Luci Pina exploring the dynamic nature of hip hop through illustration
Illustration By Luci Pina
Luci Pina is a Leeds based illustrator and image maker who recently graduated from Leeds arts uni. Collaging together her influences during the research process she ends up with beautiful tapestries of visual culture - this Featured work is an investigation of old school hip hop albums, exploring Nas' Illmatic [1994], MF DOOM's MM FOOD [2004] and Mos Def & Talib Kweli's Black Star [1998].
"This project is a research based investigation of the 3 albums I looked at and it involved diving into imagery and context relating to each record; so I drew a lot in response to lyricism, documentaries and music videos. I collect any relevant type, images and text which in combination with my drawing responses begins to create visual identity for each album. I tend to combine those different elements quite organically, putting things together and collaging using the photocopier and sort of seeing what happens! It's a process that works for me because it allows me to work intuitively which I love, and aesthetically it makes my work feel layered and lively which expresses the energy of the research process.
It's a special project for me because the nature of hip hop itself ended up shaping my practice; there's a sweet parallel between sampling and my creative process with both being about collecting and combining different elements of other people's stuff to make your own thing."
