We had the good fortune of connecting with Tinks Lovelace and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tinks, how do you think about risk?
If we are defining risk as ‘the uncertainty of things we may hold of value, often to undesirable consequences’, in my work it’s played a big role.

I was getting lots of money to art and creative direct or shoot projects for clients, and the budgets were nice and big, I was scared to take a risk, to believe in myself or my artistic voice and to push them and myself into something we hadn’t done before, If we’ve made a success of one type of aesthetic, it’s tough to grow or push that, the resistance to risk is big, we may like to use the latest hype or visual style as inspiration but the steps towards getting in that space creatively isn’t as straight forward or met with hype, there’s a lot of working it out and perceived failure along the way.

I started pushing myself in my personal work, I tried to analyse why I ‘liked’ or related to things, I broke down how I consumed images, peeled back my visual eye to see where it was coming from on a subconscious level. We are subsumed with images all day long and with a ‘like’ button underneath everything, we’re sort of forced into how to relate to them. I wanted to make sure I really understood my visual programming and become acutely aware of how the process is formed for myself. I also created things just to access risk, to challenge myself, when the pressure of big budgets wasn’t on me so I felt more comfortable to do that more often when it was. For years, I did my own projects, funding on my own, directing and producing entire shows or films and doing every element from writing, to set and costume design, pushing myself to my perceived limits for the sake of never feeling the emotion of ‘playing it safe’ and to uncover more of my voice. I still do it often, I am in competition with no one but myself, this is both a blessing and a curse. I am so hungry to be better than I just was. Risk does all that.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It’s been an interesting journey, one that continues to reveal itself. It’s sort of the ride of my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way, some incredible highs and big lows. No one tells you for how big the highs you reach you may also hit the lows equivalent of that. That’s the price I pay for being ambitious and present with everything I do. I feel it all and I wouldn’t change a single thing. It’s humbling to work on the projects I do. I pinch myself daily.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well Stories Books & Cafe is the shiz

Also Echo Park Film Center is the best, I practically learnt to edit there.

I’m super into cooking right now as my mum got me a new cookbook so for amazing ingredients I would say Indian Spices & Groceries on Pico in the westside can’t be beaten.

Hasiba also on the westside is incredible, it’s a hummusiya, and man do I love hummus. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park bought my first zine when I was obsessively making zines and cold pitching them to any book shop that would look at me, so I’ll love them forever for that, plus it’s just a lovely place to go to, fab books, great assortment of tea, alcohol, little stage in the back. What more could you want?

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