UO Interviews: Cam Portland @camportland.store
Meet abstract expressionist artist Cam Portland. Based in South London, Cam's artwork speaks to culture, identity and social issues. His most recent collection ‘It’s A London Thing’ features pieces inspired by the 1981 Brixton Riots and the challenges his grandparents and parents overcame to make a name and life for themselves here in the UK. He talks to us about his creative journey, emerging artists and using his work to educate.
'Peaceful Riots’ is the first entry from my latest collection titled ‘It’s A London Thing’. It’s a response to the 1981 Brixton riots.
‘Windrush whispers’ the is inspired by the challenges my grandparents and parents overcame to make a name and life for themselves here in the Uk.
‘Charles’ This piece is in honour of my grandad, who travelled to the UK in 1953. In his 10 year span as a bus driver he would often face ignorance and racism but didn’t allow this to affect him in achieving his goals; the goals to provide a decent life for his wife and his children. He was an extremely proud man that never left his bedroom without a freshly pressed shirt and sleek hat on.
‘Mooretown Residents’ This piece is inspired by Mooretown, the town where my family comes from. It was populated by the Jamaican Maroons, former enslaved people that escaped capture and forced the British empire to a treaty.
Tell us about your creative journey so far… Growing up I drew a lot with my family, especially my Dad. I was really into drawing comic book characters and cartoon versions of wrestlers, however I always found myself creating my own set of characters that fitted into my chosen universe.
When I finished secondary my art style was more surrealistic. I then transferred to another college and my art teachers were part-time artists who encouraged me to explore different styles and genres within art. From this I began to look into artists such as Basquiat, George Condo and Keith Haring. To this day, these artists still inspire me.
How has your work evolved and what are you currently inspired by?
Towards the end of 2019 I expanded my work from canvas paintings and 2D sketches of characters to portrait style illustrations. These 2D illustrations have evolved to 3D appearing caricatures as I’ve worked more on creating depth and texture within these pieces.
I spent a year and a half creating a series of portraits of my characters with vibrant coloured backgrounds and with backgrounds which had a blurred image. The blurred background had a direct relationship with the main central image. For example in my piece ‘Scottie Pippen’, the background is from a photograph of a crowd at the stadium for the 1998 NBA Finals. The central character is a caricature of the former basketball player Scottie Pippen.
How have you used your art and merch to educate on important matters within culture, identity and social issues that your work explores?
Many of the characteristics I use in my work are influenced by a small tribe called the ‘San People’, which has been said to be the ‘purest form of black people’.
The use of fuller lips and wide noses within my characters have been deliberately used to highlight and celebrate the beauty of black features. These features are not always seen as the ‘standard beauty’ in western society, therefore I feel that it’s important to challenge this.
Many of my pieces come from something that has evoked an emotion from me whether it be a positive or a negative one. An example of this is present in my piece ‘Been Tired’ as it was a direct response to the global Black Lives Matters protest and the news that was going around at that time surrounding the death of George Floyd. That piece in particular, showed a character that appeared to be half asleep and somewhat bored. As a black man who has personally experienced discrimination by the police, at school and the work place, this issue of racism has been on-going for such a long time that it has been a generational tiredness and frustration.
With my merch, ‘Menace’ I wanted to create wearable pieces but still relating it to my heritage which is of Jamaican descent and send a political message that will evoke questions about the image. The ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ on the back of my first hoodie that I released was inspired by the artwork of a jamaican musician, Peter Tosh, revolutionary lyrics which often challenged the establishment of oppression.
When I finished secondary my art style was more surrealistic. I then transferred to another college and my art teachers were part-time artists who encouraged me to explore different styles and genres within art. From this I began to look into artists such as Basquiat, George Condo and Keith Haring. To this day, these artists still inspire me.
How has your work evolved and what are you currently inspired by?
Towards the end of 2019 I expanded my work from canvas paintings and 2D sketches of characters to portrait style illustrations. These 2D illustrations have evolved to 3D appearing caricatures as I’ve worked more on creating depth and texture within these pieces.
I spent a year and a half creating a series of portraits of my characters with vibrant coloured backgrounds and with backgrounds which had a blurred image. The blurred background had a direct relationship with the main central image. For example in my piece ‘Scottie Pippen’, the background is from a photograph of a crowd at the stadium for the 1998 NBA Finals. The central character is a caricature of the former basketball player Scottie Pippen.
