Words

—

Date

31 August 2022

Tags

Creative Transformations: At August’s Nicer Tuesdays, we hear about the power of embracing change

For this month’s Nicer Tuesdays, Henry J. Kamara, Anna Mills, Joseph Melhuish and Joy Yamusangie took to the stage.

Words: It's Nice That
—
Date: 31 August 2022
Tags: Nicer Tuesdays
Features
Creative Industry
Event
Exhibition
3D
Process

Just 24 hours after what felt like the whole city had finished celebrating the long-awaited return of Notting Hill Carnival, attendees began flooding into Oval Space in London for August’s Nicer Tuesdays. Despite probable hangovers, the crowd made their way to the event space to hear talks from some of their favourite creatives, and to find some artistic inspiration that would bring them back to life. Joining them were photographer Henry J. Kamara, graphic designer Anna Mills, illustrator and animator Joseph Melhuish, and multidisciplinary artist Joy Yamusangie. Together, they covered a broad spectrum of creative fields, and each brought with them plenty of juicy stories and experiences to share with the audience. From using “giant women” as visual references while sculpting in VR, to the experience of creating a fictional jazz club, the crowd were treated to a diverse mix of projects and processes.

Henry J. Kamara reminisces on discovering the guiding force behind his photography

First up was Henry J. Kamara. The London-based photographer has shot some of the biggest names in British pop culture over the years, including footballer Ian Wright and director Steve McQueen, but it was his Sierra Leonean heritage that was to become the focal point of his practice. “From a very young age I was aware of my diaspora – I grew up in a culture that was defined by Sierra Leone,” he says. “When I was at home, I ate Sierra Leonean food and listened to Sierra Leonean music.” Henry explained that listening to stories about growing up in Sierra Leone inspired him to experience them firsthand.

With his camera, he realised he could capture and support the culture that he had for so long been a part of, and he quickly began working on various projects with this aim in mind. One such recent project, titled Keep the Drums, Lose the Knife, takes as its premise the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Henry reveals that he was drawn to this issue because he “saw the ripple effect FGM can have on women’s lives”. Working with Sarian Karim-Kamara, activist and founder of an organisation that was set up with the aim of abandoning the practice of “cutting”, he trained his lens on the communities that it affects, exploring the history of the tradition, its place in modern society, and the women who are rebelling against it. As with many of Henry’s series, Keep the Drums, Lose the Knife is both educational and evocative, giving its subject the type of platform that only powerful photography can provide.

Above

Left

Right

Above

Right

Above

Anna Mills reveals how she developed her trademark style of type design

The second speaker was Bristol-based graphic designer Anna Mills, who began by reflecting on her early work and the ways in which the pandemic has affected her type design practice. For Anna, lockdown brought with it both challenges and triumphs, and one such challenge, she recalls, was finding something to do with all of the extra time she had on her hands. She found herself digging around for an activity that she could get lost in and eventually the answer came to her, surprisingly, in the form of grids. “I started drawing grids and letters over and over, as a way of slowing down my approach to type,” she says. Though seemingly simple, the task of constantly reworking letter forms brought Anna much joy, and she found it to be totally absorbing.

She spent so much time doing this in fact, that she remembers beginning to see the letters and symbols she was drawing as “characters”. They were taking on personalities of their own, speaking to her through their shapes and forms. One in particular, an ampersand, looked like it was challenging her to a fight, with the two intersecting lines appearing as arms sporting boxing gloves. She recalls being struck by an impulse to create this imagined motion, and she quickly drew a short, rudimentary animation. Before long, this type of impulsive creation had become a mainstay in her practice and Anna told the audience how she began to see the “potential for movement” everywhere. As a result, these days, static letters and words are not things we associate with Anna’s style of type design, which never fails to keep us guessing with its dynamic displays.

Above

Right

Above

Joseph Melhuish on his journey from traditional illustration to VR sculpting

“I studied illustration at Kingston University many years ago and my first love was sketching,” recalls Joseph Melhuish, who was the third speaker of the night. “I’ve always kept lots of sketchbooks, because for me that's the most organic way of creating work.” Retracing his creative journey to the present however, Joseph revealed to the audience that his love for 2D sketching would eventually be superseded by his passion for the three dimensional: “When I discovered I could create 3D models in the same way that you can make a sketch, I started pumping out illustrations using VR.” After much trial and error, this approach is now his biggest selling point. “Recently, animated club posters are what I’ve become known for.”

