La Luna Naranja: Exploring the Collaboration of Amalia Naranjo, Luna Nashar, and Oriana Confente

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

“Every night, I am alone. I transform into

different shapes

Every 28 days.”

As seasons begin to change, I have found myself getting further swept up by pensiveness under the night sky. The evenings draw longer, leaving a collection of charcoal clouds and twinkling stars which further illustrate the vastness that surrounds us and the bittersweet reality that everything must shift. Who are we in relation to each other, to our environment, and to past versions of ourselves?

The latest creative collaboration between Montreal-based artists Luna Nashar, Amalia Naranjo and Oriana Confente contends with such questions, linking tote-bag aficionados across the universe with a transcendent connection. La Luna Naranja was released earlier this summer; its canvas was carefully designed by Naranjo and Nashar, and captured by Confente with a warm and decadent editorial photoshoot. On La Luna Naranja, the trio shares:

“La Luna Naranja offers a unique fragment of what forms a Bigger image. In this fast-paced life, we go through ours with a small perspective of what's happening around us, letting our surroundings affect how we grow and reshape into our new self. The uniqueness of a Luna Naranja bag represents the beauty of individuality while still being a part of a more complex whole. A 1x1 metre canvas, hand painted by Amalia Naranjo. Each tote bag, unique, is a part of a greater picture. United, they create the original piece. However, the canvas was never meant to keep its beauty for itself. Cut, folded and sewn, it shares its true purpose: unity through art.”

The project alluringly melds temporality with an everlasting vibrance – what began as one has been reborn as many, and the many have been immortalized as one. Although the fragments of La Luna Naranja have each found their forever homes, their bond—much like ours with the past, present, and future—remains fused throughout the phases of the night sky. Also Cool Mag recently connected with Naranjo, Nashar, and Confente to discuss their creative bonds and their visions for La Luna Naranja.

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

Rebecca L. Judd for Also Cool Mag: Thank you all for sharing your creativity with Also Cool! To start, I would love to know a bit more about each of you and your respective practices. Can you elaborate on how this collaboration came about? How did you folks cross paths, and which artistic values or interests have you bonded over?

Luna Nashar: Amalia and I met on set of my first editorial in 2020, and I met Oriana at my very first art exhibition a year later! Since then, we have created opportunities for ourselves to connect and grow together as creatives. 

I am inspired by Amalia’s unapologetic approach to her art. She is a multidisciplinary artist, and [through this project] I really wanted to challenge her and get to know her as a painter. 

Oriana is a perfect fit on the project. Her use of film photography reinforces the “one-of-a-kind” theme of the project. I also love discussing sustainability in fashion with Oriana – we both are big on thrifting! It was interesting to have her on this project where a new art piece is recycled into a tote.

Oriana Confente: I actually met Amalia on the same night I met Luna at her exhibition last year. That was the first time I had seen Luna’s textiles and Amalia’s paintings. 

It’s funny how sometimes you encounter people and you just click. Like Luna mentioned, we connected over sustainability in fashion and I admire her approach to design. I love that Luna often repurposes deadstock fabrics, and I’m obsessed with her interpretations of the female form. I mean… pussy pockets. What a concept! I have at least three at home, and I’m sure that I’ll own more soon. 

I fully agree with Luna – I’m also inspired by Amalia’s unapologetic approach to her work. Getting to know her more through the events and projects that Luna organized has been lovely. It was especially fun to have an opportunity for Amalia to model with pieces she co-created. Funnily enough, this shoot was supposed to just be for e-commerce at first, but it evolved into so much more. I am thankful for transformation!

Amalia Naranjo: Like Luna said, we met in September 2020 for her editorial photoshoot. A year after that, I met Oriana at Luna’s art exhibition The Red Room. Their energy always felt so pure and real to me, when Luna proposed to me to collaborate with her on a tote bag project where I would get to paint, I was really excited to jump in. 

I immediately bonded with Luna. I loved her style, her creativity and her aesthetics, but mostly her perspective on arts and community values. She has the gift of bringing interesting creative people together so we can share and collaborate on our creations. Oriana’s artistic approach on themes like nature and technology and how they can co-exist really captured my attention. I admire the complexity of her projects and how she talks about it in an effortless manner.

