Interview » Kate Banazi.

Getting home
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Illustrator and silkscreen artist Kate Banazi remains a displaced Londoner living down under in Sydney… just like last time we highlighted her remarkably clever work. But this time we let her talk! And well, that means you are in store for a double treat as Kate is a quick wit, full of vigor and a very generous soul. And she offers some truly pragmatic advice to new illustrators.

Kate has a very active and creative household, they seem to get along rather well. Her 12 year old son Milan is a precocious sort with the artistic gene, world famous and published too like his Mom. You will learn more about Mil (aka “Moofus”) on down below.

It was very difficult to pare down Kate’s extensive portfolio for this feature as I am so taken with her creative sensibilities. Her work is permeated with striking graphic compositions, layers and patterns including a grand dose of optical illusions here and there that really sing. Read/look on and enjoy…

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Jugglezine | Herman Miller
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Q: Who is Kate Banazi?

A: I often ask myself that question, especially when looking in the mirror first thing in the morning and expecting a lithe, bendy and yet taut 17 year old to be looking back at me. It’s amazing what some tit tape and a bulldog clip will do to a sense of ‘self’. Anyway, I digress, I am constructed from worldwide hardy stock and have a diverse multi coloured and cultured heritage which I am discovering more and more of as I grow older. I grew up in a truly eclectic and vibrant noisy household in central London worshiping elephant gods, chocolate and the ubiquitous yorkshire pudding. We lived near a huge heathland and my sister and I loved the fact that this huge open space was much like our back garden, we often used to roam it as children pretending we lived in the country side and I used to run down the hills singing Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights (out of tune, because I’m tone deaf). I think that sets a ‘certain tone’ for the picture of my childhood. We had dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and two very vicious ducks named Oscar and Sally, who ended up both being blokes and going to live on the ‘farm’, although at the time my sister Ruby and I truly believed they were going to live on a farm.

I ended up in Australia after a holiday romance culminated in wedding bells with a man who has the most amazing pair of finely turned ankles you’ll ever see. Really, he has the height and legs of a racehorse and makes me look like a pit pony…

Orpheum
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I love reading, optical illusions, science, maths and unexplained weird spooky stuff.  I devour books, my aim in life is to live in a house which has a room we can title ‘the library’ (I don’t care if it’s a box under the table, it’s still going to be called the library) where I can retire to of an evening with the wireless, a box of chocolates and two beers. The drinking of two beers is a big thing for me, as I can only drink one before I fall over.

I have had an eclectic and ever morphing career which keeps me excited. I wanted to be a vet or a brain surgeon (either/or wasn’t picky), then an architect, then the first woman in space, before I did a fashion degree at St Martins (quite a natural progression I feel) where I concentrated on menswear… a) because there was only 2 other people doing it and I was the only girl; b) because I got to look at pretty male models cards most of the day; c) I was really rubbish at womenswear.

My friend and I set up a menswear business when I left college which grew steadily from one pair of trousers to 12 garments and making clothes for music videos (hence a skateboarding pig outfit amongst others). I loved doing it but I wasn’t earning a regular enough income and as I had a young hungry mouth to feed, in the form of my son, Mil, my friend Kate Gibb asked me to work for her and she taught me to screenprint and set me on the path to working as an illustrator. Everything she taught me is the basis for where I am now, and I can’t ever thank her or repay her for those amazing years and how much I learnt. More than that, she and my friends really put me back together again as a human being.

Studio
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Q: I understand you like to work with silkscreen, fabric, pencils, sharp knives, ink paper AND cake. Tell us how you came to silkscreen and what is your favorite aspect of this medium?

A: The celebratory cake afterwards.

My parents had a design studio when I was growing up and they shared it with a fantastic silkscreen printer called Richard whom I still often contact when I need advice. Then, when I was at St Martins I had a bit of a play when I did the textiles module, but when you’re up against people whom are now considered print and colour genius (genii?) it’s enough to put you right off, there was many a time I was in the same room as many illustrious other students whom pulled out swathes of ethereally beautiful printed fabric and I’d pull out this stinking rag, that at best, looked like the cat had puked on it. The justification of “It took me a week to make it look that good” encouraged my tutors to push me out of the textile studio and into the design one, so I stuck with making clothes for really hot men.

I think my favourite aspect is that nothing really ever goes to plan, ink never goes down perfectly evenly, colours are always slightly unexpected. There’s an air of anticipation that is quite exciting. Some of the pieces of work I do are like a painting and have up to 40 layers, so there’s alot that can go wrong or be a happy accident. Every piece of work that I have a fondness for, didn’t go to plan, it took me in a completely unexpected direction due to a mistake or something wrong that turned it into something right. I love the flaws and textures and tactile feel a multi layered screenprint has. Running your hands over it is a really sensory experience, except when my kid did it after eating a jam sandwich.

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Langham
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Q: Your work is oft defined by a strong graphic style, brimming with rich, visual texture and layers… fluidly mixing old and new patterns, engravings, photographs and the like. (Would make for excellent LP covers and gig posters.) Would love to learn more about how this signature style of yours developed and what type of client projects has your work been commissioned for?

