EssenceLA is the creative endeavor of two Los Angeles based artists and entrepreneurs, Curnie Compton and Lana LosAngeles, who set out to connect and reclaim the LA arts scene.
Curnie Compton grew up in Compton, California where at a young age, she became infatuated with film and television production. She attended the University of California Santa Cruz and obtained a BA in Film and Digital Media. As an aspiring television producer, she became involved in many productions inside and outside of school. As a young scholar, she began to pay more attention to the dividing and oppressive aspects that society imposes on many communities including her own. She grew to appreciate art forms such as music and filmmaking etc. as a vehicle of expression and social commentary and its ability to unite people from all walks of life. Currently, she splits her time between being a Production Assistant and searching for ways to promote and unite artists from underrepresented communities.
Some of Curnie Compton's favorite films are, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Springbreakers, and Forrest Gump. Besides watching films, one of her favorite past times is searching for music that transcends multiple genres and playing to a diverse crowd of people. Curnie Compton, draws her inspiration from the actions and reactions of her surrounding audience and community. She likes to introduce music to her community that they would not normally listen too. Some of her favorite music artist to date are Rome Fortune, TroyBoi, and Asher Roth. As for the Los Angeles, her favorite part is knowing that every neighborhood has its own identity and unique story of how it came to be in its current state.
You can follow Curnie Compton on Soundcloud here and on Instagram @Curnie_Compton.
Lana LosAngeles is a mixed media artist native to Mid-city Los Angeles who grew up learning the love of the arts. An actor, dancer, director and performance poet by trade, Lana attended the University of California, Santa Cruz where she completed her undergraduate career with a BA in Theatre Arts and Dance, and while working in Santa Cruz, began to take a serious interest in the arts for social justice and education. Now back in LA Lana works as a performance artist, an advocate artist for positive social change and as a liaison between the members of the art community strengthening their ties and support of fellow artists and their crafts.
As an artist, Lana draws her inspiration from her community and the world around her, from all of the people, places and things she sees everyday, drawing her art from her own, personal experiences and from the stories of the people in her life. Some of her favorite artists include Tupac, Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse lyrically, while her visual stimulations often come from the likes of Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky and René Magritte to name a few. According to Lana, the best part of Los Angeles is the unlimited possibilities being here provides, the way you can go right outside your front door and go after what you're looking for. To her, "Los Angeles really is the city of dreams."
You can follow Lana LosAngeles on Instagram @lanalosangles.
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| The photos in this article were taken by GCaptivity, a Los Angeles based photographer. To see more of her work, you can follow her on Instagram @GCaptivity. |
