London-based artist Dom Sebastian has perfectly built his own visual universe, inhabited by Evian bottles, little cute Furbies, amazingly beautiful still lifes made of sponges and dish soap bottles, three nearly sold-out clothing lines, VHS videos, pastel colours, a few cool tracks on Soundcloud and much more. Still on his early twenties, he's one of those multidisciplinar artists whose artwork has been continuously shared online, to the point that it has just ended up looking familiar to everyone. We emailed the internet whizzkid to talk about living in London, switching disciplines at Central Saint Martins, his creative process and a collaboration with trap producer Hucci.
You recently moved to North London. How does living in The Big Smoke foster creativity?
Well, for cities in general there's always a sensory overload… Lots of visual cues. There are also some great opportunities and schemes for emerging artists and designers here.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed with too many inputs from other creative people living in the city, or too many things happening around you?
Not really. It’s good that there’re a lot of things going on!
Are you still a student at Central Saint Martins? What do you do there?
Yes, I’m studying Textile Design. I originally studied Graphic Design because I wanted to cover a range of disciplines, but actually felt it restrictive. I needed to focus more on one area.
Is the creative process something you struggle with or do things run smoothly? Where do you usually like to work?
It is usually a natural process, which varies a lot in timescale. Ideas will develop in my head for a few months before I start working on them. For me, I can’t really force the process, I don’t like rushing anything. Sometimes spontaneous projects can be more fruitful than overly prepared ones, there can be a greater sense of excitement with those that translates into the work.
I usually work in my studio at home, as well as at CSM. I prefer working in a quiet environment without lots of people around.
I usually work in my studio at home, as well as at CSM. I prefer working in a quiet environment without lots of people around.
Even though you produce art, music, clothes and graphic design, there’s an aesthetic cohesion among everything you create, almost as if they all were different elements of the same story. How did you find your very own identity as an artist?
The moment that, in a way, stimulated the creation of my collection of work was during my foundation year at CSM, whilst working on a project about visually communicating photosynthesis. The photographs I created just clicked with me, there was this sort of clinical yet surreal atmosphere – I knew that I wanted to create that same feeling again. I think from then I started to develop my visual identity.
"It’s kind of unsettling how the rapid spread of an image can result in the artist's credit getting lost on its journey across the internet. You end up seeing it being used on iPhone cases and stuff without permission."
Where do you find inspiration mostly?
Random objects or things I might see around London – usually small details of/about things will inspire me. Endless browsing on the internet -what I would describe as "hyperlink rabbit holes"-, stock photos, horror films, music and album artworks like Goldfrapp and M.I.A.'s have inspired me a lot. Right now I am listening to Boards of Canada’s Geogaddi. I’m also fascinated by the early stages of the internet and the advances of technology leading to the millennium.
Do you think the huge amount of information on the net leads to miss some great artists that might remain unknown despite their talent or originality?
I think it’s sort of the opposite actually – before the internet, I’m sure it was a lot harder to get people to see your work. It’s a pretty vital tool for sharing art.
The amount of information is overwhelming, but I think that’s what is so great about it as well. I always have to take a moment to remember what I was going to search or click on next, because of the info overload.
The amount of information is overwhelming, but I think that’s what is so great about it as well. I always have to take a moment to remember what I was going to search or click on next, because of the info overload.
How does it feel to have your work shared on the internet by so many people?
It’s fun, it’s a way of connecting with people across the world. But it’s kind of unsettling how the rapid spread of an image can result in the artist's credit getting lost on its journey across the internet. You end up seeing it being used on iPhone cases and stuff without permission. That’s happened to me a lot. There needs to be more respect towards artists’ property on the internet.
You teamed up with trap producer Hucci on the trackVision, which is one of the best things I heard last year. How did that collaboration come up?
Oh, thanks! Well, he first contacted me about doing the artwork for his album, and then he came across my one minute demo of Vision on Soundcloud – he loved it and wanted to collaborate with me on it.
Are you working on some new music at the moment?
Unfortunately not. I have moved away from making music at the moment, I’ve been focusing purely on textiles. I think I will come back to it in the future, I don’t know when though. I guess I’m just waiting for that moment of inspiration to pull me back into it.
