ME: I would say that your mindset is more of someone who has had great achievements and someone who is probably older than their 20s?

F: Definitely, the best way I can describe how I feel about myself, is to take a person, take a job where traditionally you would be in your thirties, late thirties, and then give it the title, youngest woman to… And that is how I see myself. 

Because a lot of the times, I am disappointed because if there isn’t another goal to get to, I am disappointed with myself. And part of that constant goal, what to achieve, how do I get there, what do I do, it drives me and not having it, it just makes me feel like i’m not really myself.

ME: You’ve put that into me as well, its something that if there is anything that I have picked up off you, its that. its the need for a goal, again and again and again, the next step, the next step, this is the next hoop were going to smash and its relentless. and its exhausting

F: it is, it is, but its also really worth it because like occasionally I take a step back and I’m like ok, so you know my friend is on £17000, and I am on 24K, people who are more trained than I am, the apprentice at Sheema was on half of my pay. half. and he’s been at Sheema for two years. He is on 12K I am on 24. Same hours, its ridiculous like i know that I have done well for myself. but there is also that missing thing, the name on that cv… that is missing and I know it is and I know that I have to push for it because it is much a part of who I am and it is part of how I dress. and i catch myself at work, they’ll be like oh um your top is nice where is it from?’’ oh its from BOSS, ‘’Oh I love COSS’’ No its from BOSS. 

ME: Hugo!

F: Laughs Hugo! Boss this ones £300!

Due to the interview being an hour long I fell short of time to type the whole transcript up, so I decided to type up one of the highlights of the interview.

These are two sections in particular of the interview that I was really inspired by, firstly when Freya talks about wanting to one day be a category of ”Youngest woman to…”. This was a statement that as a person who knows Freya, knows this to be absolutely authentic, as much as it could sound cliche to someone who does not know this person, it comes from a very real place in Freya, she loves to have the answers to everything, she likes to be highly driven, to work very hard and if she gets recognition for it, this makes her very happy. This part of the interview also got me thinking along the lines of painting Freya as some sort of figure to look up to, however I end up doing this, I would definitely like to experiment with it.

After the interview I started doing some visual research, and came across an interview with Nick Knight which I found very inspiring, as he says at the very beginning of the film ‘’There is subjective opinion, subjective desire, and that is what all good photographers and good image makers will bring to you, they will show you a world that you can’t see, if you want to see a world that is out there, then go look for yourself’’ Ref: (“Nick Knight” 2018)

This quote from him got me thinking that I may want to experiment with a more abstract way of approaching my concept, I then saw his collaboration with Alexander McQueen and Swarovski. I was immediately wowed by this and thought about how I could experiment with constructing Freya as a symbol, possibly a statue, an angel like figure possibly.

Some critical analysis that I would give myself at this point would be that I should try to take a more abstract experimental route, it can still be grounded with the same findings or similar findings but is sometime more interesting to take a solid concept and just make a bit more aesthetically unusual. Not to say that I don’t love the style that I have been practicing, because I do, but I also feel that I should learn more about how to take this approach with my styling and direction.

Ref: (“alexander-mcqueen-nick-knight-another-magazine-ss-2015-14” 2015)

‘’If we think of art as a form of personal expression, We all get up and whatever we have chosen to put on, is not by chance. We all express certain feelings about how we should look, there has never been a society since human beings have been able to express themselves that has not used fashion or self decoration in some way to put across ideas of power, sexual availability, sexual  availability, what it is, that has always been key, everyone makes choice about how they present themselves.’’

This snippet again from the same interview also agrees with my over all sentiment for the project.