Black Stories/22: Acquille Dunkley

Acquille Dunkley:
That’s how I live my life. And blessings keep falling into place because I see life like that, and it’s like a domino effect. People remember that, that kind of stuff. People remember how you made them feel.

Justin James Lopez:
Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of Amazon’s Black Stories, where we highlight the stories of Black designers, researchers, and creative minds from all around the world. I’m your host, Justin James Lopez, and today I’m joined by Acquille Dunkley where we talk about the importance of giving back to your community and raising cultural awareness. Let’s hear his story.

Well, Acquille, thank you for joining me on this show in this episode. This has been a long time coming actually, so we’ll talk a little bit about that. But I wanted to start by giving you the opportunity, just introduce yourself to the audience here.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah, first off, thank you so much, Justin, for this opportunity. Definitely a long time coming. I know we’ve been playing ping pong and emails based on who is in town, who isn’t in town to do this, so I’m glad we’re finally able to get this done.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah, so my name is Acquille Dunkley, and I like to generalize all the work I do into one category, just to simplify things. And I’m a visual artist. That’s what I mainly go by. And there’s a lot of things that fit under that motion graphics designer, photographer. I’m getting more into film as well like directing. I also create digital fine art, and I put on art shows and I started visual producing as well, so people would contact me for connects that they’d need for events and stuff like that, but we could get more into details.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah, yeah. For sure.

So, I remember this brings me back to the first time we actually met, which was about a year ago, or just over a year. Oh, just shy of a year ago.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah. Yeah. The roots and culture fest for WalkGoodLA.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, so I was there visiting another friend, and then I walk into the gallery and I see your work, which I would describe as exactly what you just mentioned awhile ago, you specifically as a visual artist, because I remember being shocked to find out how you created the art, which we’ll get into in a bit. But yeah, I was really awestruck by just the vivid nature of the art that you create and how you take really simplistic ideas as far as the level of things that are depicted, but you add this layer of complexity not only through your process, but with the power associated to the emotion and everything associated to those memories, which is really cool.

And then literally that day I was like, no, I have to have you on this show. And then fast forward all this time, and you’re right, we were kind of going back and forth a bit because you were traveling a lot and working on different projects. But catch me up, what was going on with some of those projects.

Acquille Dunkley:
So, from last year, with that root and culture show, that was a big moment for me because that digital fine artwork that I was showcasing, I was excited to show it in front of a large group of people because I’ve been working on that collection for over eight years.

Justin James Lopez:
Nice.

Acquille Dunkley:
And some of that work was released for the first time in public last year when you saw it. And since then, I had a art show in Jamaica. Actually, that same Sunday, I had to rush to the airport to go to Jamaica to prep for the art show that I brought there. And a little funny side note, I was in such a rush to the airport that I forgot my green card in America. I forgot my green card in America, and I didn’t notice until it was time to fly back to America.

Justin James Lopez:

Well, that’s always the case, right?

Acquille Dunkley:
Right. That’s how busy that time got. But since then, I took the energy from that and learned a lot of things that people want to see more of that kind of work, especially when I’m able to show the process and people are really engaged, like you said, you saw the work and they got your attention, but then you learn the process of how I got to that end result, and then it gives it a whole new meaning. So, I was able to have, I flew back to Jamaica a couple months after to do two artists talks to a high school. I went to Wolmer’s Boys High School in Jamaica. I had the opportunity to talk to the students there and break down the process. And they were thrilled of seeing someone that looks like them, that they could relate to showcasing new age work, new age technology work.

And I also spoke with Edna Manley, which is one of the biggest fine art, if not the biggest fine art university in Jamaica. And I was able to have artist talks there, and it was just so engaging for us, the conversation I had with the students and the questions and all of that. And I’ve just been reflecting on that over the last couple months. But those were the big things that I’ve been working on. All while having a full-time job doing motion graphics in the movie industry.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah. I’ve no idea. Yeah, just sprinkle that on top, just doing all of the things. No, I love that though, because when we first met, I was really, I was captivated by the art, but then when you told me, and then we’ll unwrap the gift now so that everyone else can hear. But when I saw the art, I was completely enthralled by it. And then you explained it, and maybe you can explain it here. Describe the process of creating some of your visual pieces.

Acquille Dunkley:
I’d love to. So, the pieces we’re talking about that was in the art shows, I classify them as digital fine art. So, these are pieces that were a hundred percent created on a computer, and I’m using influences from classical arts, architecture, photography, surrealism. I’m combining all those elements, and I’m using mundane scenes or mundane things or everyday thing that we experience, and I’m creating a surreal take on it. So, you’re put in a world where you don’t know why it’s surreal or what, but you can somehow relate to it. And you’re in a way, conjuring memories of your own because you can relate to it. So, I’ve heard other people say it’s just a powerful way of reminding them of their childhood, which I think is very powerful that the work has been able to do that.

