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Leticia Spence
172 Plays4 years ago
Tansi! Hello! My name is Leticia Spence, I'm from Pimicikamak and Opaskwayak Cree Nation and I am a freelance graphic designer and illustrator based in Treaty One territory.
I specialize in branding and campaign work, package and logo design for both print and social media and I occasionally dabble with website development. I am passionate about coming up with creative solutions and marketing strategies to visually communicate with your target audience.
I have a large focus on Indigenous designs and I am passionate about delivering well researched, authentic and visually strong work to my clients.
https://globalnews.ca/tag/leticia-spence/
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:00:00
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host Ken Volante. Editor and producer Peter Bauer.
00:00:17
Speaker
This is Ken Volante with something rather than nothing podcast and I wish to welcome Leticia Spence, an artist and designer that I just love her work. And I noticed her Winnipeg Jets indigenous logo, which is how I found her and wanted to talk to
Leticia Spence's Artistic Background
00:00:40
Speaker
her. Leticia, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
00:00:45
Speaker
Nancy, my name is Leticia Spence, and I'm a graphic designer, illustrator, and artist of sorts, based in Treaty 1, Winnipeg, Manitoba. And I'm originally from Pimichika-Makri Nation and Opasukwakri Nation, and I'm happy to be here. Yeah, it's really exciting to talk to you.
00:01:10
Speaker
We're gonna chat a bit about you know, kind of when you're younger, but one of the things I want to mention is about where you're from and I'm Like I said, I encountered you almost by happenstance, you know with the Winnipeg Jets logo and as a team I've liked since I was a kid and I've never been to Winnipeg and
00:01:30
Speaker
But I've studied like labor history. I'm a labor history guy. So I studied like labor history and Winnipeg and I like the sports. So it's kind of strange to be able to make this connection with you and with your art and design and to be able to connect with you in Manitoba. But what I wanted to ask you first is when you were born, were you an artist when you were born?
00:01:56
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if I was necessarily an artist. I had a very specific view of the world, though, if that makes sense. And it still kind of persisted with me to this day. I might have just grown into it.
00:02:11
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of live my life like I'm living in my own Odyssey and everything for me has spirit and magic within it. And when I was small, I used to, as I said, I used to live in a Plaskia Cree Nation. And I lived in my granny's house and my parents
00:02:27
Speaker
Like a good example of this is like when my parents had a potato garden and I guess I would go around saying things like, I don't know, like I'm making Mother Earth's hair or like just small little tidbits, right? So yeah, I've always kind of like grown up with, you know, like my own culture, sort of like mythology and stuff like that and understanding of the world. And it was only until I became like a little bit older and
00:02:56
Speaker
realized that there were tools out there that I could use to express that, that I started delving into art. And that really happened when I was probably in elementary, to be honest. So yeah, that's kind of that.
00:03:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's a question I asked a lot of artists and what I found recently it's become really fascinating to find out about just like opportunities or lack of opportunities or expression when you were younger and you know art seems to be kind of like a lifelong process and those early years seem to speak very loudly to
00:03:37
Speaker
you know what happens later on but it sounds like you felt it and you know your expression you needed that for your expression. Now I want to chat with you specifically about the art and the creation and the things that you do because I've seen some of your design work, I've seen some of your pieces and of course we mentioned the Winnipeg Jets logo with the just beautiful design that you did of this
00:04:07
Speaker
integrated, you know, I don't want to, I want everybody to see it. But could you indulge us a little bit with about your design work and about that project and how that came about?
The Winnipeg Jets Logo Design and Cultural Significance
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So as I said, I have a very specific take on the world. And this is a lot to do with my kind of upbringing. You know,
00:04:33
Speaker
growing up I've been told that there are mermaids that live up north in a cave and my grandpa like there's like video tapes of my grandpa talking about different kind of like stories about like what we call like mimegosi or you know I guess it would be either the she or fae in English terms
00:04:57
Speaker
although she is pretty sure it's Irish, but yeah. And also too, my family does believe in spirits and in ghosts and that sort of stuff. So I've kind of always grown up with that sort of lens on the world. And it comes out a lot in my art. And so to a certain extent, there is,
00:05:26
Speaker
a spiritual aspect to my art and what goes into it. And that certainly came out in the Jess logo, because the symbols in there are like, there's a kind of like hidden symbols that, you know, historically, a lot of our art imbued.
