Today we’d like to introduce you to Rivka Yeker.
Rivka, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I come from a family of Soviet Jewish refugees. My dad is from Belarus and came to Rogers Park in the late ’80s, and my mom moved from Tajikistan to Rogers Park in the early ’90s. They met here and continued to move further Northwest, in a typical Soviet Jew trajectory. I grew up surrounded by art because my parents believed deeply in an enriching cultural upbringing. Since they prioritized art & culture, I was lucky to go to museums and the theater fairly often. While I appreciated all sorts of art, I was more so pulled towards media and film. When I was around ten or eleven, I would create documents of different actors I liked and wrote biographies for each of them. My parents let me watch whatever I wanted, so I became obsessed with movies, predominantly comedy, from an early age. It’s interesting to even consider myself an artist because ever since childhood, my taste was never pretty; it was always ironic, dark, intense, and ferociously against what was expected of me.
My story has a lot of failure, impulsivity, and mediocrity. My goal has always been to uplift marginalized identities, those who have been misrepresented in popular media, people who are booted to the outskirts. Someone’s story is a long, twisted thing. I don’t think it ever really ends.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Art is an interesting term because its meaning is perpetually fluctuating. I run an art magazine and “art” will always look different to everyone consuming it. Post-modern art, to modernists isn’t art, but merely incoherent creating. With each era of art, and each added technology, the context shifts. When I think of myself, I don’t necessarily think “artist”, but rather, a creator. An innovator. A thinker. An organizer.
I write creatively (poetry, short stories, non-fiction) to process trauma, the same way I collage & make zines. My entire life I was told that I was mediocre. I didn’t get great roles in theater productions, was an average competitive tennis player, played piano but only decently, danced but not as well as everyone else. I think about all my average attempts, how they’ll always haunt me because I’ll never see myself as more than that. Yet, the first time I wrote a screenplay and directed my first short film, I found passion. Suddenly, everything hit me. When I started my magazine, Hooligan Mag, I was overwhelmed with creative energy. Suddenly, I didn’t feel average, in fact, I felt seen. I felt proud of myself for the first time.
My life as an artist is parallel to my life as an organizer, editor, and freelancer. I don’t prioritize my art, because I also find value in my abilities to communicate, organize, and host. I think because my passion also lies in uplifting artists, this allows me to utilize those skills to make something substantial. I am able to analyze art, make art, and curate it. It is all I could ever ask for.
When people consume any of the projects I work on, I want them to feel everything.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
You’re unfortunately just going to have to find ways to hustle. I have built a small freelancing clientele on top of working at two bookstores. I’m currently seeking for more stable full time work right now. Artists have to do a million other things just to make it (unless you’re like Tchaikovsky and someone is funding your life).
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I am in the process of building a website at rivkayeker.com but people can find my work at hooliganmagazine.com + by coming to my readings at Volumes Bookcafe and Uncharted Books and checking what events I’m a part of there. Also, be on the lookout for more projects from me in the near future.
Contact Info:
- Website: hooliganmagazine.com
- Email: rivka@hooliganmagazine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rivka.yeker/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1442864237
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rivkayeker?lang=en
Image Credit:
Laurel Golio, Emily Dubin, Audiotree
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