In the spirit of celebrating creativity, we ask talented individuals around the globe to fill our q&a on whats and hows of their creative process. This episode is dedicated to Anna Keville Joyce, Buenos Aires and NYC based food stylist charmed by conceptual food art and creative direction.
How would you describe what you do?
I’m asked to define my job/role/title often. But the truth is, it’s always evolving. Just like life, or no? In recent years I’ve learnt to embrace my deepest essence as an Artist and to playfully and joyfully apply that to all areas of work and expression — film, photography, direction, installation, events, birthday gifts, a good conversation. Being an Artist is a way of existing.
I like to work with things that are alive (food, plants, liquids…) and things that are beautiful (…everything, if you pay attention!). My work generally emphasizes conceptual thinking and unexpected viewpoints, both literally and figuratively.
I would say I’m a companion of Nature — she takes care of me, I take of her. We work together.
How did you get started?
My background is in Socio-Cultural Anthropology and Graphic Design. I quickly learned that I’m not designed for an office or computer-forward lifestyle. I then transitioned into Food Styling, which evolved into Conceptual Food Art and Creative Direction in its many forms. Now I just like to create — the wilder the better — and I’m grateful to have dynamic projects and marvelous people to collaborate with.
A strength or skill you value most:
Genuine curiosity.
One of your favourite projects you’ve worked on:
I love my projects. All of them.
A while back I worked on a personal experimental project called BARE/LY with my beautiful friend and colleague Mechi Lopez. We affectionately called this a “micro-short”, which is elegant code for it’s-super-expensive-to-film-personal-work-in-high-quality. The film is about visually exploring a point of anxiety — a honeycomb drip, an oversized bubble, a thin-rimmed glass. It’s one of a 3-part conceptual micro-short series based on adverbs: BARE/LY, CLEAR/LY, and OVER/LY. For now we just have the one, BARE/LY.
