Selma

Kool Kat Surviving Small Talk 

The Kool Kat: Yellow, I'm back. I'm here with Selma, the GOAT, the one and only, the fucking mastermind behind the craft, Selma!

Selma: Hello

The Kool Kat: So, it's been a long time actually. a very long time. 

Selma:Yeah, Its been like half a year?

The Kool Kat: yeah id say that like seven, six months Yeah, actually, that's a long time So, the first question I have for you is 

(y’all can never catch me saying 67, oh…… DOH!)

Question 1 

whenever you pick up your paintbrush, do you always set out on making something beautiful or is it more go with the flow? 

Selma: I'm going to sound conceited, but it's like on the inside, I have this confidence that I know that whatever I make will be good in the end. So when I pick up the paintbrush, I'm just thinking how best I can describe what I'm seeing with paint. That's what I'm thinking.

The Kool Kat: So you've been in the art game for practically your whole life now.

Selma : Yeah

The Kool Kat: so art baby. Fuck a crack baby, we got an art baby in the building.

Selma : haha

Question 2 

So what do you want from art now? Like, besides exhibitions and besides like... You know, just painting for academia and stuff. What else do you want from the medium? Do you want to travel more, explore more, try different techniques, different art forms? Like what's the next direction for your career?

Selma: That's a big question. 

The Kool Kat:Take your time 

Selma: There's this artist I really love called Colleen Barry…….There's this artist I love called Colleen Barry 

The Kool Kat: Oh nice 

Selma:  and she's my favourite artist.

The Kool Kat:  What's she do?

Selma : She does oil painting like me. She focuses a lot on the female figure. But her level of skill and refinement and attention to detail is almost obsessive. Like, she's so deep in her craft that she's only getting better. Do you know what I mean? Like, after doing it for, like, what, 30 years, she's still so obsessed with what she does. I want to be like that. I want to be like her and, like, refine my skills to that level where I'm like, okay, I'm... There's nothing this is this is impeccable like i want to be impeccable

The Kool Kat: Yeah, and you will

Selma: yeah i will

The Kool Kat: mean like oh my bad i gotta take the mic away for a second i mean like that's the that's the whole idea really and like the main thing love your craft you know i saw one stupid ass comment like it's like last week she said um “job your love” it means nothing but i know what shes saying just like love what you do 

Selma : YEAHHH

The Kool Kat: you know?

Selma : yessss

Question 3

in the sense of like innovating your crafts what would that look like in the next like you know even a year or even like six months what do you want to do art wise that is different from what you do now

Selma: well um because i'm still my heart is still a lot with fashion and i make bags as a hobby um but they're very funky and i i want to get into like making bags but from a fine art perspective 

The Kool Kat: mmmmmmm

Selma: like a sculptural uh undulating patterny fucking thing that looks really cool that's what i want to make um but also don't don't forget like i'm still with the painting 

The Kool Kat: Yeah, of course!

Selma: Painting is in my arsenal like as you said like i can't stop with that

The Kool Kat: you cant stop it's your life

Selma: it's my life ha ha it's my life 

The Kool Kat: ITS LITTERALLY YOUR LIFE. um i have a friend he's very good at painting very cool guy and um oh lemme if you get tired your hand? 

Selma : nah nah 

The Kool Kat: um and like he's doing um neuroscience as a main like thing for school but he paints all the time but like you can do both at the same time if you want to you know but just make time because me like i do a couple things at the same time but like it doesn't mean i love anything less than i love the other thing just means that I make time for that thing specifically. And I think one thing that helps a lot is planning ahead of time. So maybe you plan for two paintings, take a break and do something else. Because I saw something as well online, it was like, Olympic athletes, if they only focus on their sports, they get very bored. So that's why they have many hobbies, you know, to keep them driven to be the best athlete they can be. Same thing with anything you do, really. Even if you're not obsessive-creative, even if work your job to keep you alive while doing your fucked up or your boring job, you've got to do some different hobbies. seeing your friends and etc. So I feel like it all adds together.

Selma: Yeah, I gotta cook. I gotta... I love cooking. 

The Kool Kat: I can't cook for shit. I want to learn how to cook.

Selma: You can't cook?

The Kool Kat: For shit

Selma: Did your mom like cook for you when you were little?

The Kool Kat: Yeah, for me... She made food but I wasnt there. I was I was in a different room. 

Selma : Oh. Yeah, dude. Dude, you have to get on it. Find you a lady who can cook and teach you how to cook.

