Littman + White: Artist Series
Littman + White: Artist Series is an ongoing series exploring artists around the Greater Portland area that looks to see the varying creatives and mediums they use to express themselves. This project looks to expose the audience to how artists in the Portland community pursue creativity during the COVID epidemic and the varying mediums of art they use. Because contemporary art often blurs the conventional lines of what is perceived to be the normal standard of art, contemporary art can be anything from photography and tattooing to knitwork and stained glass art.
Kylee Kaihūlalilali Iku Kubojiri
Kylee Kaihūlalilali Iku Kubojiri (she/her) is a Filipina, Japanese, Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, and multi-ethnic woman. Amongst her ethnic identities, she strongly identifies as Filipina, Japanese, and Kanaka Maoli. She was born in 2000 in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, and grew up swimming at the beaches in Keaukaha and Puna. Having built a relationship with the ocean over her lifetime, the waters are often the center of what she creates. Inspired by nature, color, identity, experiences, memories, and relationships, her acrylic paintings show a glimpse into her life and what she finds beautiful or ugly. Diversity and inclusivity are important to her. She creates for the artists and art-viewers who are not represented in the art world. Kylee’s eyes were opened to artmaking at her second elementary school where she was introduced to color pastels, mixed-media, and many other mediums and materials. Much like her art teachers did for her, Kylee hopes to foster artmaking and a passion for the arts of young and young-at-heart artists. Kylee is currently attaining her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art Practice from Portland State University and will be graduating in June 2022.
“I just had fun with it and just made things the way I felt I wanted them to look like and that's really freeing.”
Cole Landers
This interview is showcasing the talent and artistry of Portland photographer Cole Landers (he/him), with the acquisition of his art pieces from when he first started shooting photography to more recent shoots. Landers has stated that his photography is a reflection of who he is and that each one is a reflection of who he is as a person. For such a young artist, Lander’s photography has a way of transporting viewers to personal moments, captured through his lens of surreal instants with the use of distorting images, shutter dragging, and use of photoshop on film to create unique images of creative portraiture, urban landscape, and street photography.
“When I first started shooting film, I did it for the aesthetic, I really liked the look of frame and I liked the way film images turned out. And then after a while, after I really started going through rolls every single day or a pack of film every single day I realized that’s there is a different connection with film photos than there is digital photos. The experience of shooting film, it slows you down and it makes you think about what your actually taking photos of. For me, I have an emotional connection with all the film photos I ever taken just because the experience is a lot different.”
Shayla Naswood
This interview is showcasing the talent and artistry of Shayla Naswood (she/her) a Diné photographer from Tuba City, Arizona located on the Navajo Nation. She is a portrait photographer who has engaging, quirky and iconic photographic portraits of her friends and family. Her style is characterized as candid, editorial, and cinematic. Some of her recent work looks at the intersection of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis which disproportionately affects Indigenous women in North America.
“What I like for my photography to say is the beauty that I see in like the people I photograph…I just would like to show everyone what I can see and what I am seeing. Especially for my friends and family who live back in Arizona and you know just kind of give them a little viewing into what my day-to-day life.”
Isabeau Waia’u Walker
This interview in collaboration with the PSU Vanguard features the talent and artistry of local multidisciplinary artist, Isabeau Waia’u Walker. Originally raised on the islands of Hawaii, Isabeau reflects on her upbringing, her community, and her culture, that is of being a Hawaiian native, in her exhibition titled ‘Front Yard Parking & Real Clean’.