8 Questions with VANLAWRENC

COVER ARTIST | ORIGINAL ISSUE

VANLAWRENC is an indonesian artist featured in Al-Tiba9 Original issue

Contemporary surrealist digital images. Lawrance is an artist, designer, and photographer based in Indonesia. Self-taught, Evan began to explore and turned his intricate feeling into a surreal vision mixed along with his ambiguous perspective on reality. The delusion of the beautiful things inspires his work till the weird moments, represents by the emotional feeling of himself.

@vanlawrenc.art

Interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj.

Evan, before talking about your art, could you tell us about yourself? Who is VANLAWRENC?

I was born in 1993, Malang, Indonesia. I’m just an introvert person who loves to express and balance my ego with art. I use art as a basic language, transliterate the noetic perceptions into explicit views.

How did you decide to pursue a career in photography and digital art? What inspired you?

I’m afraid that I should call myself an artist. I think I’m just a serious hobbyist, and I still believe that art can give people the chance to reflect on themselves, both on an individual and collectives level, and can make a real contribution to the creation of a better world and greater positivity among people.

How would you describe your photographic approach?

Surreal is a prominent theme across my artwork. I just fell in love with it for the very first time when I found Dali and Magritte’s works. Instantly I became curious to engage with a culture that has a different perception of time than ours.

Can you give an example of a digital artwork that you have made that you feel especially successful? Will you walk us through the process a bit, and talk about how and why you ended up with the result that pleases you?

One of my favorite series, FATAMORGANA (2017), explains my life memoirs as a kid, teen, and adult. I love this series, the same place, different stories.

The power of emotion is prior elements for my whole work, an erratic structure. My work is full of investigation; from my interest in invisible phenomena, constructed logic, commemoration, and memory, capture the complexity and multilayered essence of culture, social realities along with my sentiment blends in a single image.

What do you find most challenging about photography? What about digital art?

Over four years in the graphic design industry, it changed my perspective way on photography too. Through graphic design, I learn about the weightiness of composition, structure, rhythm, color harmony, and relationships, the interaction of shapes through repetition, emphasis, and all the other aspects of visual communication. Yet in my digital photography, I train my sensitiveness to anything matter in this world; nature, human, animal, sound, texture, fragrance, etc. By opting for a specific case and anonymous things, I sharpen my power of observation.

If an aspiring photographer asked you for advice, what would you tell them?

Photography taught me about the value of light. I think Photography is not about accuracy. It’s actually about recording the absence of light, or at least the differential effects of its absence or presence. Light is indispensable.

Are you working on any project that we will be able to see soon?

Yes, it’s still going on. I’m creating a new mood on my digital canvas.

The artist-designer Evan Lawrence in three words...

I am hallucinogenic.