Altekrea Boosts Fringe Art
Launched in 2011 as a showcase for underfunded practitioners of the so-called geek arts, Altekrea festival of alternative creation has grown to become downtown Kitchener’s annual summertime excursion to the fringes of modern pop culture. Makers and producers of comics, science fiction, fantasy, animation, graffiti and sideshow performance art will spend a weekend – from June 17th to 19th, 2016 – turning City Hall into a presentation, installation and professional development hub.
To offer a taste of this year’s programming range and to introduce a few contributors who will share their crafts with festival-goers, Make It Kitchener asked a half dozen Altekrea artists about why they do what they do – and why they do it here.
YUY REN creates stringed instruments out of upcycled materials – guitars, ukuleles and more from reimagined cigar boxes, cookie tins and metal lunch boxes. Altekrea festival-goers will be able to plug in, play and purchase a variety of Ren’s music-making re-creations.
What makes you make the things you make?
While admittedly somewhat rhythmically challenged, I am very passionate about music and instruments. I love music, music theory and attempting to play instruments. I own multiple guitars, violins and ukuleles – both acoustic and electric – and have always enjoyed dabbling with them whenever I was able to find the time. I also have an artistic background and am actually a much better painter than a musician. These things have been a part of my life and a large part of my educational upbringing.
I am also passionate about keeping our planet green. I like purchasing things second-hand if I can, and I’m an avid recycler and upcycler. I think building upcycled musical instruments was just a natural consequence of my skills and interests. It was bound to happen. I am now in love with building homemade instruments out of cigar boxes. It is incredibly satisfying to see the tangible end result. It is the perfect marriage of all my passions, and I am so glad I discovered it.
How does being part of Altekrea and practicing your craft in Kitchener contribute to your creative success?
Kitchener is a great place to practice my craft. My craft requires not only creative input, but creative output as well. That means innovative individuals who will really take to my instruments and follow their own creative passions with them. I have lived in half a dozen cities on three continents and Kitchener is by far the best place for fostering innovation, entrepreneurship and community. In fact, a few years ago I decided to make Kitchener my permanent home because I knew that when I express my passions and my creativity here, the City will support me in my endeavours. Kitchener creates innovative and daring individuals who will make things happen.
Altekrea is a very good example. Miroki and her team have done a very good job with this festival and its continued growth. Altekrea’s focus on exposure for the artists and professional development is truly exceptional. Being part of Altekrea means that not only can I showcase my creative passions and share them with the rest of my community, but I also receive a lot of support and exposure leading up to the festival.
CATHERINE DALLAIRE is a Metis artist who injects a personal style into traditional techniques. Find a selection of Dallaire’s art prints and a few original pieces for sale at Altekrea, as well as some accessories (like magnets and pencil cases) adorned by her work.
catddesigns.wix.com/catherine-dallaire
What makes you make the things you make?
The driving force behind my work is my heritage. I am Métis – mixed European and First Nations heritage – and this has always presented challenges as I am somewhat living in two worlds, and I need to maintain a balance between the two. I do both traditionally themed work and work that combines imagery from contemporary Western and pop culture, combined with elements and stylization used in Woodland art.
How does being part of Altekrea and practicing your craft in Kitchener contribute to your creative success?
I hope that my work will help to bring awareness to the various aspects of Métis and First Nations art – something that many, especially new Canadians, know little to nothing about. Doing my hybrid sort of style allows me to acknowledge both sides of my ancestry, and also provides an introduction to elements of Métis and First Nations art and culture for those who do not know a lot about it. It provokes discussion and new relationship-building for me among Kitchener’s creative community.
BECKA KINZIE is a comic artist, illustrator and writer who will have books, prints and potentially other works available for sale at Altekrea.
What makes you make the things you make?
Nothing, it’s just something that’s there. Drawing just happens to be one of my stronger skills, and I enjoy it. It also never bores me, because there’s always something else new to learn.
How does being part of Altekrea and practicing your craft in Kitchener contribute to your creative success?
It’s really not so different than being at a different show or comicon in a different city. The only difference is the convenience – I live in Kitchener, so no hotel or house crashing required.
