ELLIOT AND ERICK JIMENEZ " ENTRE DOS MUNDOS"
Elliot & Erick Jiménez are first generation Cuban-Americans and identical twins born in Miami, now living between New York and Miami. Their photographic practice began from an early passion for art history and influences derived from a theological upbringing, which explored the mysticism of gods in mythology, Yoruba and Catholic elements.
Inspired by paintings, their photographs capture a sense of emotive sentiment within the themes of fashion, still life, portraiture and travel— finding a commonality through their visual approach rather than by the subject. In their relatively short career, Elliot & Erick have developed a personal way of looking at photography that is meticulously constructed by concept and color compositions, and one that celebrates the cultural diversity of their own upbringing. Their editorial work has been featured in Allure, Vogue Germany, Vogue Mexico, Vogue Japan and Highsnobiety, amongst others, including works displayed in gallery exhibitions.
Their first solo exhibition is on view until June 30th at Spinello Projects.
Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences please.
Much of our influences come from art history and cinema, in particular religious imagery that tends to trigger some emotive response (that can come from color, composition, or the figurative). Culturally, being first generation Americans to a biracial Cuban family has also influenced our work. Like the basis of our current exhibition, which revolves around the Lucumi religion; a syncretic practice common in Cuban society, which merges Yoruba influences with Catholicism–– we tend to draw inspiration from a lot of these parallels as well.
We often reference high renaissance, impressionist and symbolist painters and also draw inspiration from other Cuban artists that came before us; Belkis Ayón being one of those incredible Cuban artists.
How are the current trends in technology and innovation affecting your work as a creative?
As photographers that work between analogue and digital, we consider ourselves adaptable to our environments. There is always something to learn from both the past and the present. Innovations in technology allow us new ways to reshape our imagery through a contemporary lens.
We’d love to hear more about your creative process. How do you normally tend to work from the point you have an idea to finally having your work ready to share with the world?
Because we work as a duo, much of our process is communicative. We really enjoy the research aspect of our work; visual storyboarding, dissecting concepts, and challenging each other's approach to an idea. Sometimes we might not always agree on something, so it will be the others responsibility to convince and further discuss why a specific idea might be worth investing in. As you can imagine, quite a bit of debating happens.
We’re both very involved. We both shoot on set, we both edit down our work and we both get involved in retouching. We’ve streamlined our visions and the way we work, to make sure it’s seamless and either of us can jump in at any point in a project. If one of us learns something new, we make sure the other learns it as well. It’s important to us that we both feel well rounded.
There’s definitely certain strengths each of us have individually and we acknowledge and nurture those strengths in each other to help us grow as a unit.
What do you think of the art world and how it works in general? Do you think it's also an industry that is in a continuous state of change?
We’ve always felt more like the spectator in the art world than the artist, until recently. Our inspiration has always come from art (painting in particular). Coming into the art world with a background in the fashion industry, we’ve learned that the two are really not so different in the way they are structured, more so in the way the artists are treated. These two industries can sometimes reflect each other in some way–– the idea of what is beautiful, who decides what is good or bad and how things sometimes move in trends.
However, the art world is special for us in the way that we get to create work of our own volition. That’s probably our favorite part about it, it might sound crazy but it’s an autonomy thing. Sometimes in fashion, that is not always the case. In art there are no guidelines or necessary rules of what is wrong or right, most artists move organically without necessary structures. Also, you can create from anywhere. Fashion can sometimes take the creativity out of an artist. You’re pretty much creating art for clients and with other artists and sometimes you have a vision and the others on set have their own. It can be difficult to navigate so many chefs in one kitchen. It has, however, exercised our ability to express what we want verbally and visually, learning how to better communicate an idea and making sure that idea comes through, sort of like directing a movie.
The art world has also allowed us the ability to slow down and reflect, so we can really assess what matters to us most. It has opened up the way we move as artists, not just photographers, if that makes sense.
Anything coming up that we should know about?
We’re working on a few other projects that expand on our current exhibition. We are enjoying the time to grow and create this new body of work in our art practice, which feels so beautifully personal to us.
What does wellbeing mean to you and anything in particular that you practice?
Wellbeing for us is the ability to find joy in what we do. We consider ourselves hard workers but also fortunate to be able to occupy a space like this. Part of wellness for us is being conscious of the experience and enjoying the process of the things we do.
Courtesy of the artists
