Gabrielle Rosenstein manifests her inner self for the cover of SYKY Magazine: Issue 03

Interview taken from SYKY Magazine: Issue 03

Who is the modern muse? Magazine covers through the decades have presented idealized women as inspirational emblems of our time, but in digital, there is no one way to be. We're free to create, discover, and identify with new muses as we evolve, presenting ourselves how we want, when we want, through digital characters. The new issue of SYKY Magazine, available to collect now, explores this idea further.

For SYKY Magazine: Issue 03, our artistic director, Nicola Formichetti, taps 3D artist, illustrator, and fashion designer Gabrielle Rosenstein for a special edition collectible cover. Known for her stylized, exaggerated female figures, sweet accessories, and playful digital-physical fashion designs, the US-based designer's SYKY debut presents a dual-cover concept exploring selfhood in digital spaces.

The front cover features one of Rosenstein’s signature cute and colorful sci-femme characters, while the back cover unveils a brand-new girl inspired by Rosenstein’s expressive gestural sketches. This new character makes her first 3D appearance cloaked in shadows, all jutting limbs and elongated extremities, a reminder that digital allows us to give form to the multiple identities within each of us.

We caught up with Rosenstein ahead of the launch to chat femininity, digital identities, and how the covers for SYKY Magazine: Issue 03 came to life.

Do you have a muse in your work? Who is that?

Femininity that leaves me on the cusp of “I want to be her” and “I want to be with her”. It presents a paradox that can only be solved by creating.

You focus almost exclusively on female characters in your work. Why?

It’s natural. Female is as personal as it gets for me, where identity-meets-physicality-meets-sexuality. It’s not something I have to think about; it just naturally pours out this way.

How do you think digital art helps audiences reconsider who a muse is, or can be?

I think the early internet did this really well, hosting sacred spaces for the most obscure identities among us. There are still gatekept rarities within digital art/fashion to inspire the ‘ideal muse,’ but the majority of it feels drenched in meticulous algorithms reinforcing trends, making it way harder for the collective to find this organically. Although it's still possible for the devoted individual.

Do we have more freedom to represent our identities – or our identity in that moment – through digital spaces, characters, and fashion?

Yes, if you want it bad enough, it’s there for you. But it depends on the individual. Digital does give space to more diverse muses – infinitely and evolving rapidly, but I question what’s truly free and authentic when everything feels squeezed through an algo. It's hard to say if it allows for more self-expression, since that’s always existed, but it gives expression more visibility now than ever.

The covers you've created for SYKY Magazine present one of your charm girls and her ‘shadow’ counterpart – a character rooted in your gesture drawings. Can you talk us through her genesis?

These two covers are a visual manifestation of different aspects of myself, exploring the duality of ‘where I’m at now’ vs. ‘what I’ve done’. Creating the new character wasn’t a choice. I really felt compelled to do it.

I only started 3D a few years ago, but gestures have been there since I was born, so it was only a matter of time before my illustrations took root in the new technology I’ve fallen for. This character has been around for a while, and you can find her throughout the years in my work, but now she's 3D and fully rigged, which is a breakthrough, for real.

What does she represent?

It's just me being myself - this is the most authentic and full-circle character I've made.

You mentioned recently finishing Owning Your Own Shadow, a book exploring the Jungian theory of individuation and self-acceptance. How did that inform the covers?

I had been struggling to add more meaning and depth to my work, feeling like I was growing as a person, but my characters weren’t evolving, limited, or just stuck in a cycle.  The book helped me realize that knowing myself through the act of creation allows me to see myself more clearly. Reconnecting with charcoal/pencil naturally led me to blend mediums.

Can you take us through the process for creating the new piece?

Over the last few months, I’ve been illustrating a lot without sharing digitally. I got really clear on this character that felt most true to where I’m at now. I referenced a few of my favorite sketches and intuitively mushed lathes/tubes around in Nomad until I had a general model. Working on the iPad with the Apple Pencil wasn’t too far from sketching, anyways. Lastly (and the most rewarding part), I imported her into Blender where I go off on the sculpt /details, and rig so I can pose her for shoots. I’ll animate her too, soon enough.

What does drawing give you that jumping straight into a program doesn’t?

Drawing is what I was born with. It feels the most effortless and fruitful.

How does marrying 3D and analogue inform the outcome?

Look at the issue and tell me ^-^

Your work is so layered with references to the internet and popular culture. What are some of your favorite corners of the internet?

It used to be magical to stumble into really niche corners of the internet by chance. Over the last decade I’ve collected a huge archive of found images, scans, concept decks for video games, art, fashion, even porn. I love going back to these when I need a digi-boost. I love finding webpages that feel like 2002-2006, but keeping them for myself. 

Do you have anything else coming up that you’d like to talk about?

I just got a 3D printer and I’m really excited to get crazy with it for my next accessory collection. I’m also working on more collectible art objects for the home. I’ll be creating blind-boxed figures for KIKI, a creative marketplace launching in May. And keep an eye on Bratz’s feed for my chrome characters.

Collect the digital cover from SYKY Magazine: Issue 03 until April 7. Keystone Holders get a free mint.