Displayed on the big screen, it was quickly apparent why. Joseph’s capacity for thinking outside of the box has allowed him to animate posters that are not just bright, bold and eye-catching, but also incredibly thoughtful, featuring text that finds its place within the design in unexpected ways. Among the many posters that he has created for club nights around Europe, it was the final one in particular that Joseph says has garnered a lot of attention: a poster for a night by London-based creative collective Bone Soda. In Joseph’s signature style, it lists the DJs’ names in a truly creative way – tattooed onto an animated tongue that is sticking out of a character’s mouth. This poster, he explains, is emblematic of why VR has become the defining aspect of his practice; it offers ultimate creative freedom, but more importantly, it’s the style of working that he finds “most enjoyable”.

Above

Right

Above

Joy Yamusangie discusses why they nearly quit art to create a jazz club

Joy Yamusangie, the closing speaker at this instalment of Nicer Tuesdays, began by explaining that their practice is not tied to any single pursuit: “Essentially, I’m an illustrator, but I pretty much do anything that I want to.” During lockdown, their creative impulses drew them to art of a totally different kind – jazz music. As a long-time fan of Lisa Simpson’s saxophone skills, Joy decided they would finally pick up a saxophone of their own and, before long, bigger ambitions had taken hold. “I started to create a fictional band through my drawings, and then I began drawing the people who would come to see the band… And then, suddenly, I wanted to quit art and open up a jazz club,” they recall. “I think I was just missing the feeling of going out, but I thought maybe I should ease into this jazz club idea.”

In truly fortuitous timing, Joy told the audience how shortly after these dreams were born, Now Gallery reached out to them about exhibiting their work. They immediately saw the opportunity to create a jazz club, without the pressure of having to do it for real. Instead, it would become the theme of their exhibition Feeling Good, which opened at the gallery in March of this year. Joy took the audience through the process of creating a fictional jazz club within the space, including making the artwork for the walls, sourcing the furniture to go inside it, and hiring an actual jazz band to play on the opening night. They finished by saying that, though they really enjoyed the process, the project made them realise that running such a club wouldn’t be as easy as they initially envisioned, and by the end, they had resolved to “stick to art”.

Above

Right

Above

Event Partner

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing platform for growing businesses. Mailchimp empowers millions of customers around the world to start and grow their businesses with world-class marketing technology, award-winning customer support, and inspiring content. Millions of businesses and individuals – from community organizations to Fortune 100 companies – trust Mailchimp to help them connect with their audience with the right message, at the right time, in the right place.

Event Supporter

MPB

MPB is the world’s largest online platform for visual storytellers to buy, sell and trade in used photo and video kit. MPB makes kit more accessible and affordable, helping to visualise a more sustainable future.

Drinks Sponsor

El Rayo Tequila

El Rayo Tequila is transforming the way you think and drink tequila – one T&T at a time. By partnering with artists and designers, it’s building a lifestyle brand around its tequilas. Tequila & Tonic is a thing now.

Snacks Sponsor

Love Corn

We’re excited to partner with Love Corn the UK’s first crunchy corn brand as our snack sponsor. Its delicious crunchy corn kernels are packed with flavour and made with love. On trend with being low sugar, gluten-free and vegan, it’s the feel good snack so please enjoy!

Further Info

Nicer Tuesdays Online is our monthly event of creative talks. You can find out more here.

Did you know that if you join Extra Nice, It’s Nice That’s new membership programme, you’ll automatically receive a ticket every month for Nicer Tuesdays Online, for the entire year? That’s just one of the many perks that makes Extra Nice so special. To find out more about this and all the other benefits of joining Extra Nice, head over to the dedicated part of our site.

About the Author

It's Nice That

—

This article was written by the It’s Nice That team. To find our editors and writers, please head over to our Contact page.

View more from

Event

Process

Work
Art
...

A new era of pageants: Jack Kenyon photographs Miss Ramsgate

8 days ago

Creative Transformations: At August’s Nicer Tuesdays, we hear about the power of embracing change

Henry J. Kamara reminisces on discovering the guiding force behind his photography

Anna Mills reveals how she developed her trademark style of type design

Joseph Melhuish on his journey from traditional illustration to VR sculpting

Joy Yamusangie discusses why they nearly quit art to create a jazz club

Event Partner

Mailchimp

Event Supporter

MPB

Drinks Sponsor

El Rayo Tequila

Snacks Sponsor

Love Corn

Share Article

Further Info

About the Author

Entries open for this year’s Lovie Awards, celebrating the best of Europe’s digital creativity

Jean Jullien on countering negative news in his humorous and observant work

Porto Rocha answers to the fandoms only in visual identity for Netflix

Quil Lemons, Shane Fu and Khyati Trehan: Tickets now available for February’s Nicer Tuesdays in New York!

Adobe MAX London live stream will let you tune into the action from wherever you are

Sasha Elage doesn’t edit his technicolour portraits of horses, he “paints with light”

Artist Daria Chernyshova lays out extremely organised works on paper

A new era of pageants: Jack Kenyon photographs Miss Ramsgate

It's Nice That Newsletters