00:05:50
Speaker
And yeah, like for example, I guess one of the symbols would be like feathers and stuff like that. So like in the Just logo itself, it has like these triangles, but they're meant to be feathers. And then there's like the symbol for home that's like kind of like built into this idea of Earth. So that's like the
00:06:09
Speaker
there's like a tiny little square in that triangle or whatever that makes up a good portion of it. But yeah, so that's kind of like the meaning of it is that like we're kind of like all tied to this earth. And you know, like, especially with the Jets or whatever, like Winnipeg, Winnipeg loves the Jets. Like they do. They do. I mean, I even love them from Oregon and that's actually pretty cool. But yeah, like you, if you, for example, like
00:06:39
Speaker
me and my roommate, we took a car co-op. And you can see that all over the building. It was definitely, there was a Go Jets Go whenever on our way to the store. So Winnipeg loves the Jets. So yeah, that's kind of why I wanted to include those symbols into there is to create that sense of community and to kind of bridge
00:07:05
Speaker
the Indigenous audience because Indigenous people also really love hockey. My entire family, they are obsessed with it.
00:07:15
Speaker
they, like they, like sometimes I'll try to call my parents and they'll be like, I'm watching the judge game. Like I can't do this. So, you know, like, yeah. So they love hockey. And for me, that's why I took on the project is honestly because like they, this is something that they love. And ultimately like I'm trying to take on projects that like will speak to either my community or will speak to my family members. Cause yeah.
00:07:46
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. No, I mean, I'm deeply interested in some things you said there. But I was just like, I can't even imagine the reaction of your family as Jets fans when you were the one that created that. They must have been like, oh my gosh, I love the Jets. But then you, you did this. So that must have been a special feeling.
00:08:05
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. My sister cried. And my sister still habitually cries every time like something comes out. So that's like it's really touching to me. And same thing with my family in Pimitchkamak. And actually a lot of like, there's like stuff from the moose.
00:08:25
Speaker
portion of it. Even with the recent edition of the Land Acknowledgement animation that happened this past West Sideknight.
00:08:37
Speaker
Like a lot of it was kind of like inspired by my auntie. Her name was Betsy. She has since passed on, but she used to bead, like she used to do a lot of like beadwork and stuff like that. And as kids, we would always receive like me and my brother, we'd always receive moccasins, little mitts, like, but they'd have this kind of like these floral patterns and I absolutely loved receiving them. It was like the one thing, the one gift that I looked forward to
00:09:06
Speaker
And I think that's because, like, you know, there is just so much like beauty within that that I found. So I also just, as I said before, like as a kid, I was also very like enamored with nature. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Well, they really enjoy it. Sorry. No, I mean, I was just I don't know. I wanted to capture that sometimes like that feeling, the feeling and emotion connected to art. So I wanted to capture that.
00:09:36
Speaker
But I actually, we have other question, I have other question, I'm really interested to ask you, but I actually want to go back just a tiny bit. On this show, when I talk about spirits and ghosts, like they pop up in this show with my guests and such. So recently I had a guest, Melissa Oliveri, who on her show is a very, they're a ghost abound and it's moving back in time. And there's a character who can see things from a different time, very sensitive.
00:10:05
Speaker
And I've had episodes like with Lauren Rhodes, who did a book called Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues. And it was all about kind of these strange life, afterlife type of stories. So it's a theme that keeps coming up.
00:10:27
Speaker
I know, number one, it comes up because I'm kind of obsessed with ghosts and spirits. And number two, I think it's something that artists bump into or sensitive or creatives bump into. Is that part of maybe why it's been around? I mean, there's a lot of components, but you said you have a particular worldview and you're connecting to different type of energies out there. Is that part of your art?
Spiritual and Creative Process in Art
00:10:54
Speaker
What's that like? Well, I think
00:10:58
Speaker
at least like I think we're kind of like maybe my understanding of that and why that may be is like
00:11:04
Speaker
When you're doing art, you have to tap into something, whether it's like a stream of consciousness or whether it's like for me growing up, I used to call it the golden moment, but it's when I would tap into like a very like a flow state kind of or a sense of euphoria. And like oftentimes I would just like struggle to get it down on a paper as soon as I possibly could before the like the thought kind of passed
00:11:33
Speaker
when to wear somewhere else or whatever, right? But like, I think as artists, we might be maybe a bit empathetic and you kind of have to be, right? You kind of have to be very observant when you're creating art. And so like,
00:11:51
Speaker
You know, maybe you people do like tap into that energies or allow themselves to tap into that energies. For me, what I sort of notice is that like, yeah, like a lot of people that kind of like embrace like a wide spectrum of what the world looks like, including spirits. They're often very creative individuals and that comes out in their art as well. So, yeah, maybe. Yeah. Well, I think. Yeah. Thank you for your comments, too, because I'm like trying to
00:12:19
Speaker
Tap into it part of the show is as I've talked to everybody and while I asked the same big questions Like I'm just a student learning so each episode I do I've learned more so I'd be able to refer back. So it's it's a great it So I appreciate you and what you contribute big question. I want to get one of the big questions in right here is what What exactly is art? What is art? Um for me
00:12:47
Speaker
As I said, like I often get kind of like ideas. They just sort of pop up in my head and I need to like get it out. And for me, a lot of times like art is a way to kind of like process what's going on up there and a way to kind of like process, you know, like maybe like what is happening to me externally.
