Drew Borders
In June of 2022 Drew Borders graciously agreed to answer a few interview questions for the Atlanta Street Art Map:
Can you please say a few words about your formative years and how they influence your work today?
Race had a lot to do with the evolution of my work. I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, I also went to predominantly white schools for my entire education. I talked about race with my family all the time, it was a regular dinner table discussion. It was strange for me to go to school and realise that most of my friends or classmates avoided the subject, yet I still had to pretend as if the daily microaggressions, prejudice, and general ignorance didn’t bother me. I fell in love with drawing very early on, it was a good escape for me and it also gave people something to associate me with other than my skin color. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I started making more of a statement with my work. I stopped thinking about what made my white classmates comfortable and started making work that was important to my identity and background. As I got older, my friend group diversified and my voice became louder.
What drew you to animation?
I watched animation all the time with my siblings when we were little. Everyday after school, we’d finish out homework and then draw for hours while we watched cartoons. Animation was like an escape. These characters lived in fantasy worlds and did whatever they wanted. That kind of freedom was unknown to me. Even though I had never animated anything before, I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do once I went to College.
What led you to add muralism to your skillset?
It was actually a family member. One of my Aunts asked me if I’d paint orchids in her bathroom. At the time, I’d just graduated College a few months prior right at the start of the pandemic. I was frustrated because it was hard to find work in my field because barely anyone was hiring. I thought that if I started accepting jobs that didn’t fit my degree perfectly, then it was all just a huge waste of time and money. I thought it made me a failure. I accepted her job anyway and ended up really enjoying the process. After that, I became more open minded to new opportunities that came my way.
Is your approach to murals different than your approach to animation and illustration?
For murals, I end up thinking and planning them in a logistical sense instead of just what looks cool. For animation and illustration, all I have to worry about are my fundamental principles. But with murals, there are so many variables that affect a job. I’m often pushing my body to its physical limits with murals while still having to think critically about the overall design. So for that reason, I try to make the execution as easy as possible. Murals are always a learning experience though and that’s why I like them.
Your Inferno mural at Stacks Squares is very dramatic. Is there a story behind it?
The piece is less about a story and more about a feeling that it evokes. The woman in the piece gives off a strong sense of power but still wears a solemn expression on her face, like she knows there’s more work to be done. The interpretation is pretty much left up to the audience. For me, it’s a brooding reminder of my own ambition as well as other women of color as we attempt to make our mark in a world full of adversity.
It’s my understanding that your mural at the 44 Murals project was influenced by Anime. Can you say a few words about your connection to anime?
Most of the cartoons that I watched growing up with my siblings were anime. I was immediately drawn to the drama and exciting story lines. It was actually my greatest influence when it came to drawing. My siblings and I had plenty of “Shoujo” drawing books that taught you how to draw anime characters. I loved the big sparkly eyes, long flowing hair, and funky outfits they wore. A lot of that has leaked into my work today.
The Fates is a tale out of Greek Mythology. Why was it important to represent the fates as Black women in your recent BeltLine Mural?
I think that when you often see work about Black women or Black people in general, it’s typically about the “beauty in the struggle.” But I don’t like that. I feel like only focusing on the pain and trauma that we and our ancestors experienced normalises it too much in our society today. It’s almost like we are expected to struggle and that there’s something “heroic” about it instead of it being a commentary about the flaws in our society. This bridge mural was specifically about putting power and control in the hands of a marginalized group of people.
Is there anything else you would like to say to the users of the Atlanta Street Art Map?
I’m understanding more and more that life is so unpredictable. If I hadn’t struggled to find work after graduating, I probably would’ve never turned to murals as another alternative. I probably wouldn’t have made the same friends that I’ve made today in this community. I would have missed out on so many opportunities. So take a leap of faith! You never know where it will lead you.
Link to Drew Borders’ website: https://drewborders.com/about2Back