Ava Frances J

Ava Frances J has just completed her foundation in Fashion Promotion, specialising in styling, creative direction and 3D design to bring her unique visions to life. She has recently released her debut magazine, 'How Is It Going To End?' (available at https://issuu.com/avafrancesj/docs/issuu_mag), addressing navigating your own spirituality and relation to the paranormal in the modern world, leaving viewers with their own perceptions by providing educated writings, interviews with arts and science specialists and dynamic, exploratory imagery. With her publication, and work as a whole, she uses a range of methods to question where the fashion industry is headed in the future, in terms of technology, with the recent rise of NFT's and online Fashion Week events. Working in the world of fashion communication, she explores how this modernisation affects her own process, for example creating physical props, as well as rendering 3D, digitally modelled props that are edited into photoshoots, presenting the value of both tactile and digital methods of creation.

WHAT DOES THE OTHER SIDE LOOK LIKE? – A styled, creatively directed image exploring what the afterlife may look like, taking inspiration from media that explores this idea such as 'Coraline' and 'Donnie Darko'. Ava uses editing and styling to present a more comforting, familiar depiction by using well-known movie references to show audiences that the afterlife is not always something to be feared, but by exploring and forming your own opinion of another side, you can find peace and comfort within it. Taken from the debut magazine 'How Is It Going To End?'

WHAT DOES A PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE FEEL LIKE? – A styled and creatively directed image exploring what an interaction with the paranormal feels like. To create visuals for this question, Ava submerged herself into liminal spaces, and documented with sketches and writing what emotions and sensations arose. She also interviewed multiple people on their own paranormal experiences and what these felt like, and took inspiration from artists such as Susan Hiller and Georgiana Houghton who look at the impact of paranormal experiences and how we visualise these. Taken from the debut magazine 'How Is It Going To End?'

HOW DO WE REACH THE OTHER SIDE? – A styled, creatively directed image taking inspiration from cinema such as 'Beetlejuice' and 'Night-Fishing' to address how spirits reach the afterlife. Ava conducted research into how sometimes, spirits are unable to reach the other side, connected to Earth somehow, and the rituals and methods that are used to ensure this doesn't continue. An example of one of these rituals is shown in this image, presenting the transition from human to spirit, and living on Earth to experiencing the afterlife. Taken from the debut magazine 'How Is It Going To End?'

HOW DO WE VISUALISE SPIRITS? – A styled, creatively directed image exploring what spirits may look like, with research into the phenomena of 'shadow people', an urban legend and ancient visual depiction of spirits, which has been modernised and re-discovered with video games such as Slenderman re-designing what spirits may look like in the modern world. 3D modelling and rendering was used to create digital props, edited on top of original photographs to bring visions to life of what spirits could look like in 2021, if they evolve with technology like humans do. Taken from the debut magazine 'How Is It Going To End?'

HOW IS IT GOING TO END? – A physical flip-through of Ava Frances J's magazine 'How Is it Going To End?', exploring navigating your own spirituality in the modern world, facilitating making peace with the paranormal.