00:13:10
Speaker
which I then internalize and then push out externally as well. You know what I mean? So for me, like it's a way to kind of, you know, express yourself, but also a way to learn a means to learn for myself. Cause I actually really like researching. I love researching. I do too. I love researching too. Yeah.
00:13:32
Speaker
It's like my favorite thing probably about my process as like a designer is doing that research because I feel like with each and every project that I take on, I'm learning like a new, or I'm discovering a new lens of the world, right? And kind of like what that looks like from other people's perspective and, you know, seeing what it all is. Because if, you know,
00:13:59
Speaker
If I didn't do that, then, and if I didn't learn from people, and I feel like art can also be that too. It's a way to kind of like see, I guess like what the world looks like, you know, like no artist has the same style as the next person over. You know what I mean? We all have very different expressions because that's, we look at the world differently. And so, you know, it's a way to kind of like learn
00:14:27
Speaker
something beyond your own eyesight, if that makes sense. I don't know. Does that make sense? It makes a lot of sense. And even if it didn't, it isn't a criteria on this show. Sense isn't a criteria on this show. It can't be. The show's named something rather than nothing. So no, it does make sense. So you talk about art. Well, another question I have related to that is, what is the role of art?
Art as Self-Expression and Emotional Processing
00:14:56
Speaker
You make art, and that's your process, but what's art supposed to be doing in the world? I was actually thinking about this one, and I had heard something in a previous podcast before, because I listened to a lot of podcasts. That's why I'm really thrilled to be a
00:15:15
Speaker
finally doing... You're the star, you're the star of this episode. I'm so excited. This is like really, really cool to me. I don't know. But yeah, so I listened to a podcast though. And it was like, I also like astrology. So it was like an astrology related podcast, but one of the hosts
00:15:35
Speaker
um and it is like from stars on fire I believe but she said something that like has always stuck with me and it's maybe been like a couple of months but it was just it captured
00:15:48
Speaker
how I feel about what roles art kind of plays in our lives and in our existence. But it was, art is the first thing that frees your mind and forces you to dream bigger. In order to deal with your anger, your grief, and your rage, you must create something beautiful around you. And that's really what I think art is. It's a way to kind of
00:16:11
Speaker
process your emotions and what's happening. And you can even see that right now in a time where there's a lot of chaos and a lot of confusion and a lot of fear. I feel like a lot of people are expressing that through art. And that's why it's so pivotal for moments like this to be able to do that. So that's how what I think art is. Even before the pandemic, it was very much so that, for myself at the very least,
00:16:40
Speaker
whenever I felt like I had a lot of inner turmoil, the way that I would kind of work through that was to draw something, to paint something, to get it down onto my screen, you know? So yeah, that's kind of what I think art is. And it's also like a point, a way to kind of like, I guess,
00:17:09
Speaker
this is gonna sound weird, but a way to make things pretty, a way to beautify your world and a way to kind of like paint it with your own colors and kind of like make it look the way that you want it to look. Not a bad inclination in a sometimes dirty world, right? Yes, that's important, right? Like we need that because if, you know, and I was talking to my,
00:17:38
Speaker
a couple of my friends about this, but if we didn't have art, the world would just be so bleak and desolate. And I don't know if... It's tough to fathom, right? Yeah. It's tough to fathom what it would be. Yeah. Yeah. We're speaking with Leticia Spence and just...
00:17:59
Speaker
going back again encountered Leticia's design work with the indigenous logos for the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose, lest I forget, I should not forget the Manitoba Moose, and does design and a lot of different art. And one of your recent comments, you were talking a little bit about the pandemic and the recency and how
00:18:28
Speaker
Like you look around the world, people are in different spots of it, like deep in the crisis that we remember and others are like, it's summertime, right? And there's been so much change. I found that the pandemic itself was so big.