Also Cool: La Luna Naranja fuses individual pieces into a greater narrative about transformation, reflecting on interconnectedness between eras and experiences. Tell us more about how this is thematically reflected in the collection, and what you’ve learned in creating it.

Luna: I feel like a bond of sisterhood developed throughout the project, as we learned from each other and spent time with each other's art. It was fruitful to share and be part of different challenges when it comes to our different mediums. As I sewed the totes, I could tell where Amalia put more paint! It was really fun to imagine her creative process as I was transforming her art.

Also, it was lovely seeing people choose which tote would be theirs. It reflects their uniqueness. I feel like La Luna Naranja created a small community where each one-of-a-kind tote is carried by an exceptional soul who shares a love for the art piece. The sisterhood that we shared together is for the community.

Amalia: When I had to come up with a design, I knew I wanted to bring a sense of uniqueness to every individual bag, so I knew that it wouldn’t be a single pattern throughout the whole fabric. But I also wanted it to be all connected and dynamic to represent movement and change through time and space – hence the lines that travel through the whole piece. There are also the different shapes of what seem to be naturally-rounded balls, but whose shapes change depending on their surroundings – just like us. Humans are affected by our surroundings, and we change as we move through time and space.

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

AC: I’m interested in the prospect of “unity through art”; how the repurposing of this piece into tote bags helped it to achieve a higher level — “its true purpose”. As artists, was there a moment when you felt that this was achieved?

Luna: Great art is life-changing. Traditionally, a painting is appreciated in a specific space. Repurposing it into a timeless piece elongates its narrative. I love the idea that you get to spend time with a piece that makes you feel a certain way. 

Transforming Amalia’s art was a very big moment for me – especially the first cut! I feel like a bond of sisterhood developed throughout that process of transformation. Although, the greatest feeling is knowing those tote bags are part of someone else’s life now. Maybe we should do a reunion with all the La Luna Naranja carriers!

Amalia: I could not say it better, Luna! By giving the art piece a utility, its purpose definitely adds more to the symbolism of moving through time and space with the user, and the sense of unity with all the people involved in this creation and the consumer is defined. I feel like this project keeps reaching higher levels. From doing a playful photoshoot, wearing the big painted fabric, to wearing the individual tote bags while doing more of a conceptual photoshoot. I feel it even more when I see people using it in their everyday lifestyle, and finally, when I see it published in a magazine for all eyes to see!

Amalia Naranjo modelling the La Luna Naranja collection. Photo courtesy of Oriana Confente

AC: I’d love to hear more about the intentions with colour in the piece, both as totes and in this photoshoot. 

Luna: Each emotion that each colour communicates, I want to feel and experience. I wear what I feel, and I am very comfortable expressing those feelings. I like finding balance in those emotions and I believe Oriana did a great job capturing that!

Oriana: Luna and Amalia are both incredibly vibrant human beings, in terms of the work they create but also in terms of who they are. Capturing their essence in this editorial was important to all of us. 

Amalia came to the set with electric blue eyeliner, and Luna had the spontaneous idea to throw some yellow lace she had in the studio over the backdrop… It came together quite naturally. 

Amalia: I cherry-picked the colours to create a vibrant palette of a nice variety, one that represented a diverse range of feelings and states. I also had fun blending various colours inside the balls, which was again to represent free movement and transformation. I chose to paint the lines black so that they could be neutral while the balls do all the eye-catching with their bright changing colors. When it came to the photoshoot, we approached colour in the same way: we went extra on the colour palette with the electric blue eye makeup, the extravagant red backdrop and the bright yellow lace. 

AC: Thank you all for your time! To close things off, what are each of you up to next, creatively? Are there any future collaborations in the works?

Luna: I am currently working on a new collection of bags in collaboration with a vintage store in Montreal, where transformation is also a major theme. Truly, collaborations are essential to every artist's growth. 

Oriana: Luna and I are starting a new project together! My practice, through photography and other creative means, is interested in disrupting consumerism and repurposing materials. I work with electronic waste (e-waste) a lot. Right now, Luna and I are co-designing garments that incorporate e-waste we’re collecting from friends and family. 

