Bella Feldman
It took me years to understand my own work, yet I still feel like one of the blind men in the fable describing what an elephant looks like. Viewers see things in my work that I myself haven’t seen yet. I will never know the whole.
Art, or at least my art, is part intellect, part problem-solving, and part the expression of my subconscious. I do know my work is driven by my angst about the state of the world as well as the love-hate relationship I have with machines. It includes an edgy sense of the world being out of whack.
Though the forms and materials I use have often changed, the above-mentioned aspects can be found throughout. I produce anxious objects, yet humor laces through my work because, like my ghetto forebears, I need to laugh at the dark.
I balanced my day job with personal creative work, like collage and woodblock printing, which garnered attention from a few indie publishers. Eventually, I got offers from more established magazines, so I decided to design for Showcase on a freelance basis. This allowed me to work on other cool projects, from emerging brands to current events.
My creative approach—no matter the medium—is to find points of tension behind the idea I’ve been assigned or am interested in. I do several iterations on each point and usually end up refining the one I find most controversial.
For me, controversy isn’t about instigation, but rather, a way to arrest your audience. It’s a way to plant a little bit of desire in their hearts; a yearning to turn the page and learn more about your idea. Ultimately, it’s about creating memorable images.