00:18:45
Speaker
that I couldn't remember in the podcast. I always, I thought I've always done the podcast in the pandemic. It almost like swallowed it up, but I had done many episodes prior to it and it was just so big. I just, in my head, it was like now I'm coming, the podcast is coming out of the pandemic, maybe, you know? It's just a very strange, enormous experience, I think, that creatives are coming out of.
00:19:12
Speaker
in where we are today. All right, so one of the questions kind of goes back to a little bit, kind of where you come
Influences and Overcoming Challenges
00:19:21
Speaker
from. It doesn't have to. The question is, what or who made you who you are? Oh, there's a lot. Like I kind of discussed or touched on it, right? Like my family members, we have a very, like I come from an indigenous background. I'm Cree,
00:19:41
Speaker
from both sides. Being an Indigenous person within Canada is pretty interesting and maybe just in general, but oftentimes as a result of colonization, I've grown up with a kind of like a dual religion
00:20:02
Speaker
so to speak. So obviously, most of my family, they're Christian, to some degree Anglican or otherwise. But they also still tap into native spirituality with that same brush, which has always been interesting. So yeah, like I, as I said, I grew up hearing about a bunch of different stories that happened, you know,
00:20:32
Speaker
within their own families or within their own real life experiences that take on a very like a very spiritual nature. My family believes a lot in their dreams and kind of like interpreting that and actually a lot of my artwork comes from that space as well. So it comes from two places like sometimes like as I said an idea hits me and I'm like oh I need to I need to get that out somehow or I dream about something and I
00:20:59
Speaker
you know, rush to kind of like get it down. So, but yeah, like I would say definitely my family and kind of like that upbringing, but also to like, I had a very strong mother figure. Like my mom is the toughest person that I know. Like she is very ambitious, determined, but also very curious, you know. And I feel like for myself, like, you know,
00:21:29
Speaker
I kind of maybe took on those characteristics or traits, obviously my own expression of that. But yeah, like she kind of saw, like I think, as I said, like I didn't necessarily have the tools when I was young, because I mean, you know, dexterity and all that sort of stuff. But she saw that like,
00:21:51
Speaker
I think in elementary school that I, this was something that I like to do which was drawing also to like, I got a couple scholarships for like the Winnipeg art gallery to go there as a kid, because I lived in the inner city.
00:22:08
Speaker
Yeah, I lived in the inner city and they were like, yes, send this kid to art places. So she saw that though, and she really ran with it. And she kind of always did that throughout the rest of my childhood. She was always kind of like encouraging and supporting my hobbies in that sense. And yeah, like,
00:22:34
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's largely what kind of shaped me. Also my circumstances though as well. Like as I said, I lived in the inner city. And so I grew up at different points in my life in a state of poverty. So I was definitely not someone who had came from money. Let's start with that. And I,
00:23:03
Speaker
all like within my family, there was also, you know, addictions at certain points. And so, you know, as I said, like, art is a way to process and a way to kind of work through that. So that's the kind of tools that I utilize to sort of make things manageable. Yeah. Yeah. And thanks for that, too, because I can I can personally, you know, connect with
00:23:28
Speaker
You know, uh, you know, growing up, uh, growing up in the city and, uh, you know, there's, um, you know, there's struggling, you know, struggling. Everything was a struggle. Most of the struggle. And also some of the things is some of the influences, um, uh, you know, uh, in, in the family, I was wondering about, um, a question very particularly about that. Um, I've asked, uh, artists about like.
00:23:56
Speaker
when they're younger in the environment, obviously focused on that. But what, I'm always a little bit worried or interested in what goes on in a kid in the city, right? Because in the working class, right? You think about the dynamics of like, what uses are when you need bread, right? Like what uses like the van Gogh book that, that fancy kid has when you're like, you're hungry, right? So.
