No Label Art Collective
Inspired by their mutual desire to collaborate together, create freely, and elevate BIPOC artists around the world, Dre Gutierrez Reyes, Duncan Alexander Gray, Ricardo Rodriguez, Caleb Asfaw, and Christian Maradiaga formed No Label Art Collective.
While NLA is still in its early stages of development, the team is already working a series of projects that will be up for display both online, and locally in Victoria, B.C. Later this year, they plan on releasing a publication dedicated to supporting and providing them with a voice, and a platform, to speak their mind and display their work. NLA will be seeking content throughout the year, but if you'd like to pitch an idea, a feature, or would like to display your work, you can contact them via Instagram or through their Contact form.
For their first ever interview as a collective, Alexa Fahlman talks with No Label Art Collective about keeping sane during a pandemic, the creative happenings on their island, and why what they’re doing matters so much. Continue below for the full interview!
So Christian, this is the second time we've interviewed you on Broad, but your first in association with No Label Art Collective, how does it feel to be a founding member of the collective?
Chris: I’m very happy to chat with you again, always love what Broad’s got displayed on their IG, and the website. Honestly, it feels quite surreal being a part of a collective? It’s literally been a dream of mine for a few years now, since I first moved to the island, so it’s nice seeing this finally come to fruition. Everyone in the group has shared this dream for years now, so when we finally connected and said “man, we should do joint shows or start a collective”, it all just clicked and made sense.
Who makes up No Label Art Collective? Let's introduce the team with a few questions:
- Name?
- Artists? Photographer? Designer? What do you do for work?
- And what do you like to do for fun?
- Favourite food?
- The most impactful film you've watched?
- One thing that has kept you sane during the pandemic?
Christian Maradiaga
My name is Christian Maradiaga, and I’m a photographer/graphic designer. For fun, I typically either have a coffee and see what’s on the Criterion Channel, or visit my local record store to see what they’ve got cooking in the jazz/ambient selections. Patiently waiting for YMO reissues, but that’s a story for another day. As for food, honestly, I could eat a bowl of fresh strawberries and pineapple everyday, all day. Throw on Ebo Taylor’s self-titled album, and that’s heaven for me. For films, or the most impactful film I’ve watched, has got to be something from Godard’s filmography. After watching Contempt (Le Mépris) for the first time, I sat there and asked myself how films like this were made, along with Breathless. Godard really enjoyed creating films with organic and realistic subject matter, but the way he approached his ideas was refreshing to me and is by far the biggest source of inspiration for me. Maybe throw in Downtown 81, too.
Finally, the one thing that’s kept me sane has been, without a doubt, working on shoots with a smaller circle of friends that eventually turned NLA. Also, shout out to the Criterion Channel again, and NTS Radio.
Ricardo Rodriguez
-Artist, model, photographer and I work as an animator and technical artist for a game development studio
-I enjoy skating and playing video games. Having drinks at the beach with friends, etc.
-Nothing beats a nice rib-eye cooked medium rare
-The only non-nerd answer in can give is Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee. I don’t think the costume and set design of a movie has ever affected me the way Do The Right Thing has. I love the colours and silhouettes but mostly the cohesion that every individual outfit has and how perfectly they fit into the setting of 1980’s Brooklyn. My nerd answer is Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Greatest movie ever made.
-What kept me sane during the pandemic was staying busy. Pretending my small apartment was much larger than it was. My dining room became the office, living room floor the gym and my bedroom my home. This way I could pretend I wasn’t trapped in here for 3 months.
Dre
My name is Dre Gutierrez Reyes, I am a tattoo artist and illustrator. I work as a barista at Habit part time and work on my art the rest of the time. I really enjoy creating and I spend most of my time drawing for fun and also on projects for clients. My favourite food is tamales, and I’m so excited that I’ve found a great place to get them again at the Mexican House of Spices on Douglas. The most impactful film I’ve watched recently was American Honey, it was released in 2016 but the cinematography soundtrack and overall rawness is the film has really stuck with me and I watch it every 3-4 months. During the pandemic I started a portrait project, I think I drew about 30 portraits for people. I have a hard time doing nothing and having a project really helped keep me grounded. As well as going on long walks and exploring parts of Victoria I’d never seen before and watching Netflix documentaries.
-Model, Stylist, but a DJ and full time Computer Science student
-Learning more about music, fashion and video game history, hanging out with my dog Mojo, window shopping on Japanese markets
-Probably a traditional Ethiopian dish... but I'm going to have to go with fries as an all timer.
