On Experimentation and Self-Expression: Misa Yamamoto
As part of our ongoing digital residency, we’re spotlighting our recent interview with Misa Yamamoto, a graphic designer and art director for Essentials Creative. In conversation with bbatx committee member A'nysha Aileen, Misa discusses how she began collaborating with Essentials, the biggest inspirations behind her art, and how her perspectives on creating have evolved over time.
ABOUT MISA YAMAMOTO:
Misa Yamamoto is a graphic designer and art director for visual arts collective, Essentials Creative, based in Austin, Texas. Essentials incorporates multi-faceted disciplines such as photography, fashion, graphic design, video, projection, animation, music and installation. Although a single image may include many Essentials members, there is always a unified vision of experimentation, fluidity, and diversity.
Tell us a little bit about your background. :)
I am from Tokyo, Japan. I grew up there, and my family is in Japan. I went to a private girls school. They had many restrictions, and I felt trapped in Tokyo, so I wanted to explore the rest of the world. So I applied and became an exchange student in a small town, Fredonia, KS. It was a culture shock, and everything was different. I was almost the only person of color there. But, I enjoyed feeling free there without restrictions.
I decided to study art in the US after I finished high school in Japan. My dad is an aerial photographer, and my mom studied fashion design. My parents are both creatives, and it was natural for me to do something with art. My mom always told me to not be a photographer because she knows about the hustle. But my sister became a photographer, and I married a photographer, Fabian Villa. I studied communication design at Texas State University. I pulled so many all-nighters and made creative friends. At school, I met Sixto-Juan Zavala, and he introduced me to Essentials Creative, and I started collaborating with the team, Fabian Villa and Steven Casanova.
What prompted the creation of your visual arts collective, Essentials Creative?
Before working in the visual arts, Essentials started in San Antonio as a DJ night with Daecos, VJ Sixto, and event photography by Fabian and Steve. For the flier designs, they collaged photos of the guests.
When I first met Essentials, they had moved into a massive warehouse for low rent and focused on fashion photography, and I started work with them doing set design and graphics. Fashion photography is very collaborative with models, makeup artists, stylists, art directors, post-production people like graphic designers and retouchers.
I had been living in Austin, and Essentials decided to move up here for more opportunities. We shared a home for the first three years, and we started working on more art installations. One of the first installations, YLA 21, was at the Mexic-Arte Museum. After that, it made sense for us to focus on visual art and site-specific installations. We started collaborating with Holodeck Records, City of Austin, Big Medium, Pump Project, Fusebox and now BBATX!
What do you want people to take away from the things you create?
Essentials is my passion, a place to express myself, be free and experiment. We create what we want to see, and if people enjoy it and get it inspired to be creative, then it's successful.
What is your favorite creative medium, and what mediums do you hope to explore in the future?
My main interest is in graphic design and art direction. I would like to do more in digital arts like animation, photography and video, and also incorporate handmade arts and crafts into our digital imagery.
Do you have any advice for up and coming visual artists?
I am very social media-shy, but I am learning from Fabian. If you want to talk or collaborate with people, reach out. Social media makes it easy to ask or get advice from other professionals you admire. Go to art openings or stop by their event, and post on your story and tag the artist. It will help you start conversations with the artists or people you admire.
Who or what inspires and informs your work?
The visual culture around us inspires our work, especially art, music, fashion and studios like M/M Paris and ShowStudio. The following artists really inspire me:
Belkis Ayon
Yayoi Kusama
Maya Deren
Betye Saar
Rashaad Newsome
Adam Pendelton
Francis Bacon
Shigeo Fukuda
How have your projects grown and changed since you started?
In Essentials Creative, I can be more expressive, experiment and collaborate. I am working with others whom I trust, and getting feedback helps me to have different perspectives and expand my vision. I learned personal egos don't help collaborations make the project better. Each project has a different outcome, but everything is part of the learning process. Also, it is ok to do things and not get likes or sell art—as long as it makes you feel good. The most important part is to keep creating, and I think balance is essential.
Can you describe your creative process? What is the first thing you do when you start a project?
I love to research the subject first. I work next to the Fine Arts library, so I check out different books for research and get some inspiration. I also love going to museums! When I travel, I have to go to art museums.
How do you embody our Recent theme, revitalize?
I always felt like an outsider in Austin because of my language and culture barriers. But I am living here now, and my reality is that I am an immigrant woman of color in the arts community, and I must stand up and help dismantle institutional racism and always support BIPOC. At Essentials Creative, we have been collaborating organically with artists and models coming from marginalized communities. But now, we need to continue our practice and be more intentional about it. Who we represent, who we cast, who we work with, and who we support is Essentials.
BBATX is such a great community to connect, learn, and support others. Austin is pretty lucky to have this organization. I am super honored to be part of this residency program!
Take a peek at Misa’s work in creating our Small Business Support Guide. :)
For our recent craftHER Market Week, we collaborated with Misa in having her design our How to Support Small, Support Local and Show Up guide. Take a look at Misa’s work below, and read a digital version of the guide here.