00:24:23
Speaker
There's just like great gravity and weight for within that environment. Do you think that the art has to shine through or it does shine through? Because it can be a tough climate for art for good reasons. But what are your thoughts on that? I think for myself, like,
00:24:47
Speaker
Like I know that's a funny question just because like it is very true. Like if you don't have money, which I did often did not have, buying supplies like canvas or paints or what have you was honestly very challenging. And I had to rely on what was provided to me either through school or
00:25:10
Speaker
you know just not do that and just use pencil and paper and whatever I had you know in my in my own space but um you know I think for myself at the very least um I always saw art and like my mom would tell me this too but I
00:25:32
Speaker
like kind of sought as a way out of that and a way to break past those barriers for myself. Because yeah, like I, at the end of the day, I was like, well, I'm good at this, I think. I think I'm pretty good at this. And this might be a way to kind of move beyond this, right? Because, you know, for the longest time, that, that was how I lived. Like, even like within my twenties, like,
00:26:02
Speaker
I, a good example is like I would have to like often like pawn things off just to get money for like anything, right? So that's kind of why I like digital art or doing digital art now because you can just do it on your computer that you already own versus like going to an art store to buy paints. Like I, as I said, I'm
00:26:29
Speaker
Well, I said this off camera, off camera or off the podcast. But I said that I am a paint night leader of sorts. That is one of the things that I do. We need you. We need you. We need you to lead this paint. But I do that every once in a while. And buying paints, even acrylics, I think that's mad expensive. You get the piles up. And I kind of like, it's expensive.
00:27:00
Speaker
Yeah, getting back to the point, though, I think it's important or whatever, especially like, as you said, like, it's a hard life. It can be a hard life when you're in, when you don't have money or don't have access to these sort of like, these materials or things. But I do think it's important to kind of beautify your world so that it, you know, you can see
00:27:24
Speaker
the light amongst all of that, if that makes sense? I don't know. Yeah, well, yeah. And you know, and the thing is, too, it's it's obviously like a bigger topic because I think sometimes it's tough to talk about, like, since my show covers so many different type of arts and you think about economics and you think about access, I always try to mean like really sensitive to it because like sometimes a piece of cardboard might be
00:27:49
Speaker
a luxury, you know, like in wherever you are, I mean, the world is very different. And so an artist always like, you know, they find a way, but I become very interested in the questions of, you know, people with exceptional development and where they are, and do they come in contact with the materials, just discovering
00:28:11
Speaker
um, our kind of creative capability and when it happens and what, what are the things that kind of dampen that and like, let's get rid of that shit. You know, like, let's like try to figure out like, you know, let's think more of those. Yeah, for sure. Um,
00:28:30
Speaker
Sorry for the soapbox, but I want soapbox. If you get on a soapbox and you call for rainbows, nobody can criticize you.
Philosophical Insights on Art and Perspective
00:28:39
Speaker
That's my theory. Got a big question for you. Why is there something rather than nothing? Well, this is something that I struggle with, but I would say,
00:28:57
Speaker
Like at some point we did start from nothing, but obviously the universe, our existence and our outlook on life and what this all means has expanded over time. So the earliest evidence of that kind of like expanding a perspective and stuff like that is art. So yeah.
00:29:22
Speaker
I hope that answers your question. It does, because it's the funniest and greatest question. And just kick it around. And it means so many different things. And professional philosophers must hate that I ask it outside the Academy.
00:29:41
Speaker
But that ain't gonna stop it. No, I really enjoyed your answer. Leticia, I wanted to give you some space, some open space maybe to talk about like what you got going on, where to find your art, whether we're talking online, physical, it's different everywhere. I don't know what's going on, but could you tell us? Yeah, for sure.
00:30:08
Speaker
As I said, or not as I said, because I didn't say that here, but I will say it now. I have recently decided to be an independent graphic designer, so I am opening that up. And so I had to clean up my Instagram because there was just a bunch of random stuff from school on there, school projects.
00:30:32
Speaker
I have redeveloped it. But you can find me, or my Instagram handle is laspence, underscore. And I also have a website, Leticia Spence at my portfolio. It's just an Adobe portfolio website for right now. But as I said, I've only recently gone completely full-time freelance. So yeah, we're still developing things. But you can find me on those two platforms.
00:31:01
Speaker
Yeah, and thanks. I know there's one favor. I guess I'm gonna publicly ask you. I have a something rather than nothing sticker and I want a something rather than nothing sticker in Winnipeg if possible.
00:31:16
Speaker
yeah send it out to you that'd be awesome i'm not saying you have to put it on you know the the locker room door of the the jets or anything that's that i want you to get um oh thanks for the ways to reach you and it sounds like you kind of reinventing a little bit showing a little bit more of your independent uh design stuff um which um gosh like you know um
00:31:40
Speaker
I hope everybody listened and they're interested in that, jump in on that. I might be very interested in myself, so it's great to hear about your work. Oh man, this is so cool. This is something rather than nothing.