People know you as SDL…How did you come by this name?
It’s a secret.
Your art is characterized by powerful and unconventional imagery. What story or overall message are you trying convey through your artistry?
Self discovery, awareness & growth.
The recollection of lost memories & emotion in our descent through time.
Your artwork is quite known for its dark, melancholic and moody vibe, what draws you to this aesthetic?
Contrary to the vibes, i’m a pretty happy person, it’s not always roses but i stay grateful.
I express through my artwork most honestly, so I guess sometimes that could come off as melancholic. Life is melancholic, the paleness of the morning skies, rainfall, sunset – The melancholy can be beautiful.
How do you come up with the poetic and introspective narratives that you attach to your artworks? Do you create them before you begin or after the work is done?
It always starts with a narrative. I honestly can’t give a step-by-step process on how this comes about but it happens everyday. I write down an idea. Mostly they’re questions, sometimes my ill-informed answers. Then I can picture an image then the next step is communicating this image through my own language. This happens almost automatically, never really had to constrain the process. Something that I find helps is music, that and studying other artworks and artists, irrespective of the medium. Currently, it’s these very cool wildlife videos I come across on Instagram, I’ve built a whole archive of them now, so many animals we haven’t heard of. About a month ago it was Werner Herzog documentaries.
How do you know when an artwork is finished?
I don’t. It never really is.
SDL