rss feed
Sneakypeeked: Nixi Killick
Without a doubt, Nixi Killick was born with mermaid blood.
We met Nixi a few months ago at the Sportsgirl National Graduate Showcase media launch. She’s a finalist in this competition and will show at L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Week in March this year. High five!
Working from her boho Brunswick studio, Nixi delves into painting, illustration and forging otherworldly pieces that make our brains implode.
We had a sneaky chat with Melbourne’s design rockstar about design, the universe and mutant mermaids. Here’s the sneakypeek.
{ When did you realise you wanted to be a designer? }
I have a background in circus costume, performance and the arts so expressive culture is so engrained it’s just another way of breathing. I prefer the term ‘imagineer’ to designer. I feel that the art-fashion nexus has reached a critical crossover. Work can act as a dialogue speculating over the role of future-tive technology in creative escapism and question how the contemporary climate is embracing avenues for articulating a ‘maverick hybrid culture’.
In my practice I avoid creative compartmentalising and embrace expression in whatever form. Labelling is transient but ideas are paramount. I think for me the most important thing is to be creating new work that speaks across a variety of platforms. This idea is expanded in my 2012 thesis ‘Untitled: The evolutionary alchemy of creativity. Rise of the ‘hybrid maverick’.’
{ What influences your aesthetic? }
The frenetics of the universe untamed. I guess in some sense I’m searching for a hyper-culture. A disparate collision of adjacent possibles! Utilising hijacked technology in conjunction with artisanal hands as empowering catalysts. Colour texture and material recognition are pivotal in my aesthetic, especially in my most recent collection ‘Future-tive nature’ where a synergy with my painting explorations drew out a sort of bio-psychedelic vision.
{ If you could dress anyone, past or present, who would it be and how would you frock them up? }
Hmm… that’s a tough one. Right now im thinking probably the monumental bodacious babe Frida Kahlo. I would pop some serous pattern jamming in and a massive chunk of face bedazzling and body paint! Think Aztec Ganesh meets pixel gladiator meets mutant mermaid. Ha!
{ What kind of materials do you work with? Is it difficult to fashion them into wearable pieces? }
Im interested in material alternatives. In my last collection I experimented with mediums like latex, fibre optics, vacuum formed plastic and 3D prototyping, Utilising technologies like laser cutting and etching to create different surfaces and look into the idea of superlative structures. I think part of the appeal of ‘non-materials’ is the challenge of recontextualising materials and methodologies that exist in other paradigms to expand on my fashion practice.
{ Where would we find you on a lazy Sunday arvo? }
Lazy Sunday? They don’t exist! Ha! But I guess the equivalent would be in the depths on the night when I can find a kaleidoscope of clarity through my painting portal! Im a studio dweller and there is always magic to be made.
{ What do you have planned for the rest of 2013? }
2013 is already shaping up to be the busiest and most incredible year yet! Filled with new experiences and maintaining the momentum! Im showing my graduate collection at both the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival and iD New Zealand emerging designer awards in March, as well as installations at Penthouse mouse and a show of paintings. I’m also working on pieces for a new collection and freelance styling. This year I will get to India, this year I will expand horizons and most of all this year I have given myself to the dream.
