- Yeah, so I worked in the fashion industry for about 15 years.

I got my bachelor's degree in computer graphics and new media at the School of Technology in Johnson Wales, Providence, Rhode Island.

What up?

And after that I moved to Los Angeles and I pursued a career in fashion.

And I first started out doing a lot of graphic design for branding, marketing and then went into some design work and eventually went into styling and creative direction and production.

- Oh wow.

It's a lot.

- Yeah.

- And what about that brung you joy?

Because I know you're not into that field so much anymore.

So what kind of brought you out of it a little bit?

- (laughs) I mean, I wouldn't say it brought me joy, which is why I left it.

(laughs) Yeah, it was what I thought I wanted to do.

I think some of it was kind of an ego move, where I felt cool working in the fashion industry and also just innately, I always loved photography and I always loved storytelling through that medium.

So I felt like working on campaigns and being in the industry and working up towards doing a lot of like creative direction and things like that, that would be my outlet for my artistic abilities.

But the further I got into it, I just felt more and more disillusioned by the industry.

I was discouraged by a lot of the things that I would be hearing or experiencing myself.

It's very toxic environment, just inherently, I think because it's based on beauty and selling things based off of looks like to a specific demographic.

It's just, it comes with a lot of backlash to the people who are working on set and even behind the scenes like in production and in the factories and things like that.

But I ended up leaving the industry or trying to leave the industry (laughs), during COVID 2020, 'cause I was styling at the time, but there was no events happening.

So that was a moment where I felt like I could reevaluate everything, which I think a lot of us did collectively as a human race.

And that is what eventually brought me back to art, which is my roots, but more specifically using painting as a diary.

And that was kind of like the beginning of the end for fashion for me.

- It's like the Phoenix, you know, the rebirth.

- Yeah, exactly.

- So I know you focus a lot on mood boards, that's something that's a big focus in your work.

Can you give us a little bit of background about how mood, what are mood boards and how do they integrate into your current work?

- Yeah, it's just pulling imagery from different sources and putting it into one space, to create a mood or a theme or a vibe.

And most fashion projects, even video movies, all start based off of a mood board.

So that was always my favorite part of the process.

I love the creative process, I love research and development and I love getting inspiration from random different places.

So when I started the Love Bugs, which is kind of like my focal project, I first was thinking of doing a cartoon or comic with it.

And so I did what I normally would do with any project or business that I'm working on, and I started with a mood board.

- Give us a little bit more of a background of like, what is this installation or collection and how did you come to it?

- So I have a lot of attachment issues (laughs) or I did, I'm healing, but during one specific bad breakup, I just, it felt like kind of, I think more emotional and bigger than it really needed to be.

And when I was talking to my mom about it, she just explained the science behind the chemicals that we release when we are around someone for an extended period of time, especially that theme and that idea just stuck with me.

And so when I started to get back into painting, I really wanted to use that as just a way to connect with people.

And the Love Bug is kind of like a kitschy little way of being like, you know, it bites you and then suddenly that is the drug that enters your veins and then they take control and kind of like, go into your brain and have full control over your body.

And so as I started to develop the ideas, I was like, I don't really wanna be boxed into just doing a cartoon or just doing animation.

And I kind of wanted to go backwards, where I wanted to use this idea or theme and create mood board based off of that and make each piece very authentic to what I was feeling in that moment.

And instead of trying to stick to one medium, I just kind of was like, okay, today if I feel like doing photography, I will like use this theme and shoot something that feels inspired by the Love Bugs.

And then over time I started to put a lot of pieces together that were either collages or paintings or photography.

Like I said, I did do an animation as well.

And for my first show I ended up putting all of the pieces in one space.

And it was really cool to see, because just naturally they felt cohesive and together, even though a lot of the pieces were very different from each other, but the theme was throughout.

And so it was just an immersive life-sized mood board that people could be inside of.

- Where can folks see this installation?

Are you gonna have it traveling soon or-?

- Yes.

So I am planning, I like to do kind of like little surprise popups for the art shows and have them in not traditional spaces, 'cause galleries don't feel natural to me.

I like to feel like you can feel comfortable in this space.

- Yeah.

- And I like to also incorporate other bipoc artistry in my shows in different ways while highlighting the collection.

But yeah, so I'm also, I'm working on another project that's kind of branching off of the Love Bugs, which will be traveling throughout the Hudson Valley, but that will be more engaging where it has the pieces it, it will pull some pieces from the collection to use as inspiration for people.

And then I'll have an art bar where people can engage and create their own work based off of prompts that I provide.

And the fun part for me is I'm also gonna offer a lot of interesting parts from my collection that aren't necessarily traditional studio art pieces or mediums or work that people can also play with.

So it's like, I'm very tactile, so I like to use my hands and play with things.

- Yeah, it's kind of like communal too.

- [Amelia] Yeah, exactly.

- And it's like mental health as well.

- [Amelia] Yeah.

- Because again, we all kind of deal with love and heartbreak.

- [Amelia] Yeah.

- And it's nice that you're providing a space for people to kind of like express it in a way without judgment.

- [Amelia] Exactly.

- And those kind of guidance with the prompts and things like that.

- Yeah.

- That's awesome.

- Yeah.

- So where can compelled people follow you?

What's your Instagram real quick, so people can follow you so they can see the next art parlor you have going on?

- It's AmeliaCWilliams_.

(both laugh) - Awesome.

Well thank you Amelia, so much for coming today.

I'm super excited to like see your installation myself.

- Yeah.

Thank you.

(both laugh)