“Sorry I’m in a Starbucks!”

Aimie Atkinson laughs as we start the call. She is on her way to an editorial shoot for one of her music videos – iconic. Aimie is casually sipping on a hazelnut iced latte, which immediately makes me regret all my life choices of not also sipping on a caffeinated iced beverage myself.

Aimie Atkinson is a singer, songwriter and actress who is especially known for her role as Katherine Howard in the musical SIX.

Words By Lilly Gentner

‘I believe that what I’m trying to create is way bigger than me as an individual. It’s a movement for female empowerment. There are references within it about my own relationship with my body, but it very much is about other women telling their own stories.’

Sophie Tea Art

“As a Black, curvy woman with a big voice, you knew your place,” she tells Original Magazine. “I did those roles, and I did them well, but I always felt like there was more for me. What if I went against type? What if I did what I wanted, instead of what people expected?”

— Marisha Wallace

Ever the black sheep of the music industry, this divisive genre has spent decades defining itself by what it isn’t: anti-establishment, anti-commercial, and anti-fascist. But what does it take for a band to embody the spirit of punk in the 21st century?

Interview By: Anya Duncan

“…I think I’m going into my rockstar era now. It’s not a rap show anymore – sometimes in the past I would be singing with rap choreo and it just didn’t make any sense. I think that was just based on my early career when I was doing See Nobody and Nice to Meet Ya. They’re all sort of melodic rap, but now that I’ve transitioned into dance, pop, and garage, it’s changed. It’s a development; I’ve started wearing flares…”

“A lot of people assume that I sit in silence when I do my make up..how psychotic do you think I am?! just sitting there with my tiny little brushes…🤣”

Interview by Fae Reid

“I decided to set up Lover the very next day because I loved the industry. It was a risk, but it’s one of the best decisions I've ever made. Initially, I worked with friends in the entertainment industry who needed management, from club nights to meme pages. Over time, I realised there was a gap in the market for management specializing in the sex industry, I naturally gravitated towards this space because it's where my interest lies…”

- Helena Whittingham

"The PIX Project — from a distance — is a straightforward ritual. Seasoned New York-based photographer Pete Voelker summarises his creation in seven words on SPOTZ’s website “I believe images carry a kind of visual syntax that photographers instinctively understand, almost like a shared vocabulary that goes beyond words..."

A short video by artists Lilia Li-Mi-Yan and Katherina Sadovsky is a sad, poetic metaphor for what is happening in the world today.

The plot and melody of an Armenian lullaby are taken as a starting point, where a mother tries to calm her son by offering to make a symbolic choice of a destiny bird…

“No one leaves home without being wounded” was the impetus for the Geneva-born artist Shahryar Nashat’s latest exhibition, Streams of Spleen. Transforming a fist-sized organ, biologically constructed to fight harmful bacteria, into an alliterative title that comments upon the assimilated and pre-established prestige of art, is remarkable.

Nashat’s art lacks assertiveness: it does not judge nor does it attempt to provide interpretations on our predisposed perceptions..."

As the age old saying goes, 'a man's home is his castle,'

but in our collaborative editorial series crafted exclusively by a team of talented women, we find it imperative to redefine this notion.

The Vessel is a poetic exploration of the experience of living and human connection with nature. It is something beyond simple knowing, creating its bonds through our senses, emotions and compassion.

“…“I believe standing in your truth is the best gift you can leave behind, because it’s the most purest priceless element of who you are. It doesn’t seek for you to be anything other than unapologetically raw…”

— Grace Blessing

“Shot on DSLR: the content focuses on Clahane Beach, which is a rockshore close to the Cliffs of Moher. Most of the photos were taken in Spring, but they still portray the residual cold colour palettes of the previous months…”

“As a gay man born and raised in a small Russian town in Siberia I always was under pressure of heteronormativity, toxic masculinity and so on…”

“This work focuses on my fascination with romanticising human encounters by staging fictitious scenarios and capturing the immaterial nostalgic touch and impermanent human presence in the forms of dancing and fleeting golden light on wrinkled skin…”

Most of your favourite performers first found their feet through fringe - a term for off-piste spaces and places where new and established artists can test their work to friendly audiences - on a budget.

“Find your community,  they are your audience. 

Befriend other artists and creatives. I always say if you like what somebody does, tell them. Look at at as many visual books as possible. See as many exhibitions as possible. Make lots of art but carefully choose what you release out into the weld…”

“If you think about it, as a photographer, you enter a room inside a device in which only you can exist...”

Perhaps one of the harshest thoughts to stomach is that sometimes grief is needed to realise this. It taught me one of the many complex, intricate shapes and forms that love resides within, only to remember that my friend would never know what I learnt.

For me, the  artwork is more than just a sketch, its the persons reaction when I give them the drawing and the connection we are able to create.

This is the unique identity of fuze, each performer brought not just their art with them but themselves and openly shared it with one another and the audience. We were presented with a nebula of artists really representing the idea of community.

Through nudism I am able to address vulnerability, fragility as well as the beauty of the human body. Additionally, nudism in my work provides an aspect of humor which I believe is important to “digest” the rather intense and dark topics I choose.

It was through inviting them into my everyday, that I could allow these individual parts to weave together the delicate threads of my life that felt frayed and entangled, conjuring up a tapestry...

‘My grandfather was hospitalized in November of 2019, and in an attempt to bring a bit of home into his then bleached, sterile hospital room, my Grandmother brought bright-red poinsettias to place in the corner — a holiday tradition.

She placed the bouquet on the desk opposite his cot; always facing him, commanding and ever-present…’

By Zoe Montgomery

‘…Is as a study, was born out of an acute wanderlust, triggered by the static from COVID restrictions. Daydreaming of lush countryside, traversing together through Google Maps on Zoom got us intrigued about what travel really means. This nagging question of “What constitutes a travel experience?”…’

By Aarushi and Arunima

“…is a 23 year old, London based illustrator. His work is a maximalist and indulgent hyper-feminine approach to fashion and portraiture illustration, with a focus on queer culture and inclusivity…”

“…Inspiration is really about keeping our eyes and minds open to all the possibilities that surround us…”

Amsterdam Art is delighted to announce the 12th edition of Amsterdam Art Week ( 29 May to 2 June 2024) and share the full programme and reveal the participating galleries and partner projects.

To gain deeper insight into the intricate history of Shepherd’s Bush Market and its enduring relationship with the fabric and textiles industry, I had the privilege of speaking with Steph Dye, the Head of Marketing and Communication.

Steph Dye: I think it’s mainly the diversity of the market. Fabrics and textiles - whether you choose them or wear them - play a significant role in how you want to be perceived by others. They are one of the best ways to showcase your culture and identity.

A believer in the power of interdisciplinary creativity, Sir Ben Okri spoke to the magazine about the importance of collaboration in the fight for our planet:

“These are times when we need the full collaborative spirit of humanity to overcome the massive climate challenge ahead of us. Art, science, and poetry have great roles to play. It’s about choice. Picking the right words.”

Of all the creative industries, fine art holds the reputation for being the most difficult to break into. When did the canvas become a brick wall? When did oil paints first get used to ward off independent and working-class talent? In conversation with Sophie Tea Art, Original Magazine wants to blend the rigid colours of the art world in the hopes of discovering a new favourite shade