I’ve created e-waste accessories before—like earrings made from microchips—so it’s exciting to be working with a skilled designer like Luna to make more elaborate wearables. Plus, sharing talents and merging practices continues to commit us to transformation and unity through art. Collaboration and making-with is crucial for any type of community. I’m grateful I can experience that artistically with really cool folks. 

Amalia: I am very proud to say that as La Luna Naranja sold out very quickly, I am currently working on a new collection of painted tote bags with Luna. I am also working on a collection of paintings to have my own art exhibit soon. I am looking forward to more collabs with more creatives as I believe we can only do so much more amazing stuff when we work together.

Medusa, a “pussy pocket” bag produced by Luna Nashar. Photo courtesy of Luna Nashar

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La Luna Naranja

Modelled by Amalia Naranjo

Photographed by Oriana Confente

Garments produced by Luna Nashar

Tote bags designed by Luna Nashar and Amalia Naranjo

Hair styled by FirstClass Hair

Make-up by Dorianys Naranjo

Assisted by Vladim Vilain

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Luna Nashar

Website | Instagram

Oriana Confente

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Amalia Naranjo

Instagram

Rebecca L. Judd is the features editor of Also Cool Mag. She writes and creates out of her studio apartment in Ottawa, kept company by vivid dreams and a cuddly grey kitty named Dora.

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Miles Away Perfectly Captures Our Lustful, Summer Nostalgia

Still from Miles Away. Photos provided by the filmmakers

Nostalgia, heartbreak, toxicity, growing up, losing yourself… “Miles Away” portrays the deep nuances and contradictions of existence, the difficulty of navigating love when you lose yourself too deeply in its web, and when the last rays of the summer sun hit you with a wave of regret. Miles Away was the summer anti-love story we all needed.

I met with the film’s executive producer and production designer, Naomi Berezowsky, on a hot and humid Tuesday afternoon in Montreal. We sat down on the window ledge of her wood-paneled industrial loft she shared with other creatives throughout the pandemic, a space of art and collectivity. The late afternoon sun gave the room a warm summer atmosphere as we talked about Miles Away and her involvement with the film.

Still from Miles Away. Photos provided by the filmmakers

Losing Yourself and Finding Your Way Back with Miles Away

“At its core, the film is an anti-love story, set between the worlds of jazz and skateboarding. It serves as a time capsule for pre-pandemic 20-somethings evading the responsibilities of adulthood for the dream of an endless party, with no consequence.”

The story-less story follows Miles and Lulu as their worlds melt together when they fall in love, and the disintegration of that world. From drugs to skateboarding to making art in morning sun after a night of sex, the film touches upon the most intimate, seemingly insignificant moments of life which are what make us all too human. It is like a bird’s-eye view into those situations where we find ourselves feeling powerful, and yet are at our most vulnerable.

Shot in black and white, the nostalgia of the film is not just captured by the complex relationships, dialogues, and interactions between the characters, but by the beautiful Vancouver locations chosen by the team. From rollercoasters and urban parks to make-shift jazz clubs, the shooting was truly what Berezowsky calls “a love letter to Vancouver.”

The film does not follow the classic “lead in - climax - lead out” structure most Hollywood films do. The film is more nuanced than that, embodying the sense of fluidity and lust in the very way it was shot. It brings you closer to the raw experience of life – that hard-hitting reality that your actions will always affect others, no matter how much you try to escape it.

Watching the film, you are confronted with the most simple yet beautiful exposition of a human paradox: how freeing it feels to lose control, yet how destructive it can become when you strive to take control of the uncontrollable. I recommend Miles Away for anyone who has felt that inescapable, existential emptiness that hits when endless summer nights are just a bit too long.

Berezowsky sums it up best when she said, “it’s about when you lose yourself in a substance, you lose yourself in a relationship, you lose yourself in a lust for something... That lust for the endless party.” The cycle of neglecting external issues in youth and learning to take responsibility for oneself in adulthood – Miles Away forces us close to what we seek to push away and hide the most.

Still from Miles Away. Photos provided by the filmmakers

The Making of Miles Away

“As soon as we started filming, we threw away the script.” 

