Thanks to Twitter, I found a Jill of creative trades! Jamilla Okubo, a D.C. native, left her city to study her crafts in the Mecca of creativity - NYC. At 19, she is a self proclaimed artist, designer, breakdancer, and aspiring textile designer. Her childhood in D.C. exposed her to mural painting, which was just the beginning for her artistic imagination. Her work is fun, comes in many shapes and sizes, and is always authentic to her integrated design vision. So everyone meet Miss Okubo, an artist that must be added to one's collection.
JO:Creativity to me means exploring what is out there in the world and taking it in. Expanding your horizons and delving into creating your own interpretations I suppose. Fashion, nature, hip-hop, Afrocentric art, jazz, hip-hop, learning about other cultures, and just the rich history and culture of my roots inspire me. But I think most importantly, I have always said that I want to remind my people of how beautiful and powerful our culture is and to never forget that. Because to be honest I feel as though I am still going through that journey of learning about my history on my own. I am always deeply touched when I read about my history which is usually what really inspires me. Especially on tumblr when I see photos from the 1920s through the late '80s, and read about these African-American role models, musicians, activists, artists that I didn't really learn about during my younger days, I'm fascinated. Other artists for sure inspire me and I really look up to examples such as Mickalene Thomas and DECOY. I hope to be up there with them someday. Most of all, I think my mother also really inspires me because she is my (number) #1 supporter and just having support from her pushing me to do what I love inspires me to continue.
HH: You are a creative jack of all trades (artist, designer, break-dancer, and aspiring textile designer). Do you think all of your talents and interests are translated through your personal style? How so?
JO:Yes, haha! In a odd way though. I LOVE prints, patterns, and bold colors but as a dancer and artist I love wearing comfortable clothing. I try to wear fancy clothing sometimes but sometimes it's not even worth it because I end up painting in my clothes or dancing in my new shoes. I tend to wear my dancing gear which is usually a band t-shirt, sweatpants, and a pull-over sweater. I think as an artist who loves to mix african print fabric into my paintings I love wearing african print. And since I recently started making clothing I started with designing my main obsession: button-up shirts. So, I definitely think my talents and interests heavily translate through my style. Sometimes I wish I could put every painting that I love on fabric and rock it in a outfit which is what I am starting to experiment with my paintings.
HH: What interests you about textile design ?
JO:I love repetitive designs especially of geometric shapes and color. I just find patterns so indulging. I love colors, lines, organic shapes, random objects that are made into a pattern. And I am really interested in natural dyeing and working with knits which I have never really done before. I just really want to throw print and patterns every where. I want to mix designing textiles with my paintings and of course my designs. I would love to design patterns for furniture, wallpaper, clothing, appliances for the home, cars, pretty much anything because I am obsessed with patterns.
HH: You grew up in D.C. and worked on multiple murals with a few art communities. What did you take away from the experience? What did it teach you about art and creating murals ?
JO:Yes indeed! Just the idea of "beautifying" the city on legal terms I suppose. I loved the experience of painting on walls and climbing high ladders to paint. And I really enjoyed how some murals that I worked on brought communities together or just made that area seem a little brighter. What I took from the experience of working on murals is meeting other amazing artists, learning new painting techniques, and just having fun. One thing that I learned from working on various murals is that it takes awhile to come up with a design for the mural as well as finding walls to legally paint. One of the organizations that I was apart of called Words Beats & Life (Cory Stowers) started this Murals DC project which I think was a brilliant idea because it shed positive light on graffiti and it was so much fun seeing and working on murals that were being produced all over the city.
HH:How would you describe your signature technique when it comes to your artwork? What is your favorite platform to create on?
JO:My signature technique when it comes to painting is collaging African print fabric into my paintings and having fun with creating collages in general. My favorite platform to create on is acrylic on canvas at the moment. I would like to try painting on wood panels but I haven't had time to explore lately.
JO:I created that series the summer of 2011 after I had created my first series of painting for my AP Studio Art class which consisted of African prints, women, and animal headed figures. At the time that I created those paintings I was really into the idea of creating juxtapositions and identifying African-Americans as heroes. What inspired me to create the series of African American Heroes was the first juxtaposing painting that I created The African-American Gothic. And it's funny how I came up with that painting. I was sitting in my AP Studio Art class my senior year looking through the schools art textbook because I was looking for inspiration for another painting to create for my first series and I came across the American Gothic painting and thought it would be so interesting and almost controversial to create the American Gothic as an African-American couple.
HH: At what age did you start break dancing ? Have you ever battled?
JO:I started breaking in 10th grade I think after I started learning graffiti at this organization called Words Beats & Life. At the organization the B-boys and graffiti writers would have their sessions in the same room and I started doing graffiti with all the guys but the loud music from the b-boys would be playing which caught my attention and my friend Krisha was the only girl over there practicing and I would watch every once in awhile. The one day she asked me to join her and that's how it started. Then we became a two-person crew called Double Down Kweens and we battled a few times. But I haven't practiced lately because I have been so caught up with school. But from time to time I go to B-boy jams because they are so fun and I love the vibe of passionate dancers. And yes, I've battled with Krisha like three times, haha. You can look the videos up on youtube. (I'm not that great).
JO:I would have to say do what you love and don't be lazy about it. If you have an idea pursue it! And practice your craft.
HH: Can we shop your art / designs ? It so where can readers follow you?
JO:Tumblr: Lafuerzanegro.tumblr.com
Blog: Lafuerzanegroinspiration.tumblr.com
My art portfolio site: Cargocollective.com/jamillaokubo art
Society6.com/jamillaokubo is where I sell prints, laptop cases, iphone cases, hoodies, t-shirts of my Ajuma painting and my African American Gothic painting.Interested in purchasing a piece? jamilla_okubo@yahoo.com
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