PP - Identity (Personal)

Shortly before instigating this blog I had resolved to take more positive steps towards the professional side of my practice. In a recent interview for Vice magazine illustrator HARVEYJAMES discussed the origin of his illustrator name and the identity he had taken on with it. His inspiration came from the little known Hong Kong comic scene, the artists of which, through translation complications would often be listed in all capitals, one word and reverse order (i.e: Thunder Little would be listed as LITTLETHUNDER). Harvey explains, ‘I guess I started calling myself HARVEYJAMES in all caps to align myself with the spirit of that movement. The idea was that my work would be sort of authorially opaque and mysterious and you wouldn’t know whether HARVEYJAMES was a man, or a massive company, or a robot.’

This struck me being an interesting approach to the practice, a way of building around yourself and perhaps suggesting a sense of establishment that may not, in truth, be entirely there. I have since alternated between a couple of working names, unsure as to which I would prefer to use. At first I used Mumblefingers, a name taken from an anxious habit I have noticed. Anxiety has been an increasingly obvious part of how I function, feeding into the work I produce and the interests I take. I originally used this for my Livejournal blog, and up until switching to Blogpsot, had been working on publicity paraphernalia, logos etc.

When producing work for illustration Christmas silent auction I was acutely aware that it would be the first time I had actually gone into something with the intent to sell my own work. While this was exciting, the predominant thought was the fact I have an embarrassingly terrible signature. To counteract this, I decided to create some sort of logo, which in turn would confirm and strengthen the professional persona I had been considering.

While the logo I settled on was not particularly complex or graphic in nature, I felt since it would act as both an icon and a signature, it would easier to reproduce at will. I considered getting a small rubber stamp made up so I wouldn’t even have to draw it, and this is still something I’m considering. It is something similar to wax seals or personal insignia, and I would certainly be more comfortable in the knowledge that it’s a lot harder to mess up a stamp than a signature.

Much of my practice is based around minimising personal anxiety..