Q&A with Artist Blane Asrat
Blane Asrat is an artist of Ethiopian descent, raised in Texas and moved to San Francisco to attend college, where she says the sense of community creates an enclave in the city she experiences viscerally. She sells incredible pieces of art for sale at https://www.artblane.store/ and continues to impress us with the depth and breadth of her artwork. We were so thankful to have been able to partner with her for our Little Free Antiracist Libraries. Her first library is exhibited at the Martinez Boys and Girls Club.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Name: Blane Asrat
Location: Treasure Island
Website: www.artblane.work
Instagram: @art_blane
Recently Read Favorite Book: Virgin Soil-Ivan Turgenev
“I believe everything is political whether we acknowledge it or not. I try to paint with the intention of being emotionally available and honest. ”
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got started as an artist?
I have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. I went to school for Product Design, but realised that I was really meant to be an illustrator. I’m simply a person that has to create art to live.
Q: What drew you to this project with Rise Up Against Racism?
I worked with The Art of It All Bay Area to auction some artwork, and they connected me to Rise Up Against Racism. The project brief sounded like a lot of fun, since it combined literature and art, two of my favourite subjects. And the best part, giving kids of color an opportunity to find literature written by people who look like them!
Q: How do you approach the connection between art and activism?
I believe everything is political whether we acknowledge it or not. I try to paint with the intention of being emotionally available and honest. Sometimes this means something as blatant as the intersection of substance abuse and class. Other times it’s understated; portraits exploring softness and creativity of black people. I believe making art and expressing oneself is already a form of survival and activism.
Q: Where do you find inspiration?
Every one of my paintings comes from a feeling. I try to tell the story of where I felt it in my body, how it looked in my eyes, what it did in my hands, etc. The result is a lot of portraits, hands, and lights. In terms of what inspires my craft; I look at other artists' work for hours every day and try to snatch as much as I can about composition, lighting, and color theory.
Q: What was your process with this project? What were you inspired by?
I looked at a lot of Fuji and Basf VHS sleeve designs for the colors. I’m a big fan of primary colors and high contrast and that era of design is a perfect example. I started doing sketches of people reading and moving with books. I wanted something a little surreal, that didn’t focus on the features of the actual readers. I wanted to amplify the feeling of communicating through the books themselves, and getting lost in the magic of the stories. Hopefully the viewer will feel some sense of nostalgia and warmth, remembering the feeling of getting stuck into a story that changes the shape of your thoughts in new, exciting ways.
