For my first 'interview' I got to ask 23 year old artist and photographer Lisa, also known as @HotStreet and currently @HotstreetHD on instagram, a series of questions that gives insight into how Michael inspires her, her creative mind and more!
F: Let’s get into it! How long have you been a Michael fan, where did this journey begin for you?
L: Well, the journey officially began in 2005 when I was on a family summer vacation trip in Spain and stayed at a hotel. I was still a very young girl. The entertainment team from that hotel held a “Michael Jackson night” and played the HIStory teaser on a big screen. I watched it and was so amazed by it as the entire video just showcased how much power Michael held and the admiration of his fans. I was so in focus and it was the first time I properly saw the face, the man behind the music that I had always known.
The video gave me the impression he had a certain power that he seemed to use for good cause. In that moment, something clicked in my brain and I wanted to figure out what it was that he had that was so special. I knew I was a fan from that moment on.
I had always known his music all my life, but from that moment on, I REALLY started getting into it. Around that time YouTube’s platform wasn’t as huge as it is now, and barely had any of Michael’s short films on it. But it did have quite an amount of J5 and Jacksons content on there, so I started watching more and more of that. And eventually became even a bigger fan.
I understood his aura and it was clear to me that he was very powerful and seemed to be good-hearted, which made me fall for him even more. That was confirmed when I discovered the humanitarian side of him.
F:Have you always been interested in the arts or did that evolve with being a Michael fan
L: I’ve been drawing since I was around 4, so Michael was not the base or main inspiration of that for me. Art has always been a huge part of my life, a part of me. I’ve always been deeply inspired by nature and little details in life and I drew the kind of things that I saw around me and made me go: “wow.” And I think Michael has motivated even more of that in me.
But my family is filled with artistic and passionate people, from doctors, to artists, to musicians. And everything I personally create comes from deep within the soul, as I only create when I have certain deep feelings. I have noticed that I create the most when I feel extreme sadness or frustration. Which can be interesting. Or when I simply feel deeply inspired by someone or something else. Also when I hear music that touches my soul and tingles my brain.
There’s always a certain feeling tied to something that I create. Michael’s music helps me a lot with that as well.
F: It can be a daunting decision to share something as personal as the things you create yourself, what made you decide to begin sharing your drawings and edits
L: I felt like I wanted to share my creations, as some sort of outlet. It has always felt therapeutic to me to create something with stronger/deeper feelings, forget the world around me and to then share it with the world. It’s almost like singing. Just let out the emotions naturally and let it flow. It just naturally happens for me and it brings me happiness and fulfillment when my creations can touch someone else too. So I kept on sharing as it just felt good.
F: I feel like a lot of artists/digital artists struggle with finding a unique style to draw in, How did you decide on a style with your drawings?
L: That’s the thing, you don’t. You can’t force to create a style, it just happens over time. It doesn’t come in a finger snap. You see things on the daily that catch your eye and you keep them in your mind and eventually transfer it onto paper. You play around until you find a technique that feels and is comfortable to you. You mash multiple styles you’ve noticed before in other works into one and you (subconsciously) mix and adjust that into your own ways.
Eventually all of those different styles and techniques combined turn into one “style”. It comes with patience, inspiration and dedication. Personally, I was always very inspired by comic art. So a lot of my art stems from that type of style. But I always loved realism too, so my style became a sort of combination of the two. It is not an easy style, but I created my own technique with it after more than a year of experimenting and playing around.
F: I know you’ve mentioned that you love color grading, do you grade your edits of Michael in a way that is to convey a certain emotion or is it purely aesthetic? Is there a way you want the viewers to feel when looking at them?
L: Editing and photography is about more than a pretty picture, it’s indeed about feeling and emotion. Your eye sees something beautiful, you capture it, save it and you play around with colors and lighting until it creates a certain feeling. You can make a picture look soft and light or rather dark and add richer contrasts, making it look more serious, for example. It creates a feeling, a scene.
Usually, the type of edits I share give off a gloomy, soft and deeper feeling. I’ve always loved adding more depth and bringing out sharper details. I want the pictures to look more alive in a way.
I try to give them a new “look” which makes them stand out a bit more again. And especially to enhance the quality so people can enjoy seeing details that weren’t as visible before.
F:How Has Michaels creativity informed your own creative process?
L: I feel like he made me believe even more that you shouldn’t think too much about things and just let things happen, the way they feel right. I see a lot in his work and process that he used a lot of his imagination and just let ideas flow. I think a lot of that has to do with his child-like nature. It’s a very healthy thing and I think it’s admirable how he was still able to enable his youthful mind to create things. Not many adults can do that so naturally.
F: I’d love to know what your creative process or creativity in general means to you
L: Creativity and the process of it means therapy for me in a way. A safe space. When I create, I don’t think of anything else. No single other thought runs through my mind when I create as it puts me into hyper focus. I have ADD and can easily feel overwhelmed by external stimuli. So being creative definitely helps soothe me down in multiple ways.
F: Are there other musicians or actors that you can draw inspiration from in a similar way as mike?
L: To this day there hasn’t been anyone closer to Michael for me other than Beyoncé and BTS. In my opinion, they are artists that deserve their big platforms. They use their fame in a good and healthy way and I deeply admire that. It makes me feel inspired. They try to bring a good message to the world and give other people chances. Humanitarian efforts are always deeply appreciated too.
F:Which Michael video, interview or song can you go back to, to always inspire you?
L: This would turn into a list, but I’ll pick just 1 for now. Leave Me Alone. The creative process behind the video and the meaning and symbolism in it has always inspired me. I used to watch it all the time as a kid. I analyzed all the little details and would discover a new thing every single time I’d watch it. It always made me go: “wow.”In my opinion, it’s an underrated masterpiece. Together with the song. Although I do see it getting more love these days.
F: What is your favorite piece that you have created or edited
L: This is like picking your favorite child, impossible. But I did really love creating this one comic artwork of Michael hugging a fan, surrounded by pink clouds. The fan says: “Thank you for everything, Michael” which he responds to with: “I love you.” I really felt like I wanted to capture the love and connection between Michael and his fans by creating an artwork, as it’s such a special, strong and unique one. And I think it worked, as thousands of people re-shared it when I posted it. I think it’s my most liked and shared art to date. Fans just recognize that special connection in the artwork and feel the love in it, which makes me feel happy and fulfilled, like I did my “job.”
F: to end this off, If you could ask or tell Michael one thing, what would that be?
L: It’s hard to think about what to say when you’d probably have a million things to tell him. So I’ll keep it shorter. I’d thank him for everything he has done for people and the world and that he deserved so much better. That he pulled me personally through very hard and traumatic times of my life and that I’ll always keep on honoring him. And that he always will be loved and celebrated.
Loved this interview thoroughly!