Tinted Souls EP9 with Laryssa: "My goal is to make people dream"

January 4, 2021

min read

Agneskena is no stranger to the Chase team. She recently made an editorial piece, commenting on must-have accessories for winter 2020. With her project "Tinted Souls," she shares the stories of individuals who, like her, are colored by their art.

This project is her way of connecting with people and each episode embodies the emotions, beauty, sensitivity but above all the honesty of the connection her subjects have with their passion. Agneskena herself takes care of the technical part and the "Tinted Souls" of the magic. In this episode, we meet musician, composer and performance artist Laryssa Kim.

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Why was it important for you to show Laryssa's story in Tinted Souls?

Agneskena: "The nice thing about an episode with Laryssa is that she approached me. So normally I step up to people and say, look, I like your profile or I like what you do and I would like to work with you. But with her it was the other way around. She had already seen my episodes of Tinted Souls and heard about my work through others. That's why she came to talk to me. I really liked it and said, "Okay if we're going to make something about you as an artist, I'd like to make it a Tinted Souls." And it was great because she was a perfect match with what I usually look for. She has a genuine connection to her art and also has a story to tell. In the video, you can see that she also tells us a little about her story in Italy. I found that very interesting.

In the end it turned out great, because I now have an Italian episode. I never thought I would be able to do something like that. So it was definitely important to work with Laryssa, just to show the diversity of artists and creators and also just to see how much a person's background can influence them in their work.

Is there a part of laryssa's story that appeals to you personally?

Agneskena: "I found it interesting how she talked about the representation of black women on TV. I was never a musician myself, I never lived in Italy, I was born here in Belgium as an African girl, and yet it's true. I couldn't recognize myself on TV or in fashion magazines, or anything, either. So I think on that level there are a lot of African girls or just people of different ethnicities who don't recognize themselves in the media. There was really little to no representation on TV. It's nice to have that point made again and for others to realize where we're coming from. It's very important to have that representation. I hope that with my Tinted Souls I am fulfilling my role a little bit. To show that diversity is real: we exist, we are here."

She says her goal is to make people dream. What feelings do you want to arouse with your work as an artist?

Agneskena: "My goal was to somehow make people feel the emotion I put into my images. At first I did this unconsciously but now it's a conscious choice. They can interpret it in their own way. It's not that I want to impose something on people when they look at my Tinted Souls. I just want them to see the story and feel the emotions. That's very important to me. And with the feedback I've gotten throughout the process of all these episodes, I think I've achieved my goal.

Sometimes people tell me that watching Tinted Souls when they were feeling down made them feel good. So yeah, I don't know. I get emotional when I have to talk about it like that, but I think that was my goal. Not necessarily to make people dream, but mostly to make them empathize. I want viewers to discover different stories when they watch an episode of Tinted Souls."

Follow @agneskena on Instagram

Article by Ioni Villanueva, images by Agneskena. This project came about with the support of the Flemish Fund for Journalism.

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