10 Questions with Haley King

Haley King, also known by their artist name GRVNGE LESTAT, is a Chicago-based LGBTQ+ mixed media artist who primarily uses illustrative methods to construct their body of work. They combine that with digitally manipulating their own photography to achieve an effort to create their artistic world, which houses themes of hauntingly provoking atmospheres.

@grvnge.lestat

ARTIST STATEMENT

The art that Haley creates is known to be deeply atmospheric. Each piece’s goal is to create a sense of off-putting warmth and eerie comfort in the viewer. Inspired and influenced by aesthetics of liminal spaces and analog horror created by their artistic peers, Haley’s work zeros in on mundane daily settings that are ignored by most and blends that with the beauty of hollow spaces filled with out of place visuals.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell our readers a little bit about you. Who are you, and how did you start experimenting with images?

My name is Haley King; I go by the artist name GRVNGE LESTAT. I’m a queer nonbinary Chicago-based artist. I first got into my style of art by finding enjoyment in photography/photoshop. I’ve always loved illustrating. Themes of alternative, punk, and counter-culture movements play a heavy inspiration that found itself latched into my drawings.

What is your personal aim as an artist?

To make art for the rest of my life. Honestly, it’s all I ever want to do. I want to create. Be creative and show it to the world.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

The process of making any of my pieces is quite fun. It’s like matchmaking. I have folders on folders of daily snapshots of environments that catch my attention while going about my day. I draw my illustrations on paper with ink, then digitally alter them to fit within the images I see best fit the message I’m trying to convey. The elements I pay attention to the most in my process are clean, seamless transitions of the drawing when placed into the photograph, focal points of the piece, and possible emotional impact of the piece from the viewer.

Let’s talk about your color palette. You seem to use recurring colors, such as red and pink. How did you choose them, and what do they represent for you?

Shades of red have always been what I’ve been drawn to the most. A lot of art incorporates reds, pinks, etc. To get an emotional response or a bright saturation that makes it “pop”. It’s the same reason I use those colors. It’s an emotional color palette. All parts of life contain it. Love, blood, rage, passion, and more. It gives me an opportunity to connect with my own emotional state when creating and how I can outwardly express it.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your work? Do you have any specific references?

A lot of my inspiration comes from other artists in the community, my peers, horror movies, Scifi media, liminal spaces and urban legends. A good reference i enjoy using as inspiration would be the works of Junji Ito. A manga horror illustrator.

What is your favorite experience as an artist so far?

Being able to create something that screams who I am. Having a voice in my art. Seeing my style develop as I keep growing.

What do you think about the art community and market? And how do you cultivate a collector base?

The art community in Chicago is very diverse and cool. You can’t step 2 feet out of your home without seeing artist stickers covering street signs or tall commissioned murals on buildings. Cultivating a collector base is a slow process. As much as I love the art scene, it takes a lot of patience to grow and become more known in it.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

I’m currently working on a few different publication portfolios. Other than that, I’ve been just drawing, posting, and drawing some more -- nothing too crazy yet. Fingers crossed.

What is one lesson you learned from the past year? And how did it help you further develop your art?

Just keep going. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned. Keep going and do what you love no matter what. Consistently pour yourself into things you want to do. Maybe it’ll bear fruit or maybe it won’t, but that shouldn’t matter if you love it so much. That lesson has helped me further develop my art by pulling me out of burn out, not feel dejected when something doesn’t go my way.

Finally, share something you would like the world to know about you.

You’ll be seeing a lot more of my art and me these coming years. This is only the start for me. I hope all of you follow me on this journey.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.