JESSICA CLAYMAN will be at Altekrea selling toy magic wands, charms, monster art dolls, Tarot decks, paintings, art prints, illustrations, stickers, geek jewelry and nerdy T-shirts.
What makes you make the things you make?
I don’t settle for acceptable or okay. I make things that will satisfy my needs. The wooden toy wands I make are better than molded plastic replicas – they aren’t reliant on fantasy, but are in fact fantastic. My bunny hats could be all polyester fleece, but I line them with Sari fabric. And jewelry doesn’t have to be coordinating or trending; it can be whimsical, geeky and fun.
Everything I make and do carries the weight of an expression: ‘This needs to happen!’ This expression often follows conversations that churn out something delightfully insane that I cannot leave to sleep in my imagination. Really I blame my friends for encouraging me. My husband Jonathan is the worst for it. The other expression I work with in my mind is: ‘Being inspired is okay, but please no more crap!’ This is directly related to poorly developed projects that were undertaken for all the wrong reasons, especially self-serving ones, barely edited and loosed on the population as distracting entertainment.
How does being part of Altekrea and practicing your craft in Kitchener contribute to your creative success?
Kitchener has many vibrant communities and there is much overlap between them. Many people who’ve lived in Kitchener as long as I have start to realize that you really do know everyone, you just haven’t been formally introduced yet. We have maker spaces and shared studios. I’ve bounced around mom and pop shops and big box retail in this town.
Altekrea still stands out as a unique opportunity for budding and growing artists. This is the most supportive event of its kind for alternative creations and their makers. The festival achieves this by fostering and expanding its community by introducing the people you need to meet to help grow and expand your portfolio. There is so much support and it just keeps improving every year, and the team is always working on partnerships and satellite events and manufacturing opportunities for the artists to expose their work to a larger audience. This is encouraging for me because before Altekrea I would second guess starting a project I felt I couldn’t market because it wasn’t perhaps what most would accept as ‘real’ art. My work had been snubbed for not being serious just because it looked cartoony. But those that can get past black outlines and brightly coloured costumes – because they grew up on cartoons and comics like I did – will recognize how serious I am and how profound the subjects are that I tackle. Help finding my audience is invaluable.
SEAN CHAPPELL is currently expressing his myriad drawing ideas with markers, ballpoint pen and gouache, and these three mediums will form the backbone of high-end prints and originals on display at Altekrea. Chappell is also running a professional development workshop “dedicated to the spirit of playing with materials,” featuring several stations for creators to experiment.
What makes you make the things you make?
I have an unlimited imagination and the visual arts are the mainstay of my expression. Ever since I was a child I’ve been extrapolating my thoughts and ideas into images of abject surrealism. I guess you could say I give form to the formless. If I didn’t get these ideas out I’m sure I’d detonate like a water balloon filled to overflowing.
How does being part of Altekrea and practicing your craft in Kitchener contribute to your creative success?
I’ve been a participant in many conventions over the past several years. Altekrea is one of the few that focuses specifically on promoting original arts and the artists themselves. Miroki and her team have opened up a lot of doors for professional development and interconnectivity in the local arts community. Dedication to not only creating art but thinking about the business aspects of running a financially viable practice set Altekrea apart from most of the other conventions I’ve attended. This has contributed to my creative success and will continue to do so this year.
MIROKI TONG is the Artistic Producer of Altekrea. She is not exhibiting at this year’s festival “in order to focus my efforts on making the show as amazing as possible,” but presumably in her sleep she’s a jewelry designer specializing in chainmail, beading, wire weaving and collar pieces. Tong is also a highly accomplished performer and producer of theatre, film, voiceover and music, and she’s currently pursuing her MBA as well.
What makes you make the things you make?
I started making jewelry in order to customize existing pieces that worked for me. I never had pierced ears, and many times necklaces were too long for me; what started as edits, turned into designing one-of-a-kind pieces. This is also a great creative outlet for me away from my work as a performer.
How does being part of Altekrea and practicing your craft in Kitchener contribute to your creative success?
As the artistic producer, showcasing my own craft at the festival originally was to fill a space in an otherwise small-scale festival. Over the years, I also felt like it helped me integrate with the artists that I’m serving.