A self-taught artist, Raphaël Vicenzi aka mydeadpony has been widely recognized for his illustrations and watercolour techniques influenced by fashion, street art and graffiti. As Vue Privée‘s Artist of the Month, Raphaël Vicenzi reveals his interpretations of the codes of fashion illustration, which are often a reflection of his personal experiences or literature. With top commercial agency Colagene representing him, and publications like Illustration Now 3, The Beautiful, The New Age of Feminine Drawing that have featured his works, Raphaël Vicenzi is at the forefront of the illustration movement.

Why the name mydeadpony?

When I was about five years old, I had this picture of myself sitting on a little white pony on the Belgian coastline and I was pulling a long face because I was so scared of it. I remember kicking and screaming because I just didn’t want to be on it. It looked like a huge beast to me. It was years later that I found this picture, and these memories came back to me – the pony must have been dead by then. At that time , I needed a nickname because I was starting to put my work up on deviantART and mydeadpony came to me in a flash. It was only until later that I realized that there was so much more underneath this sad and odd name. The name just stuck after that. In a way it also represents my childhood; the people, things and emotions that have been lost. It also carries a note of positivity that can be only found in the acceptance that things don’t last forever, including myself.

What made you decide to pick up design?

I always knew I wanted to something artistic although I did not know what I could do. I tried cinematography and music but wasn’t really good at either one of those. It was only much later that I realized I could work with computers and I started to dabble with graphic design. But because everything was self-taught, it took me time and a lot of effort to learn and build a visual eye.

How do your mediums of illustration differ?

I use photoshop as my main tool but I also use scanned watercolours, acrylic paints, markers, textures and so on to build my images.

Is there a particular one that you enjoy using most?

Any technique really, even if it might feel awkward, its still great. I prefer to use Photoshop because it allows me try out different things and make changes to a piece I’m working on. I do enjoy the process of making drips of paint and splatters a lot, and I love the randomness and unexpected results it can produce.

How did you derive at your current style?

I was really impressed by the early works of Vault49 and Anthony Micallef and that gave me the impetus to try it out myself. From there I felt that it would be fun to mix fashion imagery with social comments or my personal thoughts for that contrast. It still is an ongoing process. I’m also interested in street art, collages, typography and paintings so I mix all these influences cohesively and add my own perspectives and emotions to them.

Your work contains various written messages. Describe in further detail what some of these messages mean.

These messages are actually snapshots of my thought process; it can be an emotion from a book or an article that I just read. I try to express these thoughts in visual forms as best as I can. Quite often, there are many different layers of interpretations to what I do, and sometimes I’m not even aware of it; there are some connections that I make between the images and words that stem from my subconscious mind. My Black Death illustration for example is a loose reference to the medieval black death; and how smokers should avoid the habit. I shop therefore I am is about our sense of personality – consumerism partially makes us who we think we are, sometimes causing us to desperately grab on to something that is meaningless. I always try to stay open to new ideas or directions as I work because little details or words can create or reveal new meanings to me.

You once mentioned that you live by the philosophy, Life is Religion, could you elaborate on what that means?

That’s actually a quote from Laura Knight Jadcyk. I don’t believe in any of the gods promoted by ‘official’ religions but I am spiritual. Everything we do leads to either a step toward a higher or lower plane; the challenge is identifying which is which, sometimes depending on the context of the situation. I try to reflect this in my work, mostly using feminine figures to show how things are always not as they seem. Besides that, I also live by the motto of staying humble; being grateful to my success and failures.

Literature, visual imagery, articles and your reflections are all inspirations of your work. What’s one experience, article or memory that has stuck with you?

Discovering Ray Gun magazine. When I saw it, I was so thrilled by the possibilities of what could be created using images and typography. It triggered something in me that has lead me to where I am today.

In your view, what’s the role of art in society?

That’s a complex question for which I don’t have a clear answer. But in my humble opinion, art should make people want to do great things, aspire to become better people; it should make us think or simply stop us in our tracks and just look at it in awe. Sadly, although that’s not always the case, but then again, there are a wide variety of styles and mediums that each person can appreciate and relate to. I’m always looking for things that inspire me, not necessarily in art, but just from the way people express themselves.

If there was one person you could work with, whether dead or alive, who would it be and why?

It’s hard to choose really. It would have been great to work for Alexander McQueen; or William-Adolphe Bouguereau so he could teach me how to paint. There are way too much artists with whom I’d like to spend time with, that is, if they’re nice people of course!