The Kool Kat: Uh i'm taking my time with that one

Selma: You'll feel your skin clear up and like your body feel better when you eat good food 

The Kool Kat: I’ve eaten bad food for the past-

Selma: What are you eating 

The Kool Kat: pizza and shit, man i had my McDonald’s before i came here actually 

Selma:did you? haha 

The Kool Kat: yeah, like i'm working out way more now but besides that i'm not eating good food 

Selma: Oh, dude i need to get back in the gym

Question 4

So you have that confidence when it comes to painting, but like when did you develop that confidence? Like what age and what piece defined your ability to paint really well?

Selma: Well, my granddad first introduced me to painting cause he did it as a hobby for a long time. He does abstract, but a bit of figuration. He's really talented. So I used to fiddle around in his paint room. And I used to just fuck around with it. I used to just do some abstract stuff. And then I just kept going with it. And then he introduced me to oil paint. And then I was like, I fell in love with it when I was 12 years old, I think. And then I would do like an oil portrait a week.

The Kool Kat: aww nice

Selma: Until I was maybe 16.

The Kool Kat: The oil portraits were like, the subject matter, was it like family or like anything you liked?

Selma: Umm, the subject... They were just people I found on Pinterest, to be honest.

The Kool Kat: oh nicee

Selma: Yeah, like all artists, we start out looking for inspiration in other places. So just cool looking people attracted me. A key person who was really inspirational was this person on Instagram called Ugly Worldwide or Giselle Zanotti.

The Kool Kat: haha Okay, I'll check em out.

Selma: Yeah, you have to. The way that she expresses herself on her body is just mesmerising to me.

The Kool Kat: Nice.

Selma: Like the way she adorns herself, the way she styles her hair, does crazy makeup, crazy earrings. Like she was heavily inspired by the club kids of the nineties who are these people who took self-expression to the next level. Like they would go out at night, completely change their identities from the outside and transform into this character who's like larger than life, kind of like drag.

The Kool Kat: OH SICK!!

Selma: So that's what, that kind of energy, that playfulness. Is really inspiring to me. So that's the kind of thing that I was looking for in subjects that I would paint.

The Kool Kat: Hell yeah! I mean, I feel like your body is like a piece of art itself, you know?

Selma: Yes! 

The Kool Kat: it literally is. Because I saw, I read a quote about fashion and like your body from rick owen and he was like, you can make,have like kind the best clothes and the best outfits but like if your body isn't like the main thing that you want to display to the world then the fit's not really a fit, you know? It's incomplete 

Selma: yess it does 

The Kool Kat: You gotta cater to what you look like you know?

Interviewer: You've got to dress to what you look like, you know?

Selma: Exactly. 

The Kool Kat: And enhance your features already,

Selma: mhmmmm

The Kool Kat: you know? So you cooked.

Selma: Thank you i cooked 

The Kool Kat: nicee

Selma: haha

5 mins later

Selma: I think umm something to do with what I plan to do in the future and art and stuff is like, art and your practice is a living thing. 

The Kool Kat:mmmmmmm

Selma: And it sustains itself. 

The Kool Kat: mmmmm

Selma: So you make something, you're happy with it, what do I like about this? And then you use that to springboard onto the next thing. 

The Kool Kat: exactly 

Selma: So it keeps recycling, feeding itself. But I'm wondering if I've come to a point where I've recycled too much.

The Kool Kat: You can't recycle too much. You know why? Nothing's original. Like, not to take away from your art form, but, like, everything has been done. But it's about doing it your own way. Everything has been done, bro. Like... Like... You can recycle the themes that you did years ago. But because you're older, you can add more depth to it than you did before. There's so many possibilities with art. Art is like a jungle. You can't tame it. You've got to just like... 

Selma: bars

The Kool Kat:  I try, you know, I try. I've been interviewing some rappers recently.

Selma: Really? ha ha 

The Kool Kat: yeahhh ha ha 

Selma: They're influencing that shit. 

The Kool Kat: Theres a guy that I interviewed called Shawty Pimp.

Selma: Shawty Pimp? ha ha ha 

The Kool Kat:  He actually makes good music ha ha 

Selma: What the hell ha?

The Kool Kat: No, but like, just like... Embrace the unknown like and just embrace what could come next even if you don't know it's you know? it's scary but like it's kind of fun at the same time 

Selma:to be fair though i never planned more than a day in advance i feel like i should plan my year out tho

The Kool Kat:  No, no, no, don't plan your whole year out, but plan certain... Go baby steps. 

Selma: Okay. 

The Kool Kat: Because for me, I have ADHD,so I have to take medication for my ADHD as well. 

