Interview:
Trashbinn art
Art
No Order Magazine talks with the multi-disciplinary artist.
Trashbinn Art, is a Kamilaroi artist and photographer creating on stolen land in Meanjin. Trashbinn is influenced by her relationship to her culture, body, sex, love, relationships, intimacy and vulnerability. She uses digital, 35mm film, and polaroid photography to capture her works, and also uses other media in the process of editing. Trashbinn loves to mix photography and physical art, creating something new, and working outside of the boundaries of what is usually accepted in the traditional art world.
Introduce yourself and tell us how did your career began?
My name is Tasmin, I use she/they pronouns and create under the name Trashbinn Art. I am a 25 year-old Indigenous woman from Kamilaroi Country, living and creating in Meanjin. I have been practicing art my whole life and more recently, I have found a passion for photography. My practice is now focused on combining art and photography.
The first time I ever exhibited my art was at a group show titled ‘La Femme Classique’ held at Greaser Bar in Fortitude Valley in 2017. The show was about femininity and the discourse around that - a theme that has stayed constant in my work since then. I made this massive pink canvas with words and phrases about femininity and women that I’d heard from the media, men, etc, and contrasted them against phrases and words about femininity from actual people that I knew. Over the top, I drew naked bodies (of course). I got such great feedback from the show, and in turn it sparked such a love for creating works that never stopped. I kept applying for group shows, posting my art on social media, and creating works that were meaningful to me. I am forever grateful for being a part of ‘La Femme Classique’.
What does 'art' mean to you? Is it personal?
Art for me is about expression. It can come in so many different forms – painting, photography, drawing, dancing, singing, crafting, writing. It has gotten me through some really challenging times as well as making some good times even better. Art is something that has always been there for me, and I wouldn’t feel the same without it.
I have chronic depression which is really hard to treat for the first few years of diagnosis, so art was a kind of therapy and a way to deal with some things that were happening to me at that time. I started getting into drawing when I went through my first rough breakup. I started painting and writing more when I had a partner tell me I was too fat to fuck (amongst other things). I started taking photos as a way to deal with my body dysmorphia and work through my identity issues. So, yeah creating art has always been very personal to me. Sharing my art has also been quite personal, which is kind of an oxymoron, but finding that so many people have had similar experiences made me feel a lot less alone and was in some instances helping those people too, which is why I continue to make the kind of art that I do.
My Last Nerve, 2020
What is something you wish you knew at the beginning of your career?
That doing something for‘exposure’ isn’t a fair deal if the person you’re working for is making money off your work!
What advice do you have for emerging artists?
‘KNOW YOUR WORTH!’
Read the full interview in Issue 02
Published: 4th November 2022