Today is Thursday the 19th of April, the hottest day of the year so far (its damn hot) and me and Evie have met up to talk about her work, brand and prospects for the future…
Q- What is your name, age and where are you based?
A- My name is Evie Chaplin, I’m 16 and I’m based in a little village in the middle of nowhere in Norfolk. Its tiny and Rubbish.
Q- Tell us what your creative practice/ art work is about?
A- I do a lot of visual arts ranging from photographic to print making and fashion, a lot of it is to do with the contemporary world and its effects on society and different groups of people. I focus a lot on the skating community and contemporary fashion and how these groups can feel really closed and regressive when your in a conservative place like Norfolk. Lots of my work comes from myself feeling creatively restrained because I live here, I also like creating aggressive and slightly vulgar clothing, mostly to get reactions from people.
Q-What are the main themes/ subjects you explore in your work?
A- I do lots of self exploration work, I often feel like a big fish in a small pond– and I think a lot of people feel like that who are from small communities-like you’re trapped inside yourself and need to grow. Im also starting my own brand which I want to explore a lot more- Ive named it ‘Dead Heading’ which is the process of cutting dead parts off flowers so they can grow again, so its to do with cutting of the toxic parts of your own life so you can grow again- because everyone has certain people or feeling that hold them down and I think it would help society if everyone was a “Dead header” so that we can all grow and be ourself freely.
Q-Who are your inspirations?
A- The Bratz Dolls! (BRATZ DOLLS) I think their fashion is great, I think what they stand for is brilliant! They came in at a time when Barbie was massive and she was an empowering image for feminism showing how women could do anything they wanted to, but Bratz came along and were so ahead of their time! They had a ‘fuck everyone, we can do what we want to‘ message about them and even the word Brat has negative connotations but they reclaimed it to be something so cool and empowering. Women can do what they want, and they can also do nothing which is fine too.
I also love an Artist call GIRLI, ( GIRLI , Feel OK MV) she dresses in all pink to represent female stereotypes but she’s so aggressive and has a great ‘fuck you’ attitude. Her music talks about the issues of being a women in the music industry and she’s a big role model for me and and other young girls. I like both male and female artists, I used to only listen to boys but have recently found lots of female artists I like and I think that reflective of a new age of women in music.
Q- What is individualism to you?
A- Its a very big part of my life, I love who I am and I think its brilliant to stand out but its also okay if you don’t want to stand out. People should do whatever makes them happy. You do you, and ill support that.
Q- Where can you see yourself in 5 years time?
A- Five years, so ill be 21… Hopefully in London, I think thats where I need to be if I want to pursue things and have more opportunities, hopefully my brand will kick off and ill be able to explore lots of things. Its a great umbrella for me to be able to explore anything, fashion, magazines, photography its a header for all of that. Ive been thinking about what I want to do for so long and couldn’t find anything so thought id start something self.
To see more of Evie’s work check out her Instagram accounts and Website:
@dead.headd @deadheadinguk http://www.echapbusiness.wixsite.com/deadheading
The Orange Peel 