Meet New York based designer Guy
Dempster. Originally from Sydney Australia, where he studied at Newtown High
School of Performing Arts, and now one of the most outstanding students of New
York’s prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology.
During my exchange program to New
York in the Fall semester of 2010, I had the pleasure of becoming friends with
this energetic red head. Simultaneously we had both began studies at F.I.T, and
I was amazed to discover that at the tender age of 19, Guy had confidently
relocated from Sydney to the Big Apple.
Guy is currently located in the
East Village, and is progressing through his degree in Fashion Design,
producing works that I believe parallel with his fashion idols, such as Nicolas
Ghesquiere for Balenciaga, Haider Ackermann and Olivier Theyskens.
Each new work Guy releases is more breathtaking than the last. You will understand what I mean after you read this Q+A!
E: When
did you realise you were blessed with the gift of illustrating?
D: I
don't really think of it as a gift- It's not quite that arbitrary & I've
still got a hell of a lot of refining & honing to do before it could be
considered advanced compared to the talent that's out there; It's just
something I've always enjoyed practicing. The
only thing I'm blessed (& cursed) with would be that same compulsive need
to evince the world inside my head, shared by most creative types.
E: There
is clearly a consistency in your work. What inspires your illustrations?
D: In
terms of subject matter, usually women- I've been trying to stretch myself out
of just that in recent years, but nothing has ever inspired me more than an
interesting female character; how they look- what their eyes say, what they
wear & how they might move or speak if I could draw that too.
In
terms of look: artists like Aubrey Beardsley, H.R. Giger, Tamara De Lempicka or
Patrick Nagel; people with that unique balance of stylistic originality and
visual rhythm- usually in the depiction of a literal subject.
E: I am
aware you are studying Fashion Design at F.I.T. How long have you been there for
and do you feel your illustrating has progressed through your classes?
D: I've
noticed a massive improvement in how I draw over the past year and a half I've
spent at FIT. A
combination of the in-class direction I've received in addition to the
workload- it's a full-time course so you're constantly producing & in my
mind that's the most efficient means of improvement; deliberate, motivated
practice. My
sense of anatomy and balance was absolute rubbish before starting the course-
looking at my work prior makes me wanna kill myself!
E: How
different is it for you to express yourself through illustration rather than
producing clothing?
D: I've
come to realise it's a very similar process motivated by the same compulsion. Creating
pieces to be worn; to adorn the wearer- it's all in an attempt to sculpt the
female characters I scribble into reality through the exploration of a
different medium. It's all the same fun.
E: What
are your career plans and potential path for the future?
D: My
ultimate goal is to one day be entirely self-employed; to design collections
under my own label, at a competitive industry level that rewards and recognises
creative innovators to the same extent as those singularly commercial. I'd
also love to have a store- I'm obsessed with daydreaming about how It would
look and feel.
The
other day I took an hour out of a rather arduous homework session to google
light fixtures and, frustrated with the lack of choice, Italian glassblowers
who could custom make what I had in mind! (a screaming glass cat head that
hangs suspended from the ceiling, with far-stretching Medusa snake hair- the
eyes of which are set with tiny, illuminating LED spotlights).
E: Thank you Guy for your time, and detailed responses.
To see more of guys work visit his Flickr page HERE
