We’re headed back to Vermont for our next installment of Showcasing the GIFted. In the spotlight today is Jonah Nigro, a Burlington based artist and designer. He graduated from Bennington College in 2016, but had his first freelancing animation job with Perrier when he was only a sophomore.

Nigro’s work connects the visual and visceral, and Variety included him on its 110 Students to Watch list in 2015. Since then he’s gone on to do work for clients such as MTV, CÎROC, and even tried his hand at directing a music video.

Take: Do you use a particular moniker for your GIF art?
Jonah Nigro: My moniker for this particular project is Popsicle Illusion!

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T: Where are you from?
JN: I grew up in the Putney/Brattleboro area of Vermont.

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T: What got you started making GIFs, and why GIFs rather than something else?
JN: The GIF format of continuously looping frames is very appealing to me. It allows you to take a single instance of animation and turn it into its own complete work of art. Growing up watching animations I was always blown away by the small details that are just on screen for a couple of seconds and GIFs finally allowed for those moments to be celebrated.

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T: What do you do when you’re not creating GIFs? (i.e. other jobs)
JN: I just finished my first directing project doing a music video for Flux Pavilion. I also do live visuals for shows when I can and dabble in software development on the side.

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You can follow Nigro on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr or his website.

Top image: Leg Flower Pattern. All images courtesy of the artist

The post Showcasing the GIFted: Jonah Nigro appeared first on Take Magazine.

Meg Rogers was introduced to screen printing in college and after graduation began working at a well-known custom screen printer in Brooklyn. There she made contacts with streetwear labels, creating graphics for multiple brands and having her work appear all over the city and even on television channels like MTV.

After grinding through her twenties in The Big Apple, she decided she wanted a calmer lifestyle, something she’s since found in Keene, New Hampshire. Now she’s working full-time on her own projects while carrying lessons learned from her myriad of professional and personal experiences with her. “I spent a year and half at the amazing W.S. Badger Co. [makers of Badger Balm and other organic skincare products] and had the best more traditional work experience that I’ve ever had,” says Rogers. “I learned about B Corps and the importance of surrounding oneself with like-minded folks in order to create change in the world—and now this has been added to my practice … the art of helping, shall we say.”

Dreamspace Series, Shine on Sticker. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Currently Rogers is working on two major projects: Dreamspace, a series of abstract and surreal drawings and paintings; and a new bag and backpack line. Rogers plans to expand the line over the next two years into a fully functioning B Corp that creates healthy manufacturing jobs in the Latin Caribbean.

“I’m creating a fresh and relevant lifestyle brand that uses money as fuel to do good in the world, providing a healthy work environment, fair and equal wages, and generous benefits in areas that have traditionally be exploited by big foreign companies for cheap labor,” Rogers says. “I believe that a business’ role is to help improve its community, and what better place to start than within the community of its most important workers: the manufacturers.”

Much of the motivation to support the Latin Caribbean community comes from time Rogers spent studying at Altos de Chavon La Escuela de Diseño in La Romana, Dominican Republic—a school known across Latin America for its rigorous accelerated two-year design program, and an affiliate of Parsons School of Design. After graduating from Chavon, she transferred to Parsons to finish her bachelors degree in Illustration.

“I recently started traveling back to the Caribbean and remembered how lovely my soul feels when I’m there, so I plan to keep Keene as a home base and travel often (for work and pleasure) to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, spending extended periods of time in both places,” says Rogers.

Monadnock Food Coop mural. Photo courtesy of the artist.

While home in Keene, Rogers has been quite busy: falling in love (a muse, if you will), creating murals, and participating in new projects and events through Machina Arts and Friends of Public Art—two organizations that are pushing to expand the arts scene in Keene and the Monadnock Region.

Meg Rogers – Artist
Keene, New Hampshire
Website
Facebook
Instagram

Top image: Eye of Joy mural, downtown Keene, New Hampshire. Photo courtesy of the artist.

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