ATIKA ART SPACE: JULY

Interview and photography by Veronika

This month, we are proud to present our third instalment of ATIKA Art Space, where we celebrate and feature one artist each month by giving them a gallery space in our store here in East London. This month’s residency is one we have been very excited to present to our Brick Lane visitors - and we can’t wait for you to see the art! Make sure you come by in-person, we promise it’s worth it.

Alfie Poelsing is a German-English artist-curator working in London. I am your lobster explores the struggle at the intersection of the artist's sexuality and religion, documenting moments of tension, reflection, questioning, and love in his relationship through digitally manipulated photographs.

I: What is your current work about?

My current work revolves around recent personal experiences, which I share through digital manipulation of photographs. These 'Digital Collages' are deeply personal and all reference a specific moment in my life,

the photographs usually being taken in that same moment. Whether these are feelings of belonging, joy, connection, or (more recently) tension, my work acts as a visual diary of revisited memories.

I: What feelings do you aim to evoke in viewers?

Because the work is so personal, I don't expect a specific reaction. Instead, I hope to express raw honesty with my work, which connects me with the viewer by providing a small glimpse into my life and experiences.

I: Is there a specific detail you hope viewers spend time with?

The titles. I put so much thought into the titles, and my work is not truly finished until I am happy to call it something. My titles are often metaphorical and offer an entry point into understanding my scenes, my feelings, or my actions at the time.

I: What does your creative process look like?

It starts with a photograph. There are no rules for a photograph's eligibility in terms of aesthetics, but I must be able to feel something when I am looking at it. I then digitally alter this photograph by experimenting in Photopea - a sometimes short, sometimes long process where I chip away until I find a composition I like. A lot of my compositions are scrapped at this stage, as they fail to evoke that 'glimpse into a memory' that I am looking for. Some of these are revisited, some I never touch again. The ones that make it through are then prepared for print. Being able to feel the work in my hands and not just on a screen is my favourite step, and so I very much consider the printing and framing of my work to be part of my creative process.

I: How do you decide when a piece is “finished”?

I can't describe it accurately, but it is a feeling. There is a moment when my fingers stop moving on the keyboard, and I just admire the image. I feel as though I have said all that I wanted to say with the piece. However, no piece is truly finished until it has a name. Sometimes this name is decided before I even begin working on it - sometimes it comes days after, but it must have one.

Make sure you don’t forget to pop by this month to see Alfie’s I am your lobster at ATIKA London, just off Brick Lane.

I am your lobster is only in-store for the month of July.