Selma: ha ha ha 

The Kool Kat: It's really bad. But right now, I'm off my pills, as you can see. 

Selma: ha ha ha I wasn't going to say anything. 

The Kool Kat: ha ha but just take baby steps and it will all come to fruition. Because if you plan everything ahead... Man ain't nothing gonna be done like because like if it's so precise you can't you can't account for like stuff that maybe that you might be late for or the things that you cannot afford at that month you know just plan what you can 

Selma: true true true also um my future plans in the summer i'm planning to go to malaysia 

The Kool Kat: oh fuck yeah! 

Selma: to again to paint a mural so -

The Kool Kat: What’s the topic?

Selma: So I have this series called Stance. 

The Kool Kat: Okay.

Selma: You know the one with the pointy hats? 

The Kool Kat: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Selma: That one. So I was going to do like a version of that but really huge.  Across this like, I think it's like an eight meter wall.

The Kool Kat: Oh, fuck!

Selma: By two meters. Yeah. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be in the center of Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. 

The Kool Kat: I'm looking forward to that for real.

Question 5

The next question I have for you isssss with your work, do you intend to do more humanitarian art pieces? And how would humanitarian work best align with your own goals as a person and artistically?

Selma: Whoa okayy So-

The Kool Kat: … Sorry, because I saw you paint umm… 

Selma:The Gurkha Welfare Trust.

The Kool Kat: Exactly, exactly.

Selma: Yeah.

The Kool Kat: I hope it's recording? Okay, cool. 

Selma:Yeah, yeah, it's recording.

Selma: Yeah, so that project for the Gurkha Welfare Trust was in the works for about a year. So... maybe nepo baby, but my dad, he works for the organisation as a charity. He doesn't get paid for it. And he asked if I could make a painting for them, for them to auction, to give to charity. And I was like, hell yeah, like… we will get our name out there but these people in Nepal they havent been given a pention fund after working for the british army for years you know?

The Kool Kat: Oh

Selma: It’s bad! its bad and thier left in abject porvety they dont have money to sustain themselves 

The Kool Kat: deep sigh

Selma: To feed themselves 

The Kool Kat: OH lord sigh

Selma: To farm you know? So they need it 

The Kool Kat: Typical British

Selma: Yeah, typical British and now they're like taking the credit for like having this trust fund and I mean yeah of course support but also like they don't acknowledge where they went wrong. 

The Kool Kat: Yeah, and like what they you know the how to say this now the effects of what they caused people you know their lives you know it's really a shame. 

Selma: It is a shame, it is a shame. 

Question 6

In terms of like, Aligning with what you represent as a person morally, how would you, you know, make your work individualised in a humanitarian sense?

Selma: Wow, I haven't thought about that.

The Kool Kat: That's fine too. 

Selma:  Like, you mean working for charities and things?

The Kool Kat:  Yeah, but like, you know, some charities can be bullshit sometimes. Not all charities, like, you know, like... 

Selma: Like, I feel like oftentimes it can be very superficial. 

The Kool Kat:  Yeah. 

Selma: Like, it doesn't feel heartfelt. 

The Kool Kat: Yeah, of course. 

Selma: And anything I do, I'd want it to feel like it was coming from a place of significance for me.

The Kool Kat: Exactly. That's wonderful. I mean, like, again, charity's not bad. Charity's a lovely thing. But, like, I'm more, um, nitpicking how it's run most times in the sense of, like maybe its, like, uh, orphanage now and the kids are not getting the money that they're meant to have and it's all fucked up and corrupt. Obviously people don't know everything behind the scenes but like you can get a picture when you see them in person and everything you know? But that's what I really meant.

Selma: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no. The corruption is real. In Malaysia, 

dog attack

Selma: There you go. So there are these Islamic schools and orphanages and stuff. And with those, they have imams running, people looking after them, but they found out that a lot of the kids were being abused sexually by men 

The Kool Kat: AHHHHHH

selma: And also little boys, little girls, and it's just disgraceful.