How have you used your art and merch to educate on important matters within culture, identity and social issues that your work explores?
Many of the characteristics I use in my work are influenced by a small tribe called the ‘San People’, which has been said to be the ‘purest form of black people’.
The use of fuller lips and wide noses within my characters have been deliberately used to highlight and celebrate the beauty of black features. These features are not always seen as the ‘standard beauty’ in western society, therefore I feel that it’s important to challenge this.
Many of my pieces come from something that has evoked an emotion from me whether it be a positive or a negative one. An example of this is present in my piece ‘Been Tired’ as it was a direct response to the global Black Lives Matters protest and the news that was going around at that time surrounding the death of George Floyd. That piece in particular, showed a character that appeared to be half asleep and somewhat bored. As a black man who has personally experienced discrimination by the police, at school and the work place, this issue of racism has been on-going for such a long time that it has been a generational tiredness and frustration.
With my merch, ‘Menace’ I wanted to create wearable pieces but still relating it to my heritage which is of Jamaican descent and send a political message that will evoke questions about the image. The ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ on the back of my first hoodie that I released was inspired by the artwork of a jamaican musician, Peter Tosh, revolutionary lyrics which often challenged the establishment of oppression.
'Scottie Pipen' Illustration by Cam Portland
Photo by @domsilkbaby
'Been Tired' Illustration Cam Portland
Photo by @domsilkbaby
What recently has helped you keep focused and creative?
One smoothie or pressed juice in the morning. A morning walk which usually lasts about 30 mins and no social media until 11am unless it's necessary. I found from the first lockdown that it's the small things and having a daily morning routine that can dictate and set the mood I'm in for the rest of that day. With all the constant restrictions and changes happening at the moment it's important to create a clean environment. If that means cleaning your room or office space or making sure you're eating clean and drinking enough water.
What's the best advice you’ve been given?
“You can never fall if you stay grounded”, it's a phrase my late Grandad used to tell me. I've always remained appreciative of people and opportunities that come my way.
3 creatives you’d like to spotlight...
There are quite a lot of emerging artists that I would like to spotlight but if I was to narrow it down to three it would be:
Robert Jesse - Fashion designer and creator of PRSNL.Hobby @prsnl.hb
Maxamillian Hofgartner - Videographer and Co Founder of Frame of Mind @the.frameofmind
Shana Marie - Graphic designer @shanamarie.jpg
You've also applied your artistic style to create custom clothing and epic Doc Martens designs. What's your advice for those who want to personalise their stuff?
My advice would be if you ever have an idea about customising clothing or shoes and don't know where to start, research on youtube beforehand. There are lots of tutorials that show different techniques you may use to customise your pieces in the way you would like to. Since I was young I always dreamt of having collaborations with established brands.
One smoothie or pressed juice in the morning. A morning walk which usually lasts about 30 mins and no social media until 11am unless it's necessary. I found from the first lockdown that it's the small things and having a daily morning routine that can dictate and set the mood I'm in for the rest of that day. With all the constant restrictions and changes happening at the moment it's important to create a clean environment. If that means cleaning your room or office space or making sure you're eating clean and drinking enough water.
What's the best advice you’ve been given?
“You can never fall if you stay grounded”, it's a phrase my late Grandad used to tell me. I've always remained appreciative of people and opportunities that come my way.
3 creatives you’d like to spotlight...
There are quite a lot of emerging artists that I would like to spotlight but if I was to narrow it down to three it would be:
Robert Jesse - Fashion designer and creator of PRSNL.Hobby @prsnl.hb
Maxamillian Hofgartner - Videographer and Co Founder of Frame of Mind @the.frameofmind
Shana Marie - Graphic designer @shanamarie.jpg
You've also applied your artistic style to create custom clothing and epic Doc Martens designs. What's your advice for those who want to personalise their stuff?
My advice would be if you ever have an idea about customising clothing or shoes and don't know where to start, research on youtube beforehand. There are lots of tutorials that show different techniques you may use to customise your pieces in the way you would like to. Since I was young I always dreamt of having collaborations with established brands.