~ Photo Cafe' ~ Photographers - Episode #39!
~ Chat Transcript ~
1st of July, 2023
"20 Questions to.. Flo Nova!"
H.12:00 PM SLT
[The following Episode #40 will be on:
15th of July 2023]
[12:07] Duraya: Everyone seated and comfortable?
[12:07] Duraya: Then Kika, will you please introduce our guest?
[12:08] Kika Yongho: Hello Photographers!
Today for our episode #39 we are gonna have a live interview with a “young talent”:
Flo Nova (flo0owl Resident)[12:08] Kika Yongho: As per usual, I will start introducing the artist, and then we are gonna have 7 “house questions” (not 10 anymore, not to steal too much time for the next section)! To follow, you will be free to unleash your curiosity and you can reserve your turn to ask your own questions to Flo!
[12:08] Kika Yongho: I will start mentioning that Flo had her latest works first expo this year in January at Bebu Gallery, and here you can read also a previous great interview made by
where she was introducing herself and her selected works.
[12:09] Kika Yongho: While you go through the interview, let me give you some more visuals from the artist herself. She’s got not one but two Flickr accounts:
and “the other side” of Flo:
[12:09] Kika Yongho: And now a few lines with Flo’s bio, by the author herself:
[12:10] Kika Yongho: “My work is a visual diary of my virtual experience. The language is in colour shifts and layering with the figurative, the literal and the abstract all in collision. I try to maintain a sense of the analogue in all of my pieces, I really love inserting some tactile imperfection into the digital space where things can often feel perfect and hyper refined. Like all artists my work draws on emotion and experience, it’s a practice of self exploration.”
[12:10] Kika Yongho: “My work is also work on the self. It’s the communication of my feelings, but abstracted which makes it open to interpretation by those I share it with (the flickr folk). In this way I feel I create a breadth of connection between myself and the people who follow my work which is a very important aspect for me. In the end I treasure connection and if my piece accesses someone out there on a deeper level then I am creating meaningful work.”
[12:11] Duraya: Thank you Flo for being with us today!
[12:11] Flo Nova (flo0owl): thanks for inviting me
[12:12] Duraya: We will first bombard you with seven house-question.
[12:12] Duraya: Subsequently I will open the floor for the questions and comments from the audience which is YOU ALL!
[12:13] Duraya: and to make it even more exciting I pass you an info I got from Kika right now! We’re live on youtube
[12:13] Flo Nova (flo0owl): omg that’s so cool
[12:13] Kika Yongho: Thank you Emily!
[12:14] Duraya: Here we go!
[12:14] Duraya: 1. Who are you? Define yourself in 3 words or a motto.
[12:15] Flo Nova (flo0owl): this was a great question to answer, I am a grapefruit masquerading as an orange.
[12:16] Flo Nova (flo0owl): as close to the truth as I can get
[12:16] Duraya quickly looks up and checks the color, so here comes the next:
[12:17] Duraya: 2. What motivates you to create?
[12:17] Flo Nova (flo0owl): I think it must be the endless cycle of human emotions. I have to communicate what’s happening in my brain in some way and doing it visually gives me a sense of relief and an opportunity to celebrate the ride.
[12:18] Karma Weymann: to share a commonality with others and to make people not so alone
[12:18] Duraya: well put indeed, let’s jump to:
[12:18] Duraya: 3. Does art help you in other areas of your life?
[12:19] Flo Nova (flo0owl): Ah yes, it does… without the art outlet I would be so sad. It helps in all areas… I live my life in art and without it I couldn’t cope.
[12:19] Duraya: 4. What skills do you need for your work?
[12:20] Flo Nova (flo0owl): Imagination mostly. I mean yes…. technical skills too. I begun a career in graphic design recently and since then my work has taken on a new dimension and progressed in a way I love. My main skill however remains the imagination and ability to tap into my emotions very deeply. I think any artist would say something similar.
[12:21] Duraya: yes, most artists mention emotion as important part of their work
[12:22] Duraya: 5. Show us your favourite photo of someone else, and tell us why is it so.
[12:22] Flo Nova (flo0owl): yay the best bit
[12:22] Flo Nova (flo0owl): Well I have followed her for a long time and we finally collided last year and became besties thanks to our mutual friend, Savi.
Difficult Conundrum’s work is exquisite… her pieces evoke a sense of place within memory and immense emotion, I am always transported by her works.
I would say every single one of her pieces are my favorite, but having to choose I will give you this one:
[12:23] Flo Nova (flo0owl): You can see how much I have drawn from Diff’s practice just in this one image – the disturbance, the texture, the distortion… all of these elements are crucial to my own work and I just love how she wields them in such a unique way.
[12:25] Duraya: so only two questions left from my side
[12:25] Duraya: 6. How do you create a photo? Tell us about your creative process.
[12:25] Flo Nova (flo0owl): The process chops and changes but I try abstract the image as much as possible without taking away the essence of the original shot. Most of the time I’m using colour filters and overlays to achieve the feeling I am after
[12:26] Flo Nova (flo0owl): This recent piece was just a series of layers that I moved around until I frame revealed itself and the green felt like it filled the space with emotion rather than just being a filler for emptiness.
[12:26] Duraya: great and last but not least:
[12:27] Duraya: 7. Show us your favorite photo you took, and tell us why is it so.
[12:28] Flo Nova (flo0owl): This is very hard! Mostly because I feel all my work can be improved, but also because I love all my works individually for what they mean. I will go with this one
[12:28] Flo Nova (flo0owl): I had just come back from a Berthe Morisot exhibition and I was so taken with her use of colour, I came home and made this piece immediately. I felt so free when I was making it and that feeling doesn’t always come when I create… sometimes there is just something inexplicable and special present when you’re making the art and this was one of those moments.