The Kool Kat: DAMNN

Selma: It's outrageous. And my auntie, she's set up a charity to... Relocate these children to make it safer because really like you have these places in the name of Allah and you're disrespecting it like you're not helping the name of Islam like people already are not a fan of Muslims 

The kool kat: of course kmt damn

Selma: and that just makes it so much worse

The Kool Kat: Look man, look, if I'm being real with you, if a pedophile, he shouldn't be killed, he should be castrated. And locked up in his cell, at the bottom of the prison 

Selma: For real

The Kool Kat:You know how bad it is- ugh GOD FORBID But like, ugh that's fucking terrible. But like, in reality, that's what happens to all these people, all these kids. It's very, very sad. And because, you know-  it's a tangent, but like, 

Selma: yeah it is a tangent 

The kool kat: no no no not with this but what im gonna say next it's like serial killers and sex workers it's very weird tangent but like sex workers are very uh vulnerable because you can pick em up and just you know? “etc” but like no one cares about them too much to report their crimes and if you're in an orphanage you know if you're a kid with no parents like who's going to back you besides the people running the orphanages you know 

Selma:  yeah yeah 

The Kool Kat:  so it is fucked up very fucked up 

Selma: I don't know. I feel like that wasn't like a good answer to the humanitarian question.

The Kool Kat:  No, it was a very good answer. I mean, for me, like, it's about being yourself. You know, I don't want you to be fucking, I don't know, man. Karl Marx, you know? Just be yourself, 

Selma: ha ha yeah

The Kool Kat: you know? 

Selma:Yeah.

Question 7

So the question I have for you next is what was the first painting that didn't get the reception that you thought it would and how did that change your outlook on painting and creativity and does that feeling still linger here and there when you do create your work?

Selma: hmmmm Yes the the painting that i'm thinking of right now is stance number two that one

The Kool Kat: oh nice oooo fucking nice!

Selma: that's uh like this 

The Kool Kat oof GOD have mercy 

Selma: and i just thought like that this was like the most organic and um creative that i felt in a long time.

The Kool Kat: mhmm

Selma: I like painted the background this neon green which was like so ugly and like unconventional and then but I wanted to resolve it. So I put some like muted colors on top and I thought I was so proud of it. And I was like, this is the best thing I've ever made. But I think other people like didn't feel that it was as like amazing as it was in my head. Um, and like, obviously that sucks, but also I disagree like every time, uh, when they say stuff like that, because like, I know that this is the artistic vision that I have, and this is the direction that it's going, and I feel like even if you don't believe in it right now, I feel like it's really strong so you know, fuck you.

The Kool Kat: First of all, I say right now, fuck all those people! I mean, if they're your friends, I mean, they're good. But like ha ha , this is fucking sick. You know what's funny about your work now? This picture right here. This one right here. It's someone like fucking Teoni made this. “Whoa, groundbreaking”. It's all about your name. And like, even if you're the biggest person in the world or like, your not that big, the main thing is that you make good work

Selma: yeahhh

The Kool Kat: You know and  that you know you make good work everyone else's opinion about you work is just- honestly it's like it's like tissues in a trash bag 

Selma: yeah

The Kool Kat: because it fills up it doesn't mean, it means anything you know?

Selma: yeah yeah exactly exactly and the thing with this piece was it was so like emotional- it was sentimental and it related a lot to my um identity because the background is something called “drusumalin” which is the traditional art form in Malaysia.

Selma: shit, shit, shit, let me start that again. 

The Kool Kat: Okay take your-

Selma: This painting was sentimental because the pattern in the background, so I was playing with patterns, like how that relates to my family and where we come from and stuff. So the background is called Ruh Samaling, which is the traditional Norwegian art form. And what I'm wearing is called the kabaya.

The Kool Kat: Oh, sick!

Selma: Which is the Malaysian national dress. And the pose is kind of awkward. It's like I don't feel comfortable in this skin, like of this culture that I say I'm from, but really I'm not as close to it. And the patterns they clash. So it's like the cultures are clashing, the identities are clashing. That's why I was so proud of it.

The Kool Kat: Nah, it's really beautiful. I won't lie to you, my rule with work or any kind of artwork, is that if its cool It's cool and you explaining the work should be expanding on the work itself, not just, you know, trying to cover up how bad it is.

Selma: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stop waffling. 

The Kool Kat: Exactly.

Selma: Stop waffling. Half the time, people just waffle.

The Kool Kat:  Yeah, which is a shame. This is fucking sick, man. Like...

Question 8

How do your family and friends play into your creativity in the sense of when you paint or when you sculpture, how do they influence your work? And how do you represent that appreciation or that influence in your life through your paintings?

Selma: Ohhh, this is a big question. Well, the first thing I'd say about that is like the energy. Like I'd say my family is quite cheeky.

The Kool Kat: Okay, nice. That's cute.

Selma: Yeah, yeah. I think were cheeky, a good sense of humor is always necessary.

The Kool Kat: I can tell from your work. 

Selma: Yeah Yeah, yeah. It's playful. That's what I'm trying to get across. 

The Kool Kat: Playful, but it still has the message delivered well.