Justin James Lopez:
No, yeah. That’s actually the same experience that I had if you remember when I saw the one piece-

Acquille Dunkley:
The domino?

Justin James Lopez:
No, it wasn’t the dom. The domino was one, but the one that was most impactful for me, it was the one where it’s the visual aspect of looking through a window at the shirt on the clothing line.

Acquille Dunkley:
Ah, yes.

Justin James Lopez:
And it reminded me of growing up back in the Caribbean, and I mean also here in America, and how that’s literally how we would dry our clothes and wash our clothes.

Acquille Dunkley:
Right on the clothes line.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah, clothes are on the clothes line. And that was something that I stood there for an awkward amount of time looking at that.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah.

Justin James Lopez:
Because I was like, “Oh, man, there’s so many memories that flooded back to me.” But you mentioned the idea of when you were back in Jamaica, just now, about a minute ago. You mentioned when you were back in Jamaica doing the artist talks, and specifically when you were back at your high school, the happiness that you instilled in some of the students, and I’m assuming the staff there too, because of the work that you’re doing in the world and people, and them being able to see someone like them, which I think is, it’s really powerful for me because that’s actually one of the core reasons why this show exists, why this series exists, is to be able to provide that at a bigger scale to the larger community in the next generation to look at. I think that if I put it into words concisely, it would be you’ll never be able to hit a target that you’re not aiming at, and you’ll never be able to aim at a target that you can’t see.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah, that’s powerful.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah. That’s one of the core principles but it sounds like when it reminds me of those moments when I hear examples like yours of saying, “Hey, yeah, I went back to my old high school,” and they were just like, “Man, there’s, somebody I knew that’s doing these things.”

Acquille Dunkley:
Right.

Justin James Lopez:
Because we don’t see that a lot.

Acquille Dunkley:
Right. Right.

Justin James Lopez:
And it’s a constant reminder that we don’t see it enough and we don’t see it a lot when it comes to our communities.

Acquille Dunkley:
Wow, that’s powerful. And I’d like to add to that too. It’s like when I went to Jamaica and showed the students the artwork, I feel like one of the reasons why it was so impactful is that they were able to relate even more because they saw someone that looked like them. And I feel like that is so powerful in me realizing one of the responsibilities that I want to put on myself is how do I create more opportunities for young people to see someone that looks like them and how to show them that they can do it too.

Because let’s be honest here, young people don’t relate as much to their teachers. One of the reasons because of age, and you can’t really do anything about that.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah, for sure. That makes sense. Taking your approach of creating these visual scenes and creating them on the computer using influences from all of these different spaces, sounds like something that has been getting really popular in AI art.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah. Yeah.

Justin James Lopez:
How does this new flooding of these new AI systems impact the work that you’re doing, specifically with 3D art?

Acquille Dunkley:
So, I’ll explain what it doesn’t do first, then I’ll explain what it is doing now. So, what it doesn’t do is it doesn’t accurately conjure a way to remind people of their childhood. So, the emotional feel, you can’t really replicate that. The emotional feel, it’s hard to replicate through AI art. So, with my process, I’m able to take memories of my childhood in Jamaica and put that out onto, I’ll sketch a scene first, and then sometimes it’ll take me months on how to, on a good way on how to showcase this, that when someone sees it, they’re reminded of their childhood too.

So, I feel like AI doesn’t really do that because they’re just really operating on hex numbers and zeros and ones and all that kind of stuff. And what it is doing though is I have a crazy mind so I think of crazy ideas all the time. So, now I’m able to just type in a prompt and see a little bit more accurate what my mind is thinking as opposed to just it being just in my head. So in that way, I’m using AI for that. But in terms of recreating memories from someone’s childhood, I don’t think you could replicate that.

Justin James Lopez:
That’s a good point. It’s like our art and creativity is going to start to get, and it’s a weird way to say it, but I’m going to say it. It’s going to start to get more human, it’s going to get more personal, if you will, because that’s the best thing that, to your point, that I don’t think AI’s really caught up to. But I think that that’s actually how I been utilizing in my creative process too, It’s like what is looking at it from this executive functioning perspective of how do I organize my thoughts? How do I amplify my productivity? I think it’s a good replacement for productivity.

Acquille Dunkley:
Right.

Justin James Lopez:
But not for creativity.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah. I like how you put that.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah, because that’s what it is. It’s like what we’re doing is instead of replicating things that have already been done, we’re trying to create new things based on inputs that have already existed, and that’s the creation process. So, I don’t think creatives really have much to fear, but then the people that are hiding in the creatives, the people that are like, “Oh, I was just kind of doing-

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah, exactly.