[12:29] Duraya: precious moments indeed
[12:29] Duraya claps
[12:29] Flo Nova (flo0owl): Lovely questions Duraya and Kika
[12:29] Duraya: Thank you for your interesting, elaborated and well reflected answers, it’s a pleasure to listen to you.
[12:30] Duraya: Now I am sure some of you all are already itching to comment or ask their own questions.
[12:31] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): c/q
[12:31] Duraya: vic you are killing my tracker, place your comment/question NOW!
[12:32] Savi (saveria.rossini): c
[12:33] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): there is such a fluidity to your work and beautiful movement, really such a joy to hear you today – I was curious… it’s a common practice in art to have “happy accidents” or chance moments — how much of your process is trial and error or stumbled upon techniques vs. coordinated methods or intentional approaches? done
[12:34] Flo Nova (flo0owl): Thank you Vic such a kind comment. I’d say about 90% is trial and error… there is a faint whisper of intention in there
[12:34] Flo Nova (flo0owl): my best works have been made in flow, emotion guides it. Done
[12:35] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): lovely, thank you!
[12:35] Duraya: let’s see, Ava has a question, Ava please!
[12:39] A. (ava.darkheart): So, since Vic made the perfect question, i will just mention one thing I learn today about Holga camera and that some photographers use for “happy accidents” and failure of this tool, and I see similar effect on your pictures, as i can feel some pop-culture style too.. Is this a part of your influence in mind? And if I may ask, but you can not answer ofc, but i still think our culture and experience feeds creativity, I would love know where you come from. Done
[12:40] Flo Nova (flo0owl): awesome question, I’ll tackle it in halves, here’s the first bit:
[12:42] Flo Nova (flo0owl): I definitely try to achieve that feeling of “happy accidents” and I like the look of a warped lenses… something like a light leak or some dust. I am not familiar with the Holga camera… but I’m going to look that up. I am sure it resonates. Analogue photography is a huge inspiration.
[12:44] Flo Nova (flo0owl): I like that you have asked where I am from, a huge part of my identity is my feeling of not belonging anywhere. I was born in America, I have Mexican and Irish roots and I live in the UK… I think my art does kind of communicate that feeling of multi…ness… I guess? Done
[12:47] Duraya: vic, you are next – shoot!
[12:47] Ⴆҽҽ (filipa.emor): Q
[12:48] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): it’s interesting that you mentioned you don’t feel like you belong anywhere.. because as a viewer, using a gaussian blur of certain effects, we are unable to grasp or attach ourselves into the piece which sort of emphasizes this distance that you perhaps feel.. it’s like you’re almost able to place yourself in space, but it’s out of reach…
[12:49] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): it’s like you’re creating this world where you can exist in peace and contentment without this attachment
[12:50] Flo Nova (flo0owl): Vic has Flo goggles
[12:50] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): I think SL is a beautiful sphere to express that since it’s the same environment, we are all creating our own little spheres to exist and be and express, I can go all day but done
[12:51] Flo Nova (flo0owl): we will discuss that later but yes I think you’re onto something with the blur and the distance, I love your perspective.
[12:52] Duraya: hey hey hey, now you made us curious, where will you discuss later?
[12:52] Flo Nova (flo0owl): I wanna dive into Vic’s art school experience…DEEPLY
[12:52] Duraya: back to our discussion
[12:52] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): mostly psuedo cerebral convos honestly, but it did teach me to seek deeper below the surface
[12:52] Flo Nova (flo0owl): that’s a reference to music.
[12:53] ᴠɪᴄ (victoria.worbridge): all art is connected
[12:53] Duraya: amen 🙂 bee has a question
[12:54] Ⴆҽҽ (filipa.emor): Flo, you talk about expressing your emotions into your pictures and thats something we can feel when we see them. If I ask you to pick 3 feelings/emotions that are more present in your work, what would they be? Done.
[12:55] Flo Nova (flo0owl): it changes with each picture but maybe the most prevalent emotions are…. melancholy, longing and loneliness jesus I sound so sad
[12:56] Flo Nova (flo0owl): but transmuting pain into art is so fulfilling. Done
[12:56] Duraya: they are strong emotions, good to express them
[12:58] Duraya: there is no one left on my tracker, but let me ask one last question
[12:58] Duraya: Often when we interview people they don’t wish to be addressed as artists. That seems different for you, why is that so?
[12:58] Flo Nova (flo0owl): I have been raised in the arts, I think the term artist has never felt inappropriate, my family are creative folk and I think an art education also helps
[12:59] Flo Nova (flo0owl): but I am filled with self doubt every day… so the title feels like a mask at times but yeah I suppose it’s that. Done
[13:00] Duraya: thank you, very interesting view
[13:00] Flo Nova (flo0owl): thank you, this was fun!
[13:00] Duraya: it really was and I am glad we got so many interesting questions
[13:01] A. (ava.darkheart): thanks for sharing with us Flo
[13:01] Duraya: and I am really happy about your very open and matter of fact way you answered and let us ‘see’ a bit of you.
[13:02] Duraya: thank you for being with us!
[13:02] Flo Nova (flo0owl): I think artists are always overjoyed when people inquire, it’s nice to be seen. So thank you
[13:02] Kika Yongho applauds !!
[13:03] Duraya: thank you Kika for finding Flo
[13:03] Flo Nova (flo0owl): thanks for coming everyone!
[13:03] Kika Yongho: Other than youtube your interview will be available on the website next week!
[13:03] Duraya: Thanks for this very interesting discussion, our next episode will be in a fortnight on July 15th.
Hope to see you all there!
