Welcome back to the Student Spotlight, where each week we’ll be interviewing an LAU student to find out more about you and your practice! This week the spotlight is on level 4 Graphic Design student, Slessor Muza who tells us how growing up with a stutter inspires their creative practise.
Students’ Union: Hey Slessor, thanks for joining us. Can you explain who and what inspires you?
Slessor Muza: I find most of my inspiration comes from personal experiences; from being a black creative and having a stutter or speech impediment. Stylistically, I normally sway towards older graphics from the 80's, 90's and 00's and merge them together within my work.
Students’ Union: How unique and personal. What message do you want your work to convey, if any?
Slessor Muza: I want my work to represent a positive portrayal of black people in the creative arts because it was something I did not see when I was growing up. This is the same for speech impediments. I have only known people in my family who have speech impediments, so this became an issue for me when I was younger because I thought it was unnatural and hindering. I want to portray speech impediments in a fun and informative way that allows us to rethink how we approach communication disorders.
Students’ Union: That's amazing, so from this personal experience what sparked your interest in pursuing art as a discipline? Can you pinpoint a specific moment or was this something that grew into a passion?
Slessor Muza: In my early years I had an obsession with watching art shows like Mister Maker and Bob Ross but also cartoons, which turned into me experimenting with different mediums and styles as I got older. The influence from the cartoons stuck with me as I started illustrating characters, but I eventually got more interested in fine art and how I could combine the traditional with the contemporary. Eventually I figured out I could further carry on with this combination digitally, so now I'm hooked on Graphic Design! It was the only route for me and it makes me so happy knowing that I was always going to be on this creative journey.
Students' Union: Since you obviously derive your art from so many different influences, you must be into music too, what do you listen to whilst working?
Slessor Muza: I listen to Zim Dancehall, K-Pop, J-Metal, Classical, R&B, and anything else you can think of. As long as it sounds good, it will motivate me!
Students' Union: Speaking of motivation, do you find the art world to be an open and accommodating one?
Slessor Muza: Depending on the discipline you're in it can vary, progress can and will always be made but it is definitely easier to feel comfortable doing what you love nowadays!
If you want to see more of Slessor's work, you can follow them on Instagram at @slessor.art and make sure to follow @LeedsArtsACS to stay up to date with what they have in store this year!
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