Justin James Lopez:
Just going with the motion. Maybe they have something to worry about. When you think about the work that went into your journey of starting, say in back in Jamaica growing up and then shifting through your career, I imagine that’s a rollercoaster.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah, I would even call it a rollercoaster. I’d say there are going to be challenges, absolutely. No matter what level you’re at, every level has a devil. So, no matter what level you’re at, there are going to be situations that you’re going to have to make tough decisions or if figure out how to, and it just depends on mindset, the mindset you’re in. What I realized is the perfect example I give myself is if you walk in, you’re home, long day, right? You’re exhausted, you see a pile of dishes in the sink. At that moment, you’re not going to want to do it because you’re stressed out, you’ve been through it. So, it’s a thing where it’s perspective. So you see it, you take a shower, you go to bed. The next day, fresher mind, you tackle the dishes.

It’s the same amount of dishes, but it’s a different day. It’s a different perspective. So, it’s all, for me, it’s about pacing. How can I efficiently pace myself so I’m not constantly doing 10 things at once? How do I organize myself to put things, put different things on each day? So, I’m not doing 10 things all at once because the workload’s going to increase, the budget’s going to increase the higher you go and it’s not going to change. So, it’s making time for yourself, making time for your family, your loved ones, making time for work. Actually scheduling in time to do nothing, things like that is what really helps me to keep a low stress level, even though I’m doing 10 things at once.

Justin James Lopez:
No, no, I completely get it. So, what would you say is the motivating point that made you want to even move into design in general?

Acquille Dunkley:
My dad’s a graphic designer, so he take me to his office in Jamaica growing up. So, I was so used to seeing Mac computers and designers working away, and I wanted to be a graphic designer in high school. So, that stemmed my love for design. And then I took that love and went to college, and it went from, “Yeah, I’m going to get a graphic design degree,” to... Actually, I love photography because I’m tired of using stock images on a computer. I want to do my own photography, and then I could just mix graphic design with photography, and then I fell in love with lighting and how to capture emotion through light. How do I create an environment that when someone sits in front of me, they feel safe. They feel safe enough to give a glimpse of their essence into the lens. Now, that may sound corny, but I take photography very seriously because when someone sits in front of that camera, they can either put on the celebrity mode of the, oh, someone taking my photograph, so let me put on that wall, or showing that essence.

And that’s how I look on it, on how you get someone’s essence to create that space so their essence can feel free to show in that camera. Yeah. So I’ll backtrack a little bit. So graphic design and photography, because I got tired of using stock images, so I’m now taking my own photos. And then I took it a step further and said, “All these crazy ideas, what if they come at 1:00 AM?” I can’t gather a group of people to do a photo shoot so, I picked up 3D digital design. So, when picking up 3D digital design, I was able to download, it’s a software called Blender 3D. It’s a free program. I learned that in 2013. I remember in 2012 I opened that 3D software, and I saw that it was way more complicated in Photoshop, and I deleted the software off my computer. And then another urge hit me to say, “Man, you need to have more flexibility to create work outside of photography because there’s more freedom in that.”

So, I went from photography in the daytime learning, taking classes for photography in the daytime, and then at nighttime, I taught myself how to use Blender 3D to become more versatile doing 3D art. And that program is a fully 3D program on a computer that allows you to build scenes. It has lighting setups, it could texture objects, and it’s using real world physics to manipulate, and you could create whatever your heart’s desire, and you could make it look like photographs. So, learning that over the last couple years from 2013 until now, that’s looking at that, that’s 10 years now.

Justin James Lopez:
10 years.

Acquille Dunkley:
Something interesting happened. So, me picking up graphic design and photography, then learning 3D, I was able to create things with all those assets combined and create something, I wouldn’t say new, but different, right?

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah.

Acquille Dunkley:
So, what happened is graduated college with a BFA in photography, moved to LA because I was living on the East Coast at the time with family. When I moved to LA, that’s when I found myself. So, I found my identity of I’m Jamaican. I keep thinking about those times where the T-shirts are blowing on the clothesline, and it’s a cool breeze of the Caribbean, and I keep going back to those calm moments. So, when I found my identity, or when I started finding my identity, because I’m finding my identity, every day is a process. That moment when I started finding my identity when I moved to LA out on my own, it’s when I started using my memories of Jamaica to influence the 3D artwork.

So, the one you mentioned earlier about the clothes on the line, that was my memory. Me going back to that and saying, “I feel this calm moment, and now with the power of 3D, I don’t have to photograph that scene. I could make it from scratch.” So, it’s that ability and freedom to say, let me use all the techniques I’ve learned throