Vita Kari (they/them) has revolutionized how we perceive creativity in the digital world. Their portfolio is extensive, ranging from textiles, sculptures, paintings, music, digital pieces, and so much more. As a nonbinary individual, their success in the art world serves as a powerful testament to the importance of diversity and representation in creative spaces.
Vita has amassed a TikTok following of over 1.5 million. Famous for their series “I Printed It Out” and “The Craziest Thing About Being Creative,” these videos are immersive art pieces amplified by optical illusion and unique visual experiences. They aim to break the fourth wall and critique the incessant scrolls of online viewership. They described these videos as “providing a glitch in the doom scroll.”
Vita fell in love with visual art, describing it as their bread and butter. Inspired by music videos, they admired the marriage between visual production and art. They currently present as hyper-feminine, loving and embracing this aspect of their gender fluidity. Their identity is an important aspect to their art. Vita’s rawness and outspoken aura work to depict a world that other queer people can exist in. They hope their platform can inspire their younger audience.
A very light-hearted and charismatic person, Vita discusses the backlash they have received and how they have chosen to react to it. “I think it’s interesting because, like, no matter what I post, it could be anything—I could post, like, literally a photo of my dog. And it’ll be like, ‘pronouns don’t exist.’” Transphobic and homophobic comments seem inescapable, but Vita’s optimistic attitude allows them to focus on the positive feedback. They welcome artistic critique with open arms, mentioning how art is meant to be criticized. Regardless of feedback, their art focuses on subverting what the public understands to be the criteria for “virality” in the digital era. Their work is meant to turn heads, unapologetically.
They’ve done a lot of inflammatory content for the sake of performance work. For example, in a video that went viral, they got a mustache tattoo as a joke. In an obviously ironic tone, they say, “I got this mustache tattoo as a nonbinary person because I just really think that this will embrace my masculinity.” Many viewers were triggered and took things out of context. Vita commented about how instances like this really make them understand the impact of the internet and how easily things can be skewed. However, they find it fun to navigate and constantly use the feedback to grow and interact with people. “I think that for any artist, I suggest just putting yourself out there because only good will come. It’ll change your life.”
Their catchphrase, “the craziest thing about being creative,” also spawned from a place of irony. Mirroring the tones of makeup artist tutorials, Vita channels a similar voice and shifted the methodical voice into different energies, ranging from rage to mania. I asked Vita what the craziest thing about being creative was to them. Their response “is that you can really do anything.”
From 2020 until 2022, Vita and their team worked on a community space, gallery, and venue in L.A. that centered around the queer community. They discussed the lack of event/project space for people to host and create meaningful projects, so they made one. “With queerness, I think the biggest thing about it is community, right? Like, that chosen family,” Vita explains. Vitawood established something familial. In the future, they plan to work on a new community-driven project open to everyone but embedded in the LGBTQ+ community. The blueprint is a supply/tool exchange.
Vita mentions how there is increasing LGBTQ+ representation in the fine arts world, especially by trans artists. Despite fine arts bolstering an older crowd, Vita believes there is an apparent openness there and diversity is being prioritized. Their own art has touched on a plethora of themes, from consumption to digital identity to commercialism. In the future, they would like to implement more themes revolving around their ethnic identity. They aim to intersect imagery with ethnic representation, especially highlighting their grandmother who was an immigrant.
Vita has a plethora of exciting upcoming projects, such as a “secret haunted house. They will be collaborating with their friend SWSH to host Stinky Party, an event highlighting a plethora of trans artists. And, of course, art shows and performance work will be sprinkled throughout. For their master’s thesis for Otis College of Arts and Design, they married their digital self on March 28. Pouring their soul into the performance, the project showed Vita walking down the aisle with their digital self. Suddenly, they appeared on a screen, and their background crew began chanting “the body will die, but virality is forever” and dragging Vita out of the gallery space. They end the interview with, “and I think that’s a good precursor to what’s to come.”
Photo cortesy of Vita Kari
