Yonnie (Maryland) |
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Yonnie creates visually stimulating art pieces using photography, digital design, cinematography and music. The Elkton native is wildly unique and innovative in the way her art is so her. Categorizing Yonnie into one lane as a photographer or even visual artist is simply insulting due to her well-rounded line-blurring style that is bound to make an impression.
Interview by Casen Carr
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When did you recognize your creativity and talent? What sparked your creative vision?
I don't think I ever really, truly realized it. Even now at this current point in my life, I just do things I think of - I don’t like holding ideas in my mind. I want them out of my head and in the world. Thats where they come alive. Everything is something to me so I would say life itself sparks my creative vision. |
Do you feel like people have a harder time understanding your art compared to a painter or even a musician?
Art is perspective, so whatever understanding or misunderstanding that occurs during an individual’s experience is still a valid feeling and that’s what I'm aiming for. To actually make a person feel something through experience.
Art is perspective, so whatever understanding or misunderstanding that occurs during an individual’s experience is still a valid feeling and that’s what I'm aiming for. To actually make a person feel something through experience.
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When constructing a concept or idea, do you find yourself thinking about how it will be perceived? Is there value in either listening or not listening to outside perspectives and opinions when creating?
I really don’t get caught up in how it will be perceived, I focus more on executing and putting all of the pieces together. That’s the fun part. Sometimes I may ask someone close to me what they think about something I’m working on, not for their opinion but more-so for their reaction to whatever they see. How it makes them feel when they see it; emotionally. |
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You draw from many aspects and forms of art to capture the concept you envision. What did you first start out doing and what made you add other elements to your work?
This is a good question. ( laughs ) I actually started out as a rapper writing my own treatments to my videos - and then shooting them made me fall more in love with creative thinking. It pulled me into photography, creative direction, fashion etc.. Then I started to feel trapped in music, like I couldn’t fully express myself in that field. It was only 10% of what I’m truly capable of.
So I decided that no idea could be a bad idea if it’s executed in the right way, and I just started creating everything that I thought was dope ( in my opinion ), using everything I was already doing. Which brought me to this point in life and also to the conclusion that I was bigger than music. I’m an artist, and being an artist is never just one thing. It’s a million little things that make incredible things when you put them all together. Donald Glover, Tyler the Creator, Jaden Smith, Kanye West - these are all examples of that. It’s kind of like having super powers..
This is a good question. ( laughs ) I actually started out as a rapper writing my own treatments to my videos - and then shooting them made me fall more in love with creative thinking. It pulled me into photography, creative direction, fashion etc.. Then I started to feel trapped in music, like I couldn’t fully express myself in that field. It was only 10% of what I’m truly capable of.
So I decided that no idea could be a bad idea if it’s executed in the right way, and I just started creating everything that I thought was dope ( in my opinion ), using everything I was already doing. Which brought me to this point in life and also to the conclusion that I was bigger than music. I’m an artist, and being an artist is never just one thing. It’s a million little things that make incredible things when you put them all together. Donald Glover, Tyler the Creator, Jaden Smith, Kanye West - these are all examples of that. It’s kind of like having super powers..
What inspired you to format your art the way you do?
I don’t really think my art has a format, so I’m not really sure. I just create what I feel, what I think, what I see. Maybe subconsciously I am formatting it. In the future I might find the answer to that question.
I don’t really think my art has a format, so I’m not really sure. I just create what I feel, what I think, what I see. Maybe subconsciously I am formatting it. In the future I might find the answer to that question.
Accurately so, you use the words “intoxicating imagery” when describing your work. Do you aim to create this type of stimulating feeling for the viewer or is that simply something that your art causes?
I’m definitely always aiming for a vibe. I want people to think, feel, engage and wonder while experiencing my work. Like you can’t take it with you but it stays with you.
I’m definitely always aiming for a vibe. I want people to think, feel, engage and wonder while experiencing my work. Like you can’t take it with you but it stays with you.
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What album or songs have you recently added to your rotation?
As of right now I’m listening to a lot of IGOR, ERYS, Whack World, 444, Beyonce Homecoming, and Future. Not in any particular order. ( laughs )
As of right now I’m listening to a lot of IGOR, ERYS, Whack World, 444, Beyonce Homecoming, and Future. Not in any particular order. ( laughs )
Where did the name YonnieMcfly come from?
I really just go by Yonnie. I added the Mcfly because Marty Mcfly was so cool like with the flying skateboard, Doc as a big homie, time travel. That’s just so fire. So I feel like Mcfly represents imagination. It’s a reminder that anything is possible.
I really just go by Yonnie. I added the Mcfly because Marty Mcfly was so cool like with the flying skateboard, Doc as a big homie, time travel. That’s just so fire. So I feel like Mcfly represents imagination. It’s a reminder that anything is possible.
