IN THE BEGINNING...
I grew up in Oak Park, Illinois in the 90s. I was an imaginative kid with a very strange way of looking at things. My parents introduced me to films at an early age and my creativity was awakened! From drawing to long hours of acting out stories with my little brother and sister, I was always looking to create or transform the reality around me.
I always, as well, had an oddball and surreal flavor to what I did. In preschool when instructed to contribute a recipe for our class cookbook, I offered my entry "SOAP TO EAT" - dictated to my teacher who transcribed - which involved finding a "boy with no skin and no hair" and having Frankenstein scare him as one of the steps to make said recipe.
When I got older, perhaps 2nd Grade, I already knew I wanted to create in all artforms. Be it drawing or making films or performing or writing - any way in which I could share my crazy ideas I chased after!
FURTHER...
At age 8 I used my allowance money I had saved up and purchased (with the help of my parents) a Sony HANDYCAM Hi8mm camcorder and began shooting anything and everything occurring around me.
As I got older and older, my knowledge and skill improved as did the tools I had available to tell my stories. Through it all I was figuring out my visual style in regards to traditional art including paintings and collage and fostering an intense and unquenchable love and appreciation for a broad spectrum of music from beyond my own time. I knew that all of these respective artforms were as equally important and in very different ways a necessary part of my being!
I attribute the ages of 8-15 as being instrumental in shaping my early personality traits and inspiration towards in the arts - where I became more and more sure of my own voice. From both old-school and new-school influences, I strive to challenge creative norms and trends by providing a uniquely quirky and innovative style and flair to today's overly bland and homogenized aesthetics.
Left: Age 8 / Circa 2000
Below: Age 13. Early Youtube Era.
©2023 MYKEE MORETTINI