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Meet Aleesha King of Kiingster in Venice

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Aleesha King.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Aleesha. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Creativity has always been a part of my life, and many childhood dreams of mine involved some form of art or expression, but nothing stuck until I started taking photos when I was 18. I’d just started college and was very sure that I loved art, but very unsure of how to approach it. Many of the art degrees offered at schools have a more traditional approach that was just overwhelming any time I’d consider it. I realized that I’m the type of person who just needs to experiment to learn, so that’s how I started. In my free time I’d create with whatever materials called to me: chalk drawing, painting on shoes, filming, and eventually, taking photos. I fell in love with it because, at first, I was just playing— I’d play with perspective, focus, lighting, etc. without an aim or concept— and using it as a way to focus on something besides myself and my problems. Eventually, as I grew up and life began to show me more of the things kids don’t have to think about, I needed an outlet; a place to put all these new feelings, ideas, and struggles. I wanted to turn them into something I could look at and understand in an instant.

This is when I stumbled into a community of surreal photo editors on Instagram and started altering my photos in photoshop. I created the account I use to this day (@kiingster) and started sharing them. Dreaming up surreal concepts and doing things as crazy as climbing roofs, covering myself in paint, or destroying a cake just to execute them quickly became my favorite thing. I’d found something I was good at, that served a purpose in my life, and that I actually had fun doing. I was about to start my second year of college, and I realized quickly that I wanted to jump straight into creating. In a panic of what school might take from the next three years, I dropped out. It took me a while to realize I needed to save up if I wanted to move to LA, but I managed to make it out here earlier this year at 22.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has absolutely been challenging. Finding something I loved was easy, but asserting my dedication to it and discovering the role it played in my life was difficult to do while realizing I also have to find a way to earn money. It set the stage for what the last four years of my life have been: learning how to place myself in this world. I struggled for two years with the reaction from others about how I’d chosen to live my life. Admittedly, if I’d had the confidence and the knowledge I have now, I would have moved from my small town in Kentucky to LA much sooner. Being a creative person in a small town was both good and bad— while it forced me to be more resourceful, it was often lonely and left me wondering why I’d chosen the path I had. It took a lot of strength to keep my head up while I spent the next couple of years building the future I wanted for myself.

I did a lot of growing up in this period that I think I couldn’t have done here. While I was able to spend most of my time focusing on my photos and developing the skills I needed to better express myself through it, I was also resistant to a lot of outside opportunities that would have helped prepare me for the life I want to live. Slowly, and even still, I’ve been learning just what it is I want out of life and how creating fits into that. Moving to LA has at least doubled the size of my worldview, and I feel much less like my art is the thing pulling me away from people and more like it’s connecting me to all of the experiences I’ve had. It’s still very much a struggle to earn enough money to live in LA from something that you’re really still teaching yourself how to do, but I’m still shooting my shots and managing to pick up jobs!

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Since I moved here I’ve been trying my hardest to reach out to companies, musicians, and other artists that may want to work with me creatively. Among my favorite types of job are album covers and brand work. I’m very glad to have found surreal photo manipulation because it’s not something the majority of photographers are doing right now. Surrealism is so fun and eye catching that it perfectly suits anything that needs to grab someone’s attention, so things like movie posters and creative advertising are definitely on my list. I also think it’s unique because it’s very realistic. Unlike illustration, you’re using photos to create this imaginative un-real scene— you’re able to translate something that, say, an album, movie, or product is about into any depiction you can imagine, yet it looks so real. My hope is to find more projects like that so I can buy the time to pour my energy into creating for myself.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’ve gone from a one-track-mindset of posting a specific type of art on one platform to finding ways to integrate all of my other interests and goals. Mostly I want to be creating stand-alone bodies of work that earn money on their own. Think photo books, video work, and other mixed media projects. It’s exciting to be working with the brands and people I’m reaching out to, but at my core I’m a free, creative, spirit that just wants to feel something and express it— whatever that will look like at any given time. I work a lot on stuff behind the scenes, like music, video, and some bigger photo projects. I don’t share as much about those things on my Instagram because I know it will be a while before any of them have a release date, so I just quietly put the work in and keep sharing what I do share! For now, I’ll continue to earn money however my art can serve me. Any life full of creating is a life I’m happy to lead.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Josefin Östevik (@josefinostevik)

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