Interview Series:
That Rebel
Itch
The Sheerfull team recently sat down with Le’Ecia, the creative force behind That Rebel Itch, a lifestyle brand that consciously produces artwork and clothing through a range of different mediums—from upcycling to mending to patchwork. We spoke with Le’Ecia about what it means to turn “nothing into something” and find innovative mediums to create and heal. Read our interview below to learn more about everything from claymaking, to canvas painting, to how to work with different materials to create sustainable and innovative clothing and jewelry.
Tell us a little bit about what you do?
So just my whole life right now I work as a nanny part time. Every day that I’m not working as a nanny I focus on art, clothing, and jewelry.
For my art, I paint and also work with clay, I mold it and sculpt it and put it on a canvas or wood, let it dry and then paint over it with acrylic. I also do a little bit of water color.
With my clothing, all of it is upcycled. I take fabric the friends give me or go to the good will bin and gather old clothes and I’ve been working a lot with patch work so I just cut it up and make my own fabric out of the old clothes instead of them just getting thrown away. So, I upcycle them and recycle them and give them a new life and turn them into a new form of clothing. With the natural clothing and accessories, I do a lot of natural dyes. I work with raffia and wool so I take undyed material and I just dye it with natural dye and create earrings, or clothing, or accessories
How did you think of the name that rebel itch? And what does it mean to you?
It was actually a part of a poem I wrote a long time ago. And what it means to me is freedom. My goal with everything I do—be it art or fashion—is to create or celebrate black culture. Growing up in Spokane, which is a predominantly white place, I felt like people were trying to define blackness for me and I felt like an outsider—I had experiences where it felt like people were trying to define blackness for me. So, the “rebel” part is celebrating that part of me that I’m trying to own and that I know belongs to me, without letting other people define it for me. I used to fit into the constraints of what I was told black culture is supposed to be. But the rebel part for me is celebrating the weird parts of me like the quirks and the odd parts that doesn’t necessarily fit in with mainstream black culture so that hopefully other people like me can feel celebrated too or parts of them are being celebrated.
How did you get started with both the clothing and the art?
I’ve always kinda been doing art. I only started painting about 3-4 years ago and in school I was focusing on film and photography and I took a fiber arts class where I learned weaving and beading and then as soon I graduated school is when I started making felt earrings. Felt is when you take the raw wool and you can either wash with really hot water and soap to felt it or you can felt it by poking it with little needles and that’s what I do with earrings is needle felt it.
How did you learn to work through these different mediums? Was it self-taught?
I learned felting at the school I went to when I did the fiber arts program and it was actually my least favorite thing of all the techniques. I loved weaving and beading, but the felting was my least favorite thing because I felt like the fabric was so thick and I didn’t really like working with it. But then I thought about how I love big statement jewelry but It also sometimes it can be so heavy so then I started working with felt because its thick and you can make big pieces that are still lightweight.
How are the two experiences of learning art at school and by yourself different?
At first it was difficult making things on my own cause I was very used to a peer support system. In school, everything I made was reviewed by a teacher or classmate. I got really used to structured feedback. When I graduated, there were so many times I gave up on my work because I felt like I didn’t have anybody giving me feedback. I was just in my head about my work not being good enough and dealing with lot of negative thoughts. The pros of being in school is having a set support system around you that will critique your work. But being outside of the school, the pros are not being limited by the institution and just being able to create, without the pressures or constraints of the academic world.
How did you move past being on your own and shutting out those negative thoughts about your own work?
For me, it’s been by building a support system. I have a couple of friends I vend at craft fairs with, so I feel supported in that. I also just recently told myself that I can’t scrap anything that I hate or feel bad about without talking to someone first or showing it to somebody. Anytime I show it to somebody else, they are able to see the work through a fresh pair of eyes and give me valuable feedback, that encourages me to keep going. So I show my work to family and my partner, and leaning on those support networks.
Where do you see yourself with your art going in the short term and the long term?
Short term, my goals are just like to keep making clothes and like every week doing photoshoots and collaborations every week and then get back into painting. Long term, I would love to have some type of established store or sell out of other people’s stores. I’ve been talking with some people on social media about having a textile collective, which would be so cool.
Who are some of your inspirations? Can you think of some people that pushed in some way toward that?
Issa Rae, when she first came out with adventures of I loved it so much and I felt so represented she was unapologetically awarded and had this odd sense of humor and things like that inspired me and also like growing up I was inspired by just seeing people expressing themselves outside the norm in terms of fashion and like there was this one publication called Fruits it’s a Japanese book about Japanese street fashion, so it’s photography and people in japan wearing all these amazing colors and layers and so that really inspired me as a kid.
What’s yourself care routine?
Myself care routine is putting on a face mask from literally anything I have in the house, like honey and clay and then taking a bath or just dancing to some dance hall or any kind of music.
Who’s someone style you really like? It could be family or whatever!
Someone’s style I really like and appreciate is Jojo Abot she is mainly a singer, but it also seems like she has a lot of different creative projects going on.
How would you define your style?
I guess I would define my style as a mash of urban and rural.
Who would play you in a movie?
I’ve been told so much especially when I was younger by my family that I look kinda like Kimberly Elise. She was in set it off and she often gets typecast as this very emotional character but I would definitely choose her.
You can find out more about the
That Rebel Itch here:
