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The exquisite Artistry of Moe. C
I recently spoke to artist Moe C, about his digital and visual art. Moe focuses on the artistic beauty of the woman’s body in all its glory. I spoke to this inspiring artist of only nineteen, to discover what inspires him. If you want an inside to this amazing artists mind, this interview will just about do it.
Moe is studying a bachelor of Design (games) at RMIT, but his art isn’t just focused on animation. He puts pen to paper and sketches what comes to mind, he’s also an imaginative digital artist. Starting off in his early years with programs like paint and a dodgy mouse, he uses the tools he has to the best of his advantage.
Moe believes it isn’t only about talent; it’s also about inspiration.
What are your art influences?
I’m usually influenced by how I feel, or maybe a random occurrence in the day that sparks an idea. Or the look on someone’s face just makes me want to paint. I’m influenced by artists of the classicist, romantic, symbolist and impressionist periods.
Notable names of these periods being; John Singer Sargent, Herbert James Draper, William Blake and Jean Delville. In saying this, I don’t prefer line art, or art that lacks tone, form and effective use of values. William Blake’s poetry as well as a lot of literature is something that I really get influenced from. Especially older, or archaic texts, like the works of Euripides or much earlier, Tolstoy. I love the epic drama and triumphs of characters against destiny, or the adversities they face.
I love many contemporary artists too like Rebecca Guay and Jeremy Mann. I can appreciate art in all forms. From film to performance art, I’d like to think I understand the rhetoric as well as the overtly visual, and see between them the marriage of discipline and creativity. I like what I like, I guess. Dead can Dance are also a very big part of not only my art, but my life.
Seen any good exhibitions lately?
Yes, an exhibition I was featured in called The Mystery Box, held by The Fort. There was some exceptional work there. I am yet to check out the free pre-raphaelite exhibition at the NGV although I’m sure that will be beyond amazing.
Where do you see your career going in 5 years?
Hopefully I’ll be in an indie game company with a few friends, making personal art when I can, living with a cat and finally have a pierced septum.
How did you find your muse ?
I am intrigued by many great minds, things, places, feelings. Marina Abramovich, Sophocles, George Orwell, Noah Bradley, Ken Levine to name a few people. Venice, Paris, Florence, anywhere with many trees and untainted nature, to name a few places. 19th century animation devices like the praxinoscope are also pretty cool. I dunno, whatever catches my fancy really.
What is your advice to young emerging artists?
I’m an emerging artist myself, really. Although; don’t fall into the trap of being bonded to your work. If someone criticises your work (properly) eat it up. Art is not always going to be the mystical air of glitter and pixie dust that comes to you on the night of every full moon.
Sometimes it is, but most of us don’t really know what we’re doing until we treat art like we treat any other work. Never give up either, keep studying, expanding your visual library, always. Take inspiration from everything you can. Watch movies. Read. Take opportunities. Go places. Read. Eat amazing food. Get angry. Cry for an hour. It all helps.
Can you remember a time where you were challenged or inspired by art?
It must have been when I started getting really serious about art. I enrolled in fundamentals of drawing lesson at Rings Road Art Studio. Of course, as a creative person, I felt a bit intimidated, and upset that I was doing “fundamentals” and not something more advanced. Although my teacher, Effie Mandalos made me realise that while I was flowing with creative flair, I had no structure to effectively execute my ideas. I learnt so much during those 8 weeks, and understood art in a completely different way.
It was through the difficulty of the tasks and the careful study of my own perception that I created something beautiful. I was lucky enough to have this experience at 17, while many artists never really understand art in a balance of the technical and emotional. Learning the fundamentals properly helped me to understand art as a learning process rather than a exhausted hobby.
Who inspires you?
In all honesty, anyone who is motivated enough to do what they love, achieve and prosper with the strength of their will and desire. This could be an athlete or a surgeon. I don’t care. Success is within the pursuit of dreams, and using that as fuel to practice and achieve.
What themes is your art about?
Studying games usually gravitates my art toward environments and characters, although there is not really any other constant in my art. Apart from always drawing females. I really do like the themes of vengeance, sorrow and Death, but also purity, peace and human unity.
This reflects my love of the word, and theme ‘dichotomy’. I just love polar opposites and that type of thing. I don’t believe in good and evil within humans, but opposing forces with their own motives and desires, yes. Evil doesn’t really exist to me. I also love portraying human
What is your favourite form or medium of art?
