kate Addison

Kate Addison for Also Cool: How did you get into tattooing?

Nico Wilting: It was just kind of a roundabout way. It wasn’t really something I saw myself doing for a long time. I started stick and poking in 2016, but very, non-seriously. It was a friend who first asked me to give them a tattoo, and then I kind of got interested in it.

In 2018 I was sinking into a really dark depression. I was in an unhealthy relationship and I [was wondering] what am I doing here? I was working full time and wasn't able to do any art, and I was [asking myself] what am I doing with my life? I had watched a lot of other artists teach themselves how to tattoo. I just curious if this was a way for me to survive capitalism as an artist, [because] after going through art school, I figured out that I didn't want to be a gallery artist. I ended up contacting a couple of tattoo (?) artists and everyone was super helpful. [Some artists] even invited me over to their houses and gave me a list of everything I needed to buy, and gave me pointers for starting out. The summer of 2018 was when I finally bought my machine and I started tattooing seriously. 

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A post shared by Nico ♊️ 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑜 (@babysbabybaby)

Also Cool: You went to art school? Tell me about the art you were making before you began tattooing. 

Nico: Originally, I  went to art school thinking that I was gonna become a graphic designer. [In my first year] I was loving my fine art classes, so I switched to Drawing in my second year. ​​[Art school] is very much about conceptual art. You have to have an academic form of defending your work. I think I did gain a lot from getting a BFA, but I just don't really feel like that part of the art world is for me. 

I really like how accessible tattoos are to people. Anybody can get a tattoo. One of my friends said to me that she sees tattooing as a way of curating her body and I [agree]. Tattooing lives in a lot of different facets but part of it is you're able to change and get autonomy of your body. Another [part] of it is that you're collecting art. It's one of the ways that I look at it when I get tattooed, that I’m collecting art on my body. 

AC: Can you walk me through your process of creating a tattoo, from creating your flash to the finished piece? 

NW:  I really like challenging myself to draw as much as possible. I'll have an idea and I'll just keep trying to push it. I'll see how well I can execute the drawing or how weird I can make it. If I start messing up, I usually try and make it work. Like, here *Nico gestures to a drawing in one of his sketchbooks*  I probably fucked up a little bit and I just coloured it in and made it darker.

I really like holding on to imperfections and the moments where I will mess something up. Trying to reclaim bad drawings is kind of part of my process, and then usually when I trace it to become a tattoo, I like to try and make the lines smoother. 

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A post shared by Nico ♊️ 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑜 (@babysbabybaby)

AC: What do you think makes your work unique to you? What does your art represent for yourself? 

NW: To me, it feels like freedom and just like a happy place and a safe place. I think that kind of goes hand in hand with getting a tattoo. I see tattoos as a form of self-protection or armour. When you get a tattoo you can suddenly feel cooler and more confident. [Tattoos] bring you to a safer place like within your own body, and I think that's what my work represents. It's like that safe place when you're watching cartoons as a kid where nothing can really hurt you and you know at the end of the episode, it's gonna be okay.

AC: You’ve been working as a tattoo artist for a few years now. What have you found to be your favourite part of this job? 

NW: I really like the personal connection. It's really cool to meet a lot of different people. There's also just how transformative tattoos can be for people. After you tattoo someone, seeing them look at their body with so much love and admiration is really powerful. My art is no longer mine once it's on someone else's body, it's theirs. It's part of their body and it's another reason they love themselves, which is a really intense, and magical thing.

For me, it feels like part of the job to make people feel comfortable and safe so that they have a good experience as they get tattooed, because you do carry that stuff with you on your body forever. If you have a traumatic experience getting a tattoo every time you look at the tattoo, you're gonna think about that experience. I try to do the exact opposite of that and [create] the cushiest, soft, and safe experience possible. 

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A post shared by Nico ♊️ 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑜 (@babysbabybaby)

AC: Have you found any challenging aspects of this job? 

NW: It's constantly challenging, especially being self-taught. Sometimes you just have questions that you don't know who to ask or how to get answers to. I do have a lot of help from my community because other DIY artists all kind of figure it out on their own. We ask each other a lot of questions, and we try to confirm each other's experiences and help each other out a lot, which is really wonderful to have. 

AC: Can you tell me a bit more about the DIY tattoo community in Montreal? How would you define DIY tattooing? 

