Artists We Love: Skye Ramen

INTERVIEWED BY Michaela Stehr IMAGES courtesy of Skye Ramen

Cape Town-based artist and illustrator Skye Manthé (Skye Ramen) creates cheeky work that plays on popular culture and local colloquialisms. She gives us some insight into building her characters and her future plans.

Give us a bit of insight into your artistic journey.

I started drawing when I was young like most children. My mom enjoyed making art and encouraged a lot of my early artistic behaviour. I showed a lot of interest in drawing so my parents would get me any art supplies they could find. Eventually after drawing all the way through school, taking Visual Art and then finally studying Graphic Design and Illustration, I settled into myself as a creative and learnt what it is that I enjoy making, and I’m always learning new things still as time goes on! 

What gives you life? 

That’s a tough one to summarize. I’m in love with media, I love seeing other people’s work and what they create. I absolutely love comic books like Scott Pilgrim and indie comics by local creators. I love TV shows and cartoons, anime and Manga. That all being said, they truly inspire me, but what gives me life and, very possibly, purpose, is to create things that are a reflection of myself as an individual inspired by other people’s own creations.

How did you come about the name Skye Ramen?

I took a while to choose my name. I really wanted to sit down and have a good think about something that could sound interesting and original. I also still wanted to include my actual name ‘Skye’, so after trying to make a bunch of work plays around sky, I actually landed on a very simple combination; my name and my favourite food! I think it worked out for the better, pretty snazzy wouldn’t you say?

I notice a lot of your art reference society and popular culture. Are you using your work to display a form of social commentary?

This is actually something I haven’t truly thought about. Like I said previously, a lot of my work is inspired by popular media that I enjoy, but I’m also someone who likes to reflect and be inclusive. I’m also a huge advocate for using South African references in my work like language and references to the more dark humour side of SA culture. Sometimes I’ll draw an illustration as an emotional response, sometimes I’ll want to draw something cool that people can visually enjoy and other times I want to draw true reflections of friends and family. Essentially I would say my social commentary of sorts would be to visualize the human experience in a surrealistic way, to make you feel things, but also to relate visually to any of my illustrations.

How would you describe your aesthetic?

Being a self-described media goblin, I have picked up a lot of visuals with labels I could throw around like confetti. I’d say it’s a little bit of heavy metal, with a feminine touch of surrealism, a little biblical here and there because of all the angels and demons I draw, topped off with a dash of dark humour.

Are your characters inspired by real people you know or are they entirely fictional?

I’d definitely say that it’s a bit of both. I like drawing people around me as I see them, but I also like to create entirely new people that are inspired by emotion. I want to try and play with how an emotion or emotional response could look if visually tangible. Sometimes I like to create visual representations of people in my life and my emotions tied to them, but they don’t usually look like who they are in real life. Sometimes I do just enjoy playing around with character creation but that’s usually more in my sketchbook!

Describe your work in three words.

Surreal, ethereal, metal-asf

We live in an age where we are completely overstimulated with media. How do you create art that speaks to this narrative?

As a creator, I’m a firm believer in that I’m an artist first, and a content creator second. I still put a lot of effort into my social media, but I don’t have a strict posting schedule. I like to stay true to making work that I’m happy with first. A few years ago I went through a very serious depression where I was churning out art like a machine for almost a year and I barely liked any of it and it didn’t gain all that much attention. Now I try to make things that I truly enjoy and I find that a lot more people appreciate art that isn’t shallow or made for mass media purposes. People respect effort and truth in creations by others and I feel like in the age we are in today, that weighs a lot more. People who’ve seen my art and other artists that I’ve had conversations with have all said that my art stands out because of how much effort and love I pour into my work.

What does a regular day look like for you?

So I actually work a full-time office job during the week and usually, I’m quite busy! I wake up and get ready for work at 8:30, have a bunch of snacks at my desk, and usually, I draw during my lunches and free time and then head home at 5. I’m a particularly organized person so I always make sure my admin for the day is sorted and then I like to cosy up with my music, tea and my cat, Rice, and just start sketching and chill for the evening. After work in the week sometimes I’ll use that time to see friends and go out and weekends are usually free game, but recently while my partner works every second Saturday I spend the day drawing, watching anime, playing games or doing things around the house.

Where do you see yourself going next year?

This year has been really important because it’s the first time I’ve really dedicated time and effort to my illustrations on a serious level. I’ve been able to put myself out there and get social media attention, I’ve done some exhibitions with some coming up, I’ve been more involved in the local art community and it’s been really great! I feel like next year I will have grown so much more and evolved as a local artist and improved skill-wise in my art as well, so I’m very excited to see what 2024 is gonna bring!

Do you have a particular favourite piece?

Heck yes I do! And it’s funny because I made it during my third year. It’s an A4 digital illustration called ‘DRAGULA’ after one of my favourite Rob Zombie songs. It was used in a series of postcard illustrations for my first 3rd-year illustration project in 2020. I loved it then and I still love it now, it is in fact printed and hanging on a wall in my house. 

Any local artists on your radar currently?

WOW so many. I’m privileged to know so many local creators in Cape Town and Johannesburg alike, all of which you can find on Instagram! Some of my favourites are PlanRob, Wes Leal, Gerhard Van Wyk (who lectured me in my first year of art school!), Thuthukani Myeza, ChetheStray and El Chucho the Mutt!

Follow Skye on Instagram, here.

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