With a low budget of $25,000, Miles Away was shot over 12 days throughout the summer of 2019 after two years of development and prep. The crew committed to a summer schedule of four days a week, divided between filming and additional prep. Miles Away was shot all around the Vancouver area, with a couple of shots taken in Sydney, Australia. Berezowsky describes it as her “saving grace” from the other work she was doing for Hallmark holiday shows.

The film went a little – well, actually, completely – off script. With guidance from the director, who also plays the protagonist Miles, the actors “knew where the scene needed to go, [and] where it needed to end up for the story to be told.” Perhaps this is what gave the film its edge and relatability, what Berezowsky describes as its “organic” quality.

“What’s so interesting about it is that it exists in a semi-crafted reality,” explained Berezowsky. “It sits between truth and fiction, which is just really rare….it’s hard to [compare it] to anything else.” 

Not only did the actors’ instincts guide the film to its result, but the team itself was fluid in its roles. “We all wore a lot of hats because we were such a skeleton crew,” explains Berezowsky, emphasizing the fact that the film was pulled with only about ten people on the production team and thirty on cast. “There were moments when we all had to act as the assistant director,” she continues, especially in moments where the director was in character.

Blurring the lines between fact and fiction may be best illustrated when Berezowky gave a description of her impromptu and unexpected acting role in the film. It happened during the night when one of the most emotionally intense scenes was shot. “It was pushing midnight,” explains Berezowsky, “and everybody was kind of restless.

“I’m a musician and I’m a poet, and to fill this space where everyone was getting a bit restless, I went on the microphone and started reciting any of my slam poetry that I could think of on the spot... Then I sang this song that I actually wrote, [so] my own song is at the very end of the film which is pretty sweet.”

This kind of situation was not uncommon for the production of Miles Away. As she describes it, “I was the production designer and I ended up being in the film substantially… and that was unexpected but that’s just a testament to how organic [everything was] and how everything just unfolded really naturally.

“It was the team’s first time working together, and the first time creating a film for several of them. Receiving proper funding and support has been a difficult part of the process: a lot of people kind of wrote us off and were like ‘these are a bunch of kids with a video camera, good luck,’ and we’re still getting that today.

“[It’s] just about the power of the collective... we push each other, we inspire each other, we champion each other, and that’s why we’re still doing this.”

Behind-the-scenes of Miles Away. Photos provided by the filmmakers

Communicating the Language of the Film: Berezovsky's Story

“Sometimes it’s difficult to ask questions, sometimes it’s difficult to be like… ‘I don’t understand this form of trauma, I don’t understand this form of mental illness.’ But if given the chance to see it played out for you on film, you’re able to experience it vicariously through the character.”

This kind of experience is what Berezovsky,  on the set of Miles Away, helped to bring. “The production designer is responsible for the decorating, they’re responsible for the props, they’re responsible for any art that you see,” she explains. When production design is done well, explains Berezowsky, it is that “ ...you are learning about the character through it.”

Berezowsky began her career in film at twenty-four when she moved to Vancouver from her home state of Washington to study film. She began working on holiday shows, which helped her realize what she didn’t want to do with films: tell laughable and depthless stories “which served no purpose.”

As production designer, her role was to create “the visual language of the film” – the unspoken associations we create in our minds when we look at the environment of a scene. A hole in the wall may communicate anger, empty beer and wine bottles could communicate loneliness.“When you are creating the visual language of a film, it’s about the subtext… When you’re reading the script, and you’re reading the dialogue, and you’re reading these actions, there’s always a subtext to these actions.” 

Filmmaking, what she believes to be “the most powerful medium,” can give people “the chance to see the world through other people’s eyes.” After pausing and thinking, she continues to say that what film provides is the opportunity for people to “be confronted with… a human experience that they wouldn’t necessarily understand – or be able to – and definitely not be able to identify with themselves.”

Aside from her busy filmmaking life, Berezowsky is also part of a band SRFISNOYS, whose upcoming demo you can soon stream on their Soundcloud.

Naomi Berezovsky, the executive producer and production designer of Miles Away. Photo credits to

Miles Away

by Size 8 Studio

written and directed by Samuel Campbell Wilson

produced by Alexandra Francis and Eric Medcalf

Instagram | Support the film on Indie GoGo

Soline Van de Moortele is a Philosophy student at Concordia/insatiable feminist, raver, and writer.

Wordpress

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