NW: [DIY] defines this style [where] you're not doing any kind of traditional style of tattooing, you’re doing your own art instead. A DIY tattoo artist is someone who doesn't work in a shop, didn't do an apprenticeship, and doesn't do what would be considered traditional tattoo styles . [The community] extends outside of Montreal, and as much as the tattoo community is insular, it's also free and massive. There's people in the States, in Europe, Australia, and then there's this [DIY] community that feels somewhat inaccessible in Korea. The Montreal DIY community is for the most part really wonderful and really supportive of each other. Most people want to connect and be friends. Trading is another aspect of friendship in the community. 

I've traded for so many things. Obviously, I can't live off trades, because I need to pay my rent, but if my landlord wanted tattoos, I would do it. I've traded with jewelry artists, I've traded to get my hair done. Once I posted that I was looking for a couple of things and would trade tattoos for them and I got a TV from a former client. It kind of feels like a way of skill-sharing and connecting to your creative community. 

AC: Is there anything else you wanted to add before we wrap up? 

NW: I would just like to draw the spotlight away from myself and say that I think it's important just to look at Indigenous tattooers in this country. I think it's important to look at Indigenous tattooing and understand where it comes from. If you're getting tattooed, just understanding the history, [because] basically since the evolution of the Homosapien, we've been putting ink in our skin in some form or another. The last thing I would add is just support queer BIPOC artists as much as you can.

Other artists whose work Nico recommends are @soft.wraith @0p4qu3 @pattern___recognition  @dirtyl00ks @ayasappleworld @snuggelug @0000_95m @kuntrydirt  @mirionmalletatoue @astoria.tattoo  @phylotattoos @dranem.bag @fuzzywuzzums @charbataille @ericacyrtattoos

// You can find Nicos work on their Instagram @babysbabybaby//

Kate Addison

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Em&May: Montreal's Women-Run, Sustainable Brand Making a Difference with Inclusive Fashion

Em & May Into Orbit collection

It's rare these days to see a brand say that they're sustainable and size-inclusive actually mean it. Em&May is a small but mighty women-run brand based out of the Mile End in Montreal that focuses on swimwear, lounge, lingerie, and more.  

It's easy to assume that a brand is a massive production because they have a curated Instagram and a sleek website. In reality, Em&May is a small team of young women figuring it out as they go along, taking on every aspect of the business. They do everything themselves, from creating their garments to customer service and even arguing with Canada Post over the phone to keep shipping prices low.

I wanted to showcase the immense amount of hard work that goes into this project and spotlight the women behind it all. Em&May operates on a made-to-order business model. That allows them to produce the least amount of waste possible while also providing a huge sizing range where you can input your measurements to ensure that your clothes fit you perfectly. They're working hard to make their creative dreams come to life while staying true to their values.

I first found the brand a year and a half ago on Instagram and have been following them ever since. It feels good to know the money I spent at Em&May goes right back into sustaining the lives of a group of creative women instead of a huge faceless corporation. 

I've gotten to know Emilie and her amazing team of girls over the last few months and wanted to share a sneak peek of what it's like behind the scenes, so we sat down for an interview. 

Em & May swim

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: When did creativity enter your life? Did it start with fashion, or did you have other hobbies?

Emilie for Em&May: I used to draw a lot when I was younger. I would come home from school and draw in my notebook, which is where I first became interested in art and creativity. Fashion was something that I always really enjoyed.

My grandma used to take me shopping when I was a kid. She would give me some money to run around the mall to buy whatever I wanted. It was the first time I got to pick things out for myself, and when I started to figure out how I wanted to express myself by developing my sense of style. 

Despite being interested in fashion at a young age, I never really knew I would study design. When I had just graduated high school in Newfoundland, I went to a school called Textiles, Crafts Apparel and Design, which gave me my first experience with sewing. I was so excited to stay late at school to sew my projects. 

Whenever my teachers would give us something to do, I would do three or four. We had the opportunity to have a fashion show and then sell the pieces afterwards, and everyone made maybe five or six garments, and I must've made 30 or 40 pieces. I had an entire collection and extras on top of that. After the show, people could come and shop the pieces, and it was crazy to see people from my high school take an interest in my work.

I had started a Facebook page in school that I would post on all the time, which is how I got my name out there. People began to become a little more aware of what I was doing, which carried over to Em&May, which started when I was in school in Montreal.

I used that Facebook page as the base of the business because I had already accumulated a bit of a following. 

Em & May swim

Also Cool: What's the creative scene like in NL? What was your experience like there creatively?

Em: My school was in downtown Newfoundland, but downtown is not like downtown here. It's not super commercial, it's more where artsy people hang out, and there's a lot of cafes, galleries, and local businesses. There's a creative community down there; it's just less fashion and more painting, pottery, etc. but not necessarily clothing. 

AC: Why did you decide to move to Montreal? What was your first impression of the city?