Obviously I have to say games. Marrying visual art to the more chartered medium of games is something I always strive for in my course work. I love that as a game designer I get to craft an experience, set the surrounding for the player, and envelop them into my own world. I truly believe it’s a very powerful medium.
With the largely untapped potential of simulation, (which at first might seem very technical, but is actually the key to player-centred experience), and the many different art forms that go into games (sound, visual art, direction, design, study of space,) I feel they’re definitely a imperative tool in creating experience, which is really what art is.
To remain impartial, I’d have to say I also absolutely love music. It’s very capable of setting tone and asserting emotion or sentiment.
A Beacon of Hope for Shia youth
In a world where Muslims are not always shown in a positive light, the Shia youth community in Victoria have started an organisation called A Beacon of Hope, which wishes to challenge the idea of extremist Islam.
When we turn on our televisions we see that Islam is associated with violence and extremism, but as we all know there are two sides to a story and there are a lot more to things than meets the eye.
A Beacon of hope, is a youth run organisation that aims to create a platform for Shia Muslims in Victoria. The youth driven organisation has a vision to achieve social cohesion and integration.
The Founding members came up with the idea about two and a half years ago when they were reflecting on their childhoods. They realised that the Shia Muslim youth didn’t have a place to go or any activities to get involved with.
President of A Beacon of hope, Aymen Alsaad says that even growing up there wasn’t any facilities for the Shia youth in Victoria and even as the community started to grow and expand there still wasn’t much going.
‘’What we’re trying to do is we want to familiarise the youth with local culture and help them learn how to understand and respect and accept the culture and their own religion in order to find the right balance between their heritage and their religion’’ Said Mr Alsaad
A beacon of hope wants to engage Victorian Shia youth in cultural, social and recreational activities, in order to help them get involved in society in a positive way rather than a destructive way.
A becon of ran a youth Football event to watch Carlton play at the MCG
With over 70 Muslims from Australia joining the Islamic State, the fear of youth going astray is always present within the Muslim community. However The Shia Muslim youth in Victoria, don’t have this problem as ISIS continue to target Shia Islam even in Australia, they are perceived to Shia Muslims as an extremist ideology.
The Shia community in Victoria is a minority which consists of Iraqi, Lebanese, Pakistani Iranian and Afghani communities who wish to have nothing to do with the cause of the extremist Islamic State (ISIS).
Mr Alsaad says that it’s easy to interpret Islam in a negative light and this is something, A beacon of hope wishes to show the rest of Australia. That Shia Muslim youth are nothing like the extremists going to join the fight in Syria.
He says that the perfect example of how Mainstream Islamic thought can be interpreted incorrectly is ISIS
‘’It’s not like ISIS are introducing the same religion, it’s just a different interpretation but we’re bringing it back to the conventional roots of Islam by delivering the purest message yet interoperating it in the purest form ” He said.
Islam has two main schools of thought, Sunni and Shia. ISIS interpret the Shia school of thought to be blasphemous to mainstream Islam. After recent reports of a Shia prison in Mosul, ISIS are accused by the United Nations of ethnic cleansing of the Shia Muslims.
The United Nations said on Sunday it had evidence that fighters from Islamic State had killed up to 670 prisoners in Mosul and had intentions for further exploitations in Iraq that will lead to genocidal crimes against humanity.
But Shia youth in Victoria are determined to show that Islam isn’t what is being represented by ISIS
‘’If a message is misinterpreted it doesn’t matter if the message is wrong from the start then the result is always going to be negative’’ Said Mr Alsaad.
A Becon of hope runs weekly islamic lectures providing youth with ethical, social and islamic values
A Beacon of hope is calling for sponsorship to help build their idea for youth inclusion and social cohesion.
The call is for funding to provide a centralized location that will aspire to provide counselling, drug counselling services, short courses and other social services.
It is important for, A Beacon of hope to continue support the Shia youth In Victoria, to give them a platform and a voice in society.
“Were here as well and were making a stand and were not radical, our interpretation of Islam is contemporary and we promote integration’’ said Mr Alsaad.
A Beacon of hope believes that it’s important for the youth to have initiative and it aims to help youth reach their potential and show the rest of Australia that they’re not a part of any extremist ideology.
“This is the best country in the world and the land of opportunity and we need to take advantage of that;’’ said Mr Alsaad.
If you want to get involved in some of the activities that, A Beacon of Hope are running or help with Sponsorship you can contact them here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Beacon-of-Hope-The-Next-Generation/637720962936386?fref=ts
