An Artist's POV: Lomo'Instant Automat and Malaysian Artist Bono Stellar

Accomplished Malaysian artist Nawwar Shukriah Ali, who prefers to go by the name Bono Stellar, built her own design agency in 2010. Today, Stellar Studio and Stellar Design boasts a luxurious list of collaborators and has grown into event organization.

She tested the Lomo'Instant Automat amid her busy schedule and had a quick chat with us about her experience.

What is your origin story as an artist?

I was exposed to arts at a very young age by my mother who was an art teacher, growing up outside the city had forced me to create as I didn't have much access to fancy toys or entertainment. So my entertainment was drawing and creating things out of random things. I studied architecture while doing arts as a hobby then and opened my own boutique called Stellar, and by accident, I got into Interior Design, arts and other design projects.

How would you describe your art style?

I don't have a limit to a specific style because I like to experiment with materials, function, and composition. So my work ranges from painting murals, art installations, set design and art direction for music videos and advertisements, and I think most of them were influenced by the art movements/era that I was into like (Pop art, Bauhaus or Art Deco, the '80s) or adapting to depending on the theme of each project. I like to challenge myself every time with experimental piece with a play of colors or fun elements to create a sense of experience to people through my work.

What/Who do you consider as the greatest influence in your craft?

My mom would be my first influence, she was really passionate and creative, architecture did influence me in most of my work I think especially in composing shapes and balancing my art and design, but I always believe that we should not limit ourselves to only one medium or person to get inspired, so it's always good to keep an open mind to new things that can always spark ideas like how music can also inspire you, or Michel Gondry's work to stage lighting set at concerts.

How do you develop your skills and artistic eye?

It's a never ending learning process, and that's the best part because I will always keep developing new skills slowly and adapting those things again in new projects while merging that with new ideas. So it's always evolving and I have also learned from my mistakes or my past projects and keep aiming to create better.

What is the theme/story behind this shoot?

I was facing a rough time during the shoot with work, life, and relationship, so most of them are about my surroundings and my studio, my daily activities to heal myself, on how to self-love and tell yourself that it's okay to feel these feelings and acknowledging it. That in the end you'll still have yourself to love, your being, and your mind to comfort you and I'm lucky to still have support from people around me. It's about being human, accepting and learning from mistakes, hoping that I can be stronger when faced with all the challenges in life and do more with life.

Is this your first time shooting in instant film format? Tell us a little more about your Lomo'Instant Automat experience.

Yes, it was my first time and it was quite fun to experiment with the multi exposures. My first few shots were not so good but then I experimented with few ideas and stories for each photo and shared some emotions in few of them.

Do you have ongoing or upcoming projects that you would like to tell the community about?

Lately, I've been working on few art installations and I'm planning to start working on personal projects and paintings soon. I'm hoping to do a solo show after I'm done with all the art pieces. I've also started a new platform for creatives in Malaysia which is called Make It Happen, to educate and share with people on the creative process and more. We've had 2 Make It Happen exhibitions this year and planning on another one happening in October.

Check out Bono's website and Instagram accounts: nawwarshukriahali, stellardesign, and makeithappen.my for more of her work.

written by crissyrobles on 2017-08-20