A: I think because working for Kate taught me everything I know about screenprinting. She’s the one that taught me everything I know on the technical side but also set me on this path so I think her aesthetic is a really strong influence. Add that to the artwork my parents had around the house, their friends and the very strong 60s and 70s style I was brought up with pretty much sets up my style. A basis in brown corduroy and orange plastic, and Bob’s your Uncle. I find the idea of restraint especially with colour really hard and challenging.

Clients are varied from editorial and fashion through to online digital, which is always a challenge for me to keep the hands on approach and keep it all truly silkscreened. My clients all appreciate that this is often a different approach to one to composing artwork purely on the computer and making it look like its silkscreened, which is an art in itself. They’re all really open minded and I’m lucky in that they ask me to bring my skills and happy accidents along for the job rather than having a preconceived idea of exactly what they’re going to get.

As for the gig posters and LP covers, I’d love to! But no one’s asked me yet. Please ask, because I will happily!

LAX
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Q: Tell us more about what inspires you.

A: Everything and anything, I find it quite hard to filter and often feel a little bombarded, especially having moved to Australia, in a completely new environment I can often feel quite isolated, but overloaded with new senses. It’s been three years now since we’ve been here, so I’m gradually settling into a rhythm where I’m not distracted by foreign bird calls and different pronunciations. I’d have to say the friends around me are a huge influence, often because I’m asking for their opinions on things. Having that constructive criticism is really important to me, so that I try new things or see things differently or just have that confidence in the piece to say “No, that it’s staying the way it is.”

There are a huge amount of artists that I admire that are an inspiration, far too many to name and always more to discover. I have to say that right now though I am incredibly inspired by the works of Maggi Hambling and Thomas Gainsborough and Yaacov Agam.

Double eyed
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Smurf shrine
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Q: What fills your shelves, nooks and crannys?

A: We have so much stuff and all three of us have a tendency to hoard. Luckily we all like each others ‘stuff’. We’ve got old tin toys, a large vinyl record collection, lego by the suitcase full. Wooden toys, board games, printed crap from around the world, postage stamp albums, photographs, story books, picture books, science books, photography books, dust, a huge quantity of dust and my beloved Chewbacca collection. I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for Chewy, and since having publicly confessed my love, have discovered there are many more out there like me.

There is a growing collection of boiled egg cups, 1960s and 70s pottery, snow globes and a huge amount of scuba diving gear belonging to my husband and son. There are nesting dolls that my dad sends to me from India, a shrine my friend Zakee gave me for my 21st Birthday and the smurf dolls given to Al and I as a wedding present. It is a full house and an incredibly loving and happy one. Oh, and along with the dog, the blue tongue lizards, the odd frog and a rogue possum there are a few poisonous spiders.

Inspiration
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Kilburn, Wednesday Night
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Q: What is your dream project(s) or possibly you have you already done it? Along with that, what would you like to see your career/life look like in 10 years?

A: I can’t really look that far ahead, I think it’s because I dont know where we’ll be living at that time, if that makes any sense? Right now, I’m really enjoying where I live and all the work that I’m given and that I do. The clients that I work with and the people I collaborate with are so great that I’m happy to be busy and occupied. I do have a couple of dream jobs, but I think I’ll keep them secret for now!

Boss magazine | Financial Review
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Q: What are you currently working on? Upcoming projects?

A: Currently I am contemplating many things and doing as little as possible. I was working all over Christmas and as we’re in the Southern Hemisphere it’s now the end of Summer, so right now, I am taking a belated summer vacation and spending it sitting in my garden getting eaten by mosquitoes the size of my head. Everything’s bigger here, not just my arse. It really is the ‘Land of Big Shit’ as my Australian friends keep telling me.

Letraset
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Q: Any words of advice to new illustrators who are just starting out in the field?

A: Just to work hard, ask for help and advice, and if you’re at college, get to know all your tutors, teachers and advisors as they’re all there for a reason and are a fountain of creative knowledge. Read a lot and stay current with news affairs, it’s really important so that you can respond to briefs quickly with your own perspective. More than anything enjoy what you do and do each job, no matter what it is, to the best of your ability else it’s really not worth doing. You’ll never stop learning.

Kate & her son Mil
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Q: Okay, the most important question really is who is Moofus?

A: I don’t think it’s for me to answer that question! All I can tell you is my son Mil (or Moofus!) is a generous, spirited, witty and kind young man, hitting his teens and trying to do the best he can. He started selling his prints and drawings as a way to earn some money to help a charity which he admires and also to buy a new skateboard. It’s snowballed from there to an extent which has surprised us all, largely thanks to the incredibly kind blogging and internet community out there. He’s had work commissioned by magazines locally and internationally (including Dwell) and I think because he is so young, it’s not fazed him. I admire his tenacity and also the fact that he’s self sufficient, buys his own sneakers and never asks for pocket money. What’s not to like!

(I’ve included samples of Moofus’ super work below. See more/learn more over at his shop + website)

Beach House | available for purchase
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[ All work ©Kate Banazi & ©Milan Rodriguez respectively ]

A heap of gratitude to Kate for generously sharing so much with us, including her brilliant work, keen responses and obviously her time! You will want to check out Kate’s blog via the link below, fantastic inspiration and entertainment but fair warning not all bits are safe for work. :)

>> See MUCH more on Kate’s website + shop + blog + flickr + etsy
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