Em: The main reason was that my mom is from Montreal, and I always loved her side of the family. We would visit once or twice a year, and I really wanted to know them better, so I started looking into the different schools here.

In terms of first impressions, I came to Montreal when I was a kid or with my friends for concerts or shopping. But when you live in Montreal versus when you come to visit, it is completely different. When you visit, you're mostly downtown on St. Catherine, going to all the big box stores, and everything else is just entirely off your radar. 

When I moved here, I started school right away, which was a big adjustment. I got my first job walking down St. Catherine and applied to all those box stores. I got a job at American Apparel, which was my foot in the door to the whole life I've created now. I was only there for a month, and then I got a call for a job from Urban Outfitters, which was my first choice, so I switched over to there. I'm really glad I made that call because that's where I met all my friends, who are even now still a part of the same scene, and two months later, American Apparel shut down.

Em & May sweat set

AC: How did you first get involved with the fashion scene in Montreal?

Em: I met a lot of people through school, and I honestly just said yes to every opportunity given to me. I also engaged with a lot of people and brands that I liked online as well.

When I was in school, the scene was comparable to now. Now it's just so different, especially the side of fashion that I'm a part of now (handmade, sustainable fashion). These are things that I've always been passionate about, but I couldn't have imagined myself going into.

These days people are way more conscious about their money and think a lot about where and who they're buying from. I think the pandemic brought a lot of that into focus. 

Em & May sweat set

AC: What was your collab like with Citizen Vintage? What was a valuable lesson you learned from them?

Em: I love them. A girl I went to school with had a studio assistant position that I took over. I would do adjustments for their vintage clothing, cropping and hemming things. I would repair broken things, help out with the tote bags and other things. 

They were also so good to me when I started Em&May and gave me 24-hour access to their studio to work. School closed at 11, and if I still had projects to do, I would go to their studio and work there instead. They were so helpful and so supportive.

I was still working for them when I did my first-ever collaboration with them. They wanted to make some swim, and I offered to take over that for them. My brand continued to evolve and grow, turning into a bigger collaboration. They've also purchased wholesale from me before, and we did a bunch of different collections together.

They taught me a lot about planning collections, sizing breakdowns, wholesale and consignment. They guided me through that process, so I had a better idea of what was expected when I got deals with other stores and companies. 

Em & May Into Orbit collection

AC: How do you incorporate sustainability into your practice?

Em: When people ask about sustainability, they usually ask about fabric, sourcing, and fibre content, which we pay a lot of attention to. Most of our fabrics are made from either deadstock or natural organic fibres. Our swim is made from Econyl, which is made from ocean waste and plastic bottles. We had also made an activewear collection made of plastic bottles last year. We're always trying to find different OEKO-TEX certified innovation fabrics.

In terms of packaging and shipping, all our materials, paper, boxes, water-activated tapes, etc., are made from 100% recycled paper. We function on a made-to-order business model, which means that we only make what has been ordered to have the least amount of waste possible. 

Also, I can pay my employees more than a living wage. There's not a huge amount of production in Montreal anymore, and not many people who graduate end up working as a seamstress. So what's fun about Em&May is that we're able to build off each other and sustain each other's lives because of our business. Our process is also super collaborative, and everyone has creative freedom.

AC: What are some of your favourite spots in Montreal? Any favourite memories to share?

Em: I am a coffee addict, so I love Olimpico and Gamba. I also really enjoy martinis, especially after a long week, so I go to Henrietta, Majestique, and other cute, low-key places.

Em & May Into Orbit collection

AC: What's been the most rewarding thing about running Em&May? How do you feel like you've grown as a person & artist because of the brand?

Em: I think it's awesome that we can be such a small team and are constantly creating pieces that we want to do without a timeline, but also that we're creating pieces with such a huge size range. We have no restrictions for sizing at all so that anyone can buy from us. 

It's rewarding to have an idea, I tell the girls, and then we sit down and talk about it – and two days later, it's done and on the website. We don't have to wait six months to a year for these ideas to come to life. 

AC: Do you have any small businesses / other artists you'd like to shout out?

Em: Definitely @va1sseau and @rachelsudbury! 

AC: What's next for Em&May?

Em: This year I want to be more creative in a way that goes outside of traditional fashion. A lot is coming that's not necessarily ready-to-wear and is more like wearable art. We're going to be incorporating more statement pieces, avant-garde, wearable art with non-traditional elements.

You can meet Emilie and the Em&May team this weekend at our Holiday Pop Up this Saturday, December 11th, from 12-6. See our Instagram post for details. 

Em & May Valley bralette

Em&May

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Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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