Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Guest Blogger: Meet Kaniema Bey

Since becoming an active member on Etsy I have been able to meet people from all over the world! It has been the most rewarding experience. Through Etsy I had the great pleasure of meeting Kaniema, who I like to call Kammi. She is one of the coolest people I have met and creates some of the most wonderful shirts!! I know because I personally made and order and she went above and beyond my expectations! I will definitely be ordering from her again. She is so easy to work with and completely down to Earth! Like myself she also runs a shop on Etsy and you can find her store xMurderWearx here.

She gave me the whole story behind why her store is called Murder Wear, a lot of people have a misconception of what her store is or why it may be called so. Here is her story in her own words.


Kaniema Bey, artist and screenprinter

62707_704960931088_546742_n
My name is Kaniema Bey. Im a graphic designer based in Pittsburgh Pa. I love to draw paint and create digital art. Recently, I began placing these designs on tshirts. I found myself with enough money to purchase a heat press, a HQ printer, and a professional screenprinting press.  I call my line Murderwear.
IMG_0573
Murderwear. Sounds harsh right? The reason I chose the name is because... well, I hate fashion, and I hate the American beauty standard. Be thin or you're ugly. Girls go through such great lengths, starvation, surgery, self hatred. I personally had a lot of issues with self hatred while in college. I would hate myself for eating, and starve myself more often than not. I had issues with bulimia and depression. Im not big, Im not small, Im somewhere in between. It took a lot to get to a point where I was happy with myself. One day- I just stopped caring what other people thought.
169026_745145845198_40745_n
Now I'm fine with the way I look. I dress how I want- I wear artwork on my clothing as opposed to low cut flashy tops.  I buy silly cothing from Japan, or I make things myself by layering things together. I've come to embrace the tshirt as my canvas and my outlet.
I named my brand Murderwear because people kill themselves trying to fit into a skewered standard of beauty. They murder themselves to look good.  My logo is a heart monitor going into a flatline.
mwblack
My inspiration for that was a story I heard...I believe it was the mother of Kanye West, who died on an operating table while getting liposuction. She died because she wanted her body to adhere to a certain standard. Its silly, its sad, its pathetic. Love who you are.
I'm inspired by music, geeky tv shows and anime, videogames, and nature. I love the great Renaissance artists, and I love pop art. My digital designs have a poppy feel and they are vibrant and unique.
171629_753776130038_1785782_o
65584_10100714640911288_1559125091_n
michonnedev
My digital designs are all done by hand on a pen tablet. The Billy idol was actually drawn by hand with permanent markers and razorblades. I do not trace or let the program do the work for me- I have a problem with that. I feel like if I dont create every angle, and mix each color- then I'm not doing my job.
They make for awesome tshirts that stand out- in a good way. My goal is to have onlookers see you for what's inside- what you love, what the artwork on your shirt is saying, as opposed to how they think you look.
I use great brands for tees- Gildan, Anvil, Hanes, and Fruit of the Loom. I take pride in what I do- making great art on quality tees, makes me feel great!
I just started selling on etsy. Selling shirts is tough- everyone sells shirts! I just hope that people find my artwork interesting :D


post signature

1 comment:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...