LA Art Collective Rooted.
☆ By Martina Taylor ☆
ROOTED. WANTS TO CHANGE THE PERCEPTION OF ITS CITY. Birthed in the creative incubator that is Los Angeles, the art collective has no time for the clout-chasing or the superficial. These Angelenos are ready and willing to get their hands dirty, creating work that speaks up and speaks out. As they build a collective that uplifts local artists, the group also makes sure that they water their own roots, giving back to the community that shaped them. It’s this energy of authentic, homegrown creativity and care that extends far beyond city borders, and what draws in the interests of so many. We checked in with ROOTED. to get to know their vision and its role in an authentic LA.
LUNA: For those unfamiliar, could you please introduce ROOTED.?
ROOTED.: We’ve seen LA evolve to where it now has this superficial stigma that gets distracting and deters authenticity. As LA natives, we want to bring back the originality and heart through storytelling and highlighting the realest of the real. ROOTED. Los Angeles creates to shed light on social issues while highlighting local artists. We cater to every aspect from photography, cinematography, wardrobe styling, hair/makeup, to art installations. Our collective provides a non-judgemental space for creatives to collaborate. We extract the depth and emphasize what makes you YOU. All in the name of L O V E.
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LUNA: Why is crafting a creative community important to you?
ROOTED.: Seeing the role social media plays, we wanted to create a community that consists of kind hearted, authentic, and thought out, go getter artists. A natural powerful type of art flows when you’re struggling, yet choose to hustle. To stay rooted and keep it moving with love & light. Instead of just dreaming & talking about it, we decided to put our energy where our mouth is and be the change we wanted to see. ROOTED. crafted a community to elevate artists & provide a platform where we can all bring heart, soul and integrity to our art.
LUNA: How do you think growing up in LA has impacted you as creators?
ROOTED.: Los Angeles is one of the cultural epicenters where art is born. Picking up Pro Clubs at the swap meet, hitting up the Paramount drive in, bumping Dj Quik down Whittier Blvd., negotiating prices for fabrics in Downtown LA (shout out to Sylvester for always hooking it up), late night In-N-Out runs and watching Weezer at the US Open; we intertwine our LA roots into all our projects. Even though we always make sure to represent our native city, we love immersing ourselves in other cultures and finding inspiration during our travels. Art is limitless.
South Central Cleanup
LUNA: What role do you hope to play in both the creative community and the LA community as a whole?
ROOTED.: No cheese but on the real: We hope to motivate, uplift and be the change we wish to see. We highlight the unconventional, hidden & slept on gems in the LA community. In doing so, we hope to inspire people to stay rooted in who they are and what they believe in and keep it moving. Our goal is to help change the standards of beauty for women and men by challenging the system and society's standard of conventional beauty and art.
LUNA: In what ways would you like to see ROOTED. Evolve?
ROOTED.: ROOTED. crafted a community to house artists and we’ll continue to build that space. We want to continue to expand, reach more people and keep shedding light. We’re excited to meet and work with new artists, broaden our team, help young up & coming artists and just enjoy the mystery of not knowing fully what the future holds. Trust in the metamorphosis.
LUNA: What value does bringing in social issues to your platform have?
ROOTED.: Depth, heart and purpose that is often overlooked. Everything in the media is very surface level and easy to digest. We capture real life through our art. While the glitz & glam is appealing, having discourse on difficult topics, educating others, amplifying voices and pushing boundaries to implement change is what we strive to do. We aim to provide another platform where artists can open up about issues they wish to address.
South Central Cleanup
LUNA: If you could share one piece of advice to someone, or a group of friends wanting to start something, what would you pass along?
ROOTED.: Don’t look to the left. Don’t look to the right. Have tunnel vision and stay focused on what you’re trying to accomplish. Block out others' negative opinions, self-doubts or whatever societal standard your family thinks you should meet. Put in work everyday and keep the vision fueled, even if it’s as simple as taking 15 minutes and writing out your dreams. Get it how you live. Take a shot of Tequila and dance with your homies. It’s not that serious.
LUNA: I know a lot is up in the air these days, but do you have any upcoming goals or plans you’d like to share?
ROOTED.: We plan on doing more work in the community specifically with local POC and immigrant mom & pop businesses, human trafficking organizations such as A21 and helping re-build LA in any way, shape or form. We’re excited to be delving more into designing art installations and will continue highlighting and collaborating with dope local artists in the community. Also, be on the lookout for our debut merch line dropping soon. Thanks for rockin with us. xo
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From Pavietra 🕊️ https://t.co/BXVgWlZud8 -
slowthai by Rosie Matheson 🤩 https://t.co/z7SDfFQ5iF
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RT @i_D: Ian Kenneth Bird photographs young punks on Polaroid: https://t.co/MKT0tMUqO9 https://t.co/a0tTl12ML5
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RT @AnOtherMagazine: #DreamHome – this isolated idyll in the mountains of Lanzarote 🌵 📸 via Nowness, photography by Clemence Blr 🔁 https://t.co/GUusdxD0cg