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I did some off broadway stuff, and did that for
about 5-6 years.
AP: What did you do
after?
Then, I moved into doing
styling for photoshoots, did some trend research
and writing.
AP: That's how we found
out about you. We saw your photographs at fashion
avigator.com and then saw your site ambriel floyd.com
I love your photographs, especially the people
shots in the city.
I thought that you knew how to pick the right
moments...
I love that actually.....
I do trendspotting photos for webzines and such,
that's one thing, but the ones that I love the
most are the street photographs. I have hundreds
of images saved in my computer
AP: Is this an on-going
project?
Yeah, I really cherish them.
They are personal and yet common moments and I
find the combined elements interesting. I love
to watch people. I like to see how people interact
with buildings, the city itself. People of all
sorts, dressed in different ways, things like
that. I love studying these details.
AP: Going back to the
collection, when did you start working on it?
I started last summer after
I left my full time job, I still style shoots
but things slow down and I felt bored, so I started
to make things and working on what I consider
one of a kind pieces.
AP: Did you have Seven
in mind?
Definitely, very early on,
I showed Joseph (Quartana) one piece, he liked
it and wanted to see more and later carried my
first collection. Barney's came soon after and
some other Japanese boutiques.
AP: That's how Tess
Giberson found out about you and asked you to
collaborate with her
Yeah,
her husband Jon (Widman) came over and introduced
himself one night and we ended up having drinks
at a bar and clicked right away It seemed natural
for us to collaborate and I really respect her
and her work.
AP: Now that have quite
a few buyers placing orders, how do you feel about
meeting deadlines?
It's a lot of work, especially
because my pieces require extensive handstitching.
For basic assemblage, I brought in help and I
like to share that workload with someone so I
don't get stressed out. When I'm in production
to fill orders, I constantly walk around with
my cross-stitching hoop.
AP: Your pieces feel
very jounalistic and intimate, where do you Get
your ideas?
The heraldry and the vintage
trimmings that I used were inspired by this really
old book that I found at the library sale. It
was called the Book of Saints which I find fascinating
and the little bit of text in the piece of the
descriptions. The quote is "reconcile practical
life and devotion," which I extracted from
it's true context, a description of the lifestyle
of someone who later became a saint, and used
in the pieces because I think the message, without
the religious meaning and out of it's original
context, is a kind of encouragement. Devotion,
for me, then is about art, creating, living beautifully,
things of this nature. The text, then is an invitation
to integrate art with everyday life. I'm not particulary
religious but that doesn't mean I don't think
good things and creative forces can't come from
religion, I think they do.....
AP: What about the usage
of the material such as the shirting fabric +
vintage trimmings?
I like to use vintage or
traditional elements to create new, but somehow
familiar pieces. I respond to trimmings that are
older because of discoloration and fading often
evoke a more personal response. They help create
a sort of patina that makes things seem more like
an heirloom piece than something that has been
stamped in a factory. I use brass findings and
chain for the same reason. I have a collection
of vintage brass jewelry and each piece has darkened
a little over time; for me that is the element
that makes each piece beautiful.
AP: Has your pieces
changed stylistically from the first collection?
The items for summer, technically
fall, I basically took the previous one step futher.
I've added other elements and drawings. If you
look at some of Tess's (Giberson) pieces,the drawing
on it are all from my trip to Berlin last year.
I have a funny way of drawing, it's sort of a
personal iconography, so usually when I draw things,
things get pared down to almost symbols. The things
that resemble a cross on Tess's clothes are derived
from the cross-hatchet of windows of buildings
in Berlin. That's where the reference comes from,
this is the print... (shows me the original drawing)
So, to answer your original question, yes, it's
journalistic and most of the times, it generally
comes from a very personal experience.
AP
As an artist, photographer, and a designer, what
has been the most influential/inspirational?
I am inspired by the rest
of the world, not so much by the things I create.
To say that I am inspired by something I do would
be reversing the actual process. The things I
do are just my translation of what is already
out there, my interpretation. I watch people,
I consider buildings, I am affected by the weather
and by conversations, I find things. If you have
a conversation with me in person, I would have
a ahrd time calling myself an artist, a designer,
or a photographer. I feel more like a reporter
most of the time, or a story teller from a long
line of story tellers.
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