FIND YOUR NICHE: Episode 1 Ft. Selassie

Selassie: The way I wake up and treat my day feels like I’m seeking a lot of quiet.

This sense of peace is also reflected in his paintings, where he shares that he’s continually seeking to balance out the chaos of his art with notes of calm.

A lot of Selassie’s work centres around self-portraits, and he showed us several of the pieces he’s created based on his own likeness, including one particularly striking work featuring an image of himself standing on a beach at Cadaques, the town in which Salvador Dali lived and worked for most of his life. We discussed how every place is different, and each new place influences a different style within art. Selassie raised the crucial idea that, for artists, he doesn’t believe in staying in one place for too long.

Dora: How do you feel like ‘place’ influences you and your work?

S: I feel like every place is different. You definitely paint every place differently.

When painting other people, Selassie uses layers to reflect the multitude of layers that make up each one of us.

D: I can see that the brush strokes you use are quite different to the normal paintings I see. What’s your technique?

S: I would just try to paint, and not think about too much. You know when you meet someone and it’s like… there are so many layers to a person. There are so many things people have gone through for them to be who they are now. So I try to paint in this way, layer by layer.

D: I was also going to ask you about colours… I feel like you have an interesting relationship with colour?

S: I don’t like changing things. I like changing my work and the flow of things, but I don’t like changing colour. So I wouldn’t like to change red or purple. I like them to reflect the note that they are, the colour that they are.

Discussing the use of colour within art, he described how the colourful buildings in his hometown have influenced his perception of different colour combinations, and how he enjoys using clashing colours alongside one another.

S: Where I grew up, there are a lot of beautiful buildings that all have different colours, and it teaches you how colours can be beautiful next to each other without you having to distract them into something else, you know?

Selassie’s advice to aspiring artists: just paint, and don’t think too much about it.

S: You teach yourself, this is how I want to exist in the world, and the rest is either liked or not liked.

D: Mic drop…

We also readdressed the importance of finding balance between city life and nature. Yet again, Selassie reaffirmed that we’re all just out here seeking balance.

S: It’s very interesting… I had this thing where I would ask people, ‘What are you seeking in life?’, and most people would say balance.

D: Really? That’s interesting.

S: Yeah, and I was always like… that’s so cool, because that means everybody likes the chaos.

D: Yeah, the yin and the yang, right?

We need both chaos and calm to exist in our lives. Selassie, however, says he’s still just seeking peace (and ice cream).

D: So it sounds like you have a really amazing community of friends and collaborators around you who you can rely on, and also people who have mentored you and helped you find your niche. What advice would you give to people who are maybe looking for that kind of community in their own lives?

S: Just build the right world, and the right people will find you. Let the rest happen to you. You lose people if you don’t love yourself, and you find people if you love yourself.

D: If someone was to look at your work without any context about you, what do you think they’d be surprised by, if anything?

S: Hmm, it’s 50/50. Hopefully you find something out of it. And if not, hopefully you have some advice for me.

D: So, you’re leaving Berlin - is there anything you’re going to miss about not being here?

S: I don’t know, I don’t believe in just staying in one space if you want to do what I do.

Selassie cites Salvador Dali as one of his biggest sources of inspiration, praising the artist’s ability to balance renaissance style with advanced techniques, while keeping political provocation at the forefront of his work. Selassie also named Henry Taylor as one of the painters whose work inspires him the most. He also drew a comparison between music and painting, both art forms utilising storytelling in different ways.

S: It’s easier in music to paint a picture with your words, than with painting. Painting is a bit more intimate, I would say.

D: Are there any artists you find really inspiring?

S: Henry Taylor, as a painter. Salvador Dali. Line Five Anthony as a musician. Albert as a musician. I also like All My Cousins. There are so many…

D: Salvador Dali’s work is so dreamlike… Do you feel like you’re ever influenced by your dreams?

S: I don’t wanna go that far… Right now, I’m learning about where things come from and how I manage to manifest them. I’m blessed to be able to stand in front of a canvas and do something.

D: Do you have a message for the people?

S: You should know what good is and what bad is. Everyone has a heart, so you should know your heart and you should know who you are.