-Chameleon Street: A late 80's independent film by Wendell B. Harris that was the first black winner of the Sundance Grand Jury for Drama... A profound art flick that satirically follows the life of African-American con man William Douglas Street Jr. while being a case study around race, class, and social identity. A mesh of Spike Lee-isms, Catch Me If You Can and Sorry to Bother You, well worth a watch if you can track down a DVD copy.
-The adaption of in-person events to virtual media, thankful to be able to attend so many gallery exhibits and concerts from the comfort of my own bed, as well as just rolling over and opening my laptop to attend school.
Duncan Alexander Gray
-Photographer & artist
-long walks, shooting hoops, reading magazines, are art galleries open again?
-Pierogi Pizza.
-Might have to be Taxi Driver, the cinematography & art direction has always been a huge inspiration for my work and is one of the reasons why I wanted to shoot film. The soundtrack is so calming and plays on repeat in my head when I’m out shooting
-My Madagascar Palm, Big Woo; even though I spend an hour a day stressing and researching the best ways to keep him alive and blooming. My girlfriend keeps me sane too I guess.
How have your creative journeys led you to where you are today?
Duncan: I’ve always been into design, and originally wanted to go to a fashion school, but lost motivation sometime after high school. I just jumped into photography with no actual knowledge of it whatsoever and have been enjoying it ever since.
Caleb: I grew up with a background of music education, playing classical instruments but with a disdain for common mediums of the arts as they're traditionally taught in school, if even taught whatsoever. As I graduated high school, I changed up and grew fond of them by finding differing styles and genres that appealed to me, progressively discovering more within their architecture. Coming from a math and coding background, I never found myself to be much of a creative but grew to love the history and stories of the arts, as well as an appreciation for curation/conservation as an important pillar of its own.
Ric: I’ve always enjoyed making things and coming up with ideas. As a kid I would attempt making my own video games, taught myself Photoshop and had a general fascination with digital arts but since I’ve never been any good at drawing/painting I didn’t consider myself an “artist”. Since then my definition of what makes an artist has changed a lot. At the end of the day I just love creating and trying out new ideas.
Dre: Growing up I was always doodling on any paper I could find. I am a big time daydreamer and visual thinker and drawing became a way for me to sort through the imagery that was in my head. Between reading Archie comic books and being surrounded by catholic iconography I became really obsessed with color pallets and symbolism. I went to Langara college for art and the course structure really challenged me to work on my technical drawing skills. I ended up being fascinated with the elements and principles of design and started exploring how to incorporate them into my body of work. For the past 2 years I have been tattooing it’s been a really amazing learning curve in a whole new medium. I really like to combine my love for Chicano style tattoos with elements of American traditional. Creating art has been so healing and it has given me a way to express myself everyday
Chris, I know you grew up just outside of Vancouver, but are now based in Victoria- how has the environment you've grown up in shaped your art? The same question goes for everyone too.
Chris: It’s been quite the change, both negatively and positively. If I had stayed in Vancouver, I don’t think I would’ve gone through so much growth? Everyday looked the same, everyday felt the same, I had little to no friends, and as an artist, my vision was growing stale. Once I moved here, I wanted to really grow and look inwards to see what really inspires me and what’s my primary objective. I took up film photography more heavily, started shifting away from everyday shots to more cohesive bodies of work, and started to find peace with myself.
Caleb: My environment left me somewhat isolated within a pre-dominantly non-black society, even more so within the schools I attended, yet it's what led me to spending my high school nights on the internet learning about facets I hadn't known of before; Pop Art, New Wave music, Japanese fashion and the like. They allowed for personal expression to flourish and me to meet and engage with some of the wonderful creatives and avid enthusiasts that I call some of my best friends today. Although these shaped me into a more confident and self-accepting individual, they also brought a personal appreciation for both the local scenes as well as the traditional culture and expression of my Ethiopian background.
What has been the biggest adjustment moving to the island? For those who have always been based in Victoria, what are three things about the city that most people overlook?
Chris: Biggest adjustment at first was being thrown into this community when everyone had already established their social circles, or creative circles? It also felt like there was an asterisk above my head because I’m not a white individual in a smaller city, so everyone would look at me more carefully. Also, everyone loves brunch here? And now I love brunch? Lord.
Duncan: Three things people overlook:
-The ethnic restaurants, nobody does Caribbean food better than people from the Caribbean. Period.
-Artists of color, there’s a lot of talent here that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.
