Emilie ‘Embers’ Adler (also infamous as Khaos)☪ INTERN/ street artist ☪ (20)
February 16th - Aquarius
Hometown; Berlin, Germany
‘Embers’, as she likes to be called, grew up drinking in the ribald urban vibe of Berlin city, never knowing what she wanted from life. Always tagging along with her older brother Joel, she was raised on skating, punk rock and street art- all of which, her parents used to say, nothing to make a living out of. But Embers, a dreamer and drifter, finished school, Abitur in hand, and still knew nothing but that she loved tagging and spraying, and that she wanted to see the world. So she packed her backpack to visit her brother, now 24 and supposedly studying art in Los Angeles. He wasn’t. Instead, she found Joel living the skate life, being a DJ and gradually covering his skin with ink.
That was two years ago. Since then, Embers has moved in with her brother and his best friend Drew, who lives with his older lawyer brother in an old loft building at the edge of town. She has also become an infamous underground phenomenon- although few people know who hides behind the tag name ‘Khaos’. What they know is that she leaves bold, intricate and clever pieces all over the city.
Meanwhile Embers, after having tasted blood watching Drew, full-on tattoo artist at 25, interns at California Art & Tattoo by daylight. Balancing her secret street art life, skating, work and practicing on oranges (and Joel, from time to time), is hard, but who knows, maybe this is what she wants?
(Model: Dalia Günther)
TAKEN BY; @vampirkaninchen
Fun Facts:
☪ There might have been Something between her and Drew from the start, but Em has, up to now, tried to see past this, afraid to ruin her brother’s friendship- or their living situation. Lately, though, the Something has become harder and harder to ignore.
☪ Embers got her first tattoo aged 16, and has lately accumulated a sleeve, most of it Ehawee’s artwork.
☪ Her favorite band are the Beatsteaks, a punk rock band from Berlin with the right kind of laid back ska influence to constantly remind her of home. She is too much of a life-for-the-moment person to miss it much, though.
☪ Unsurprisingly, Em’s best at word tattoos. And although she’ always scribbling something, tattoos are quite different form graffitis, and she has to practice a lot.
☪ Embers got into graffiti through the skater scene, but her work took a different turn when she discovered a Miss Van piece in the back alleys of Berlin.
Collection: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/collection?id=2551600&.locale=de
▪ How long have you been tattooing (or piercing)? What's your experience?
Um, two years, if you count that time Joel let me draw a star on his calf with Drew’s machine… If you don’t, then maybe half a year. I have lots of experience with artwork, but tattooing is new for me.
At first it was just like an inside joke between Joel, Drew and me, you know. And then Drew said he thought I could really do this, and be good at it. I hope he meant it, haha. But he must have done, because he asked around and got me the internship at CAT. Which is really amazing, and a bit insane, if you think about it… But hey, here I am, four months in, and I love it!
▪ How is your relationship with the Stark sisters?
Good! I mean, I guess. Cat is an amazing artist, and I admire her work a lot, so that’s really cool. She hasn’t got too much time for me, but I get by, I’m fine. Cat said if she likes my progress, she’ll take me on as apprentice. That’d be just great. Tatum’s cool, too. She looks out for me, takes me under her wings sometimes, that sort of thing.
And I can’t say how much I love working with so many girls!
▪ What do you expect to get out of working in CAT?
A life goal, haha! Okay, serious now. I want to be an artist. It’s the only thing I know how to be, and I want to be the kind whose work you see everywhere. All over everything. Not locked away in a fancy gallery, not something that only reaches a select group of people… I want to create things to see in passing, to make people smile, and maybe something that lasts longer than I do. If you like, I’m spreading myself all over the city, haha! Okay, back to the question; what do I want to get out of this? I want to make good art. That’s it.
▪ Where do you see yourself in five years.
Um, …. okay, now, no really, I can’t answer that question. Just can’t. Because I don’t know and that question terrifies me. All I know is that I hope I’ll still be alive, and being an artist, and not having given up on searching for what I want… and maybe, yes, to have some good times with my friends. Lame, yes, yes, I know, but that’s all I have.
- Answer these questions out of character;
▪ Why do you think you should get the part?
Because I love her. Emile is inspired by a massive piece of writing I worked on when I was 16-17, and even all the new parts are so close to home for me it’s almost unbearable.
▪ How active will you be?
As active as university lets me be. I’ll be honest, the first half of the week can get tricky for me, but I’ll do what I can.
▪ How inspired are you for this role?
Let’s just say I’ve always loved the Ink shows: Miami, L.A., New York. And I’m a punk rock kid who wishes she would have had the guts and the connections to try her hand (feet?) at skating.
Aside from that, I made a playlist: http://8tracks.com/vampirkaninchen/city-girl
So to summarize: pretty dam.n inspired.
- A small story on your character's life in Los Angeles.
It’s warm. It’s always warm here, which is just one thing I love about L.A. Another thing is living in this loft, at times like these. The Beatsteaks are playing over my headphones as I sit at the kitchen table, feet wrapped around the chair, tattooing a skull on the orange I should have been eating, but what can you do? I gotta practice, or I won’t get anywhere. For the first time in my life, I have a vague idea of what I want, and-
‘Morning’, says Drew with an amiable smile, coming in.
‘Moin’, I say, answering in broad German dialect before I can stop myself. Trying not to look sheepish, I take off headphones. How could I have forgotten? Joel will be flat out after a late night gig yesterday, but Drew’s gotta get up early for work.
‘Watcha doing there?’ He looks over my shoulder, curiously, and it’s too late to hide my early morning exercise, so I decide to get it over with. ‘That’s really not bad!’ He says, to my astonishment- and, what’s more surprising, he sounds proud, as if it’s his work. Is it hot in here?
‘Steady hand’ he goes on, while I suddenly realize how close he is to me… I can feel his breath on my ear, and my shoulder brushes his chest… since when does that make me nervous?
Silence falls, filling with a weird Something.
‘I should-‘ we both begin, breaking away.
‘Yeah, long day ahead…’
‘Appiontments…’
‘Yeah.’
And he’s gone. So is my steady hand.
@sophiaspastic
sophiaspastic
‘Appiontments…’
‘Yeah.’
And he’s gone. So is my steady hand.
