By Cur8.art

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On a recent trip to South Atlantic Press, we first caught a glimpse of artist Faith XLVII’s third and latest woodblock edition, EX ASTRA (or, ‘from the stars’ as its translated from Latin). Still in progress, we bore witness to the meticulous mapping out and layering of designs in this unique collaboration. This, of course, was far from our first encounter with the artist’s work. Recognised and originally known as one of the world’s most prominent female street artists, Faith XLVII (or Liberty Du) has carved out an illustrious career ascending beyond the traditional echelons of the art industry.

Beyond her monolithic murals, Faith XLVII’s street-based practice has grown to encompass mediums such as woodcarving, video installations, sculptures, tapestries and drawings. “Embodying the archetype of the ‘Wanderer’” Faith XLVII’s extensive travelling of the world has seen the artist embrace a nomadic life. In an interview from the road, en route to Madagascar, we asked the artist a few questions about her travels, art and career.

What does your day-to-day as a professional artist look like? 

My day to day currently has no specific routine, I zone in on projects as they come up, my rhythm adapts to that specific task. 

I generally like to do some clearing before starting in the morning. That can take the form of movement, breathing, meditation, burning sacred plants to prepare the space for intentional creative action.

Can you walk us through your artistic process – from initial concept to the finished work, what inspires you?

The creative process as I understand it, can be broken down to stages;

Saturation, Incubation, Illumination. 

So in the Saturation phase; initially there is a thematic or concept that one is contemplating. One immerses oneself fully into that over a period of time, I like to allow that stage to be really broad and experiential. Part of my waking and sleeping life. 

The Incubation phase is when you then allow that content to ruminate, rest and take form within your psyche, without too much intellectual and logical thought analysis of it. Allowing your subconscious and dream world to explore that content. 

After some time [this could be days or years] the sparks will come, what they refer to as the Illumination stage. That’s when ideas and imagery begin to form. That could take the form of a kind of free – form playfulness that evolves, a spark of intentional certainty or a methodical writing session that transforms with a medium that best suits the emotional tone. 

Your practice has led you to traveling around the world, how do you think this has impacted your work?

My life has been largely nomadic and for the last 3 years entirely nomadic. Embodying the archetype of the ‘Wanderer’ has taught me to be alert, and light and to adapt or flow with a place or situation. It’s also made me flexible in terms of medium and methodology. I move from spending a few months in the studio to a few weeks on a site-specific public artwork to travelling while working on video content or visiting a studio to create a printmaking edition or sculpture. I allow the work to lead my travels and the travels to inform the work. 

What have been the most challenging obstacles you’ve faced being an artist abroad? 

There is a concept in Deep Ecology of ones ‘ecosphere’ and I realised that when I am away from home that I am deeply torn from my own ecosphere. 

I believed before that I could easily adapt to other societies, cultures and lands, because we share a common humanity and a natural Great Earth. And that rings true for spending shorter amounts of time in a place. But when you spend extended times in a place and actually attempt to integrate, then the differences become more glaring. I think there are very specific and special spaces that one might be possible to relocate to but being on the road for several years now has made me contemplate and empathise with what the notion of being apart from home means, which is an experience that many people on the planet face, some voluntarily others by force or circumstance. 

You’ve worked in so many different mediums from paint and sculpture to jewellery and new media, are there any new materials you are experimenting with?

Right now I’m interested in New Media works; video installations. For my upcoming exhibition in April at the Musée des Beaux-arts in Paris I will be showcasing 5 new video installations. I want to feel how an artwork can be immersive, surrounding one, evoking an innate memory of space or situation. I’m interested in making work that can shift us from the inside and I think this medium has great potential for this kind of depth psychology. 

We’re really looking forward to your woodblock series with South Atlantic Press at the upcoming ICTAF, can you share more on this project and what the experience has been like thus far?

I’m looking forward to it as well!  It’s been a long time in the making. The edition name is EX ASTRA, Which is Latin for ‘from the stars’. This series celebrates and signifies the yearly turning of time. So the full EX ASTRA set is made of 12 individual woodblock editions, each signifying a month of the year. 

The shapes and colours are intuitive. Formed for that specific time.  I intentionally worked without association to astrology or referencing seasonal hemispheric location. I wanted it to be clear of those kind of larger predictions and to let these be inner impressions, a symbolic knowing from within to without. 

The editions were primarily intended as gifts to the children of friends. I wanted to gift a talisman of sorts, to these new souls, that they could hold dear throughout their life. Images that we have from birth become a part of our aesthetic narrative and can be powerful ways to reconnect with ourselves over time.  The intention is that people will resonate with a month/ design that fits a memory or event that can be embodied by these designs. Creating the edition is a massive undertaking and so I decided to go all in, and the final edition is 100 woodblock prints for each month. We’re also producing 30 beautifully made Box Sets of the full series. Each edition is diligently hand carved and each month is comprised of several layers and hand-carved stamps. South Atlantic Press in Cape Town have been so great to work with and will be handling the initial South African stage of the release in February. 

Do you listen to anything while you are working – music, podcasts? 

Yes, most of the time! I move from Buddhist chanting to electronic, bands like the knife, Soviet Synth Pop, folk music from my mother’s era, Brenda Fassie, old industrial gothic tunes, and newer rappers like Young MA, it gets pretty eclectic. 

I nerd out on the Huberman Podcast, calm down with Eckhard Tolle, explore with Russel Brand. I enjoy podcasts about medicinal plants, ones on history, philosophy or Jungian Psychology. Audiobooks like Oryx and Crake or biographies such as Marina Abramović 

Who are some artists on your radar at the moment?

I admit I’m insular when it comes to following other artists, I mostly follow my friends… I’m loving Aaron Glasson, Lady Skollie, Thania Peterson, Axel Void, Ellena Lourens, Escif, Reginald O’Neal, the Ninevites, Meghan Judge and of course my son [sun] Keya Murphy who is a constant source of inspiration. 

Through intuition as her guide, Faith XLVII “continues to interrogate and subvert notions of value, place and human domination” through her multidisciplinary practice, “exploring the shape of human perception and seeking the elusive notion of the Divine – a deeper connection with the ancient wisdoms of the natural world.”

This Cur8 Artist Focus coincides with the launch of Faith XLVII’s EX ASTRA , a woodblock edition created in collaboration with South Atlantic Press.
International Orders : https://faith47.bigcartel.com/
South African Orders: https://southatlanticpress.com/Faith-XLVII