-Chinatown, it’s a gem of the city that gets overlooked greatly
Ric: I’ve lived in Victoria since I was 8 years old and I don’t know if I have three things that people overlook but I do have one big one. Vic, as I already said, is a very white but also very left-wing liberal city. Which is great because people are very progressive but the large downside is that it creates a toxic narrative that there’s no room for it to improve when it comes to race relations. The amount of times I’ve heard something along the lines of “that would never happen here, it’s Victoria” is astonishing and when something does happen then people are very quick to ignore it because they don’t want to face the fact that racism can exist even here. It is very easy for people here to pat themselves on the back for being open-minded but when a BIPOC person tries to speak about an experience they’ve had or something they’ve witnessed they are met with a lot of hostility because it makes the non-BIPOC people face the fact that their liberal paradise isn’t as perfect as they previously thought
Dre: the biggest adjustment for me is learning to prioritize my art and seeing it as a legitimate career path. Prior to living in Victoria art was a side hustle and kind of a second thought. But when I moved here I met so many creative people who have become really close friends and they inspire me to work harder on my art practice.
Were you all part of the same photography/art community before creating the collective? And did you create this collective as a result of feeling isolated from that community?
Chris: I feel like we were running in familiar crowds, plenty of mutual friends, etc. I’ve personally wanted to work alongside creatives and establish a collective since I first got here, so all of this is a blessing really. We’ve all had our successes here and there, but often overlooked for white artists/groups. There isn’t very much representation within the arts industry here, or in general really, so we’re wanting to band together and create bodies of work for the public to see. Seek those opportunities, present a piece and say “hey, this is what you could’ve gotten years ago if you gave BIPOC artists a chance.” We’re working together to create, inspire both ourselves but also those around us, and begin paving a way for other BIPOC artists here in Victoria, and hopefully outside of the island too.
How did No Label Art Collective start? What was the inspiration behind it?
Ric: For the next question I think it’s simple enough to say we did a couple shoots as a friend group just for fun, we all noticed the difference of working with other BIPOC folks in comparison to previous experiences of working with artists here and thought why not give this a shot!
Chris: I agree! I feel like we've all created solid work, and we work together efficiently, so what would happen if we just merged the two and see what we could come up with? Plus the support we provide for one another, and giving the green light for other BIPOC artists to create and push their creative agenda/aspirations. The support's out for their work and goals are out there, and we're putting that on display
What does an inclusive, creative space look like to No Label Art Collective?
Duncan: No exclusivity with who we work with.
Dre: We want to create a platform where we can elevate other artists regardless of how they identify, who they love, this is a place for anyone who respects themselves, their surroundings and other people.
What's something you want to see more of in creative communities?
Dre: I would like to see more opportunities for black artists that aren’t just political or to increase diversity in someone’s feed.
Chris: Honestly, I’m wanting creative teams to finally diversify their staff, and include BIPOC artists. Not just models that they can display on their feed, or on their website, for the sake of promoting this “progressive” image of theirs when it’s not truly genuine. Yes, it’s beautiful seeing representation in the modelling industry, but some brands use this as a temporary method of promoting their practice and snag brownie points for being “diverse” yet they’ll return back to their problematic practices once the tension (ie. civil unrest, social injustices, etc) simmers down. Oh, and pay Black creatives.
Any advice to artists who haven't found a sense of belonging in their communities?
Ric: Don’t settle would be my advice. Finding a group of people you work well with isn’t easy, and it’s worth more to build yourself as an artist than prioritizing finding those to work with.
Dre: Also reach out to artists that inspire you. IG has made it so accessible to communicate with other people. I have so many friends online who I’ve been inspired by and I finally just bit the bullet and started talking to them. Community can be created anywhere.
Duncan: Don’t be afraid to reach out, don’t put too much pressure on yourself if you’re not at a level you expect yourself to be on.
In what ways are all of your tastes/perspectives different? In what ways are they the same?
Ric: I think we all come from different cultural backgrounds, different inspirations, use different mediums.
Chris: Honestly, I don't think a creative team can really grow if we all agreed on the same ideas, same things? It's nice that we've all got this extensive, multi-faceted history with art (ie. sketch, painting, photography, etc).
Who on instagram is inspiring you these days?
Chris: My peers, @lichennyc, @leoneski, @mrbianco, @herberthofmann and @yuthanan_, and Italian Cinema tbh. Currently working on a few ideas for shoots, and maybe a short film, after watching Michelangelo Antonioni’s trilogy (L’Avventure, La Notte and L’Eclisse).
Dre: @coloralamexicana, @mythsooka, @pinche_kid, @nina.lepapillon, @estevanoriol, @inkthediaspora.
Duncan: @organiclab.zip. I don’t think theres a day in the last 3 months I’ve missed a story dump from them.
To finish off, what can we expect to see from the collective in the future?
Duncan: Short films, art exhibitions, zines, interviews with likeminded artists, and collaborations.
Chris: We are working on a publication right now, under the NLA team, and we’ll be having artist spotlights, work from artists that we support. A short film is in the works, still fine-tuning those little details, but expect more and more work soon.