Selma: Yeah, yeah. It's grounded in a strong visual language. Not to sound like a wanker, 

The Kool Kat: wanker ke?

Selma: But that's how I feel.

The Kool Kat: That's why people go to school for. Learn good language. Come on, say the words you learned in school. 

Selma: Period. I went to fucking school, mate. 

The Kool Kat: That's what I'm saying.

Selma: Yeah, the other part, like how my family inspired me, they become the subject of my work. 

The kool kat: NICE

Selma: So my most recent painting called Our Mothers “Who Hold Up the Sky” , that has my grandma and her sisters in it from my father's side. 

The Kool Kat: awww

Selma: And that painting is quite sentimental because I wanted to talk about heritage, inheritance, the respect and love and time it takes to raise a family, not even a family, but two generations of families. And I think often the women's work in the house and child raising and cooking and cleaning, it goes unnoticed too often. So I wanted to put them on a pedestal 

Selma pets a dog

Selma: And show them how much I love them and respect them. I wanted to portray them as these huge giants, larger than mountains. And then the background is the sky, so they're kind of like in the sky, you know? Huge, huge people, huge personalities, very funny people. So... That's how they inspire me. Just want to owe it to them.

The Kool Kat: Shout-outs to the family, for real, man. 

Selma: Shout-out to Stella, my grandma.

The Kool Kat: Aw. She's the gaot, for real. 

Selma: She is.

The Kool Kat: But that's a wonderful answer. Thank you for sharing that.

Selma: Thank you

The Kool Kat: That was very nice 

The Kool Kat: Okay, last question, then we are on the road again. 

Question 9

Are you a procrastinator? And if you are, how does that affect your creativity and your time into planning and creating your masterpieces?

Selma: I am not a procrastinator. 

The Kool Kat: Oh, that's good

Selma: I like to have something On the cooker constantly and if I'm not doing something I will break down. 

The Kool Kat: mmmmmmm

Selma: Like I always need to have my hands busy It's really annoying. It's almost like I can't relax, you know? And whether that's self-esteem related or if it's productivity related or just for the love of the game!

The Kool Kat: whispers For the love of the game. 

Selma: For the love of the game ha ha That's why I'm always making stuff. If I procrastinate, I'll just get really stressed, you know? Don't be doing that.

The Kool Kat: Yeah i was gonna add to that what does your breakdown look like? because for me like

Selma: ha ha ha 

The Kool Kat: no i didn’t- sorry for this if it's too personal but for me the way i break down is how like a 40-year-old man would break down when they're tired. like i just like go ghost i just lock in in my room im not sad i'm just like trying to reflect on what to do better

Selma: yeahhhh

The Kool Kat: while just trying to sink in everything you know what i'm saying

Selma: Yeah, yeah, it's like you're constantly like lashing yourself, like punishing yourself for not being good enough. It's like the pressure on yourself is so high that you just crumble. Like your expectations are too high. And usually I'll just be in my room, like getting hella anxious about nothing. That's how it looks. 

The Kool Kat: You know, like, I won't say lashing myself, I would say- ah before I was a slave, but, I'm joking ha ha 

Selma woah woah!

The Kool Kat: im joking ha ha 

Selma: Pause, pause, pause pause! 

The Kool Kat: mane i dont give a fuck 

Selma: ha ha 

(don’t cancel my homegirl, yall)

The Kool Kat: No, but now it's like, I want the best for myself, in the sense of….. imagine like, having a child, you want the best for your child, so how do I like, like, learn the skills to do better next time for that person? Wait. Low-key my inner child you know what i'm saying

Selma: mhmmm

The Kool Kat:but like how do i develop my skills and i'm not even angry  i'm not even stressed i'm just more so contemplating what to do next in the best way possible and while like trying to heal from what i went through you know?

Selma: but are you stressed whilst you're contemplating or are you like chilling

The Kool Kat:I’m anxious

Selma: you're anxious

The Kool Kat: i'm anxious not even stressed it's funny because i'm i get stressed often but not the kind were i cant do anything just more so

Selma: Like I need to do everything all at once.

The Kool Kat: Yeah yeah,exactly exactly. But you can’t, you know?. You can't, man. 

Selma: No, you can't.

The Kool Kat:  But you can do what you can now.

Selma: Yeah, it's like accepting that you're only human.

The Kool Kat: Exactly. 

Selma: You can't be Superman.

The Kool Kat:  But you can be the best version of yourself. 

Selma: Period. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

The Kool Kat: So, guys, that's the end of the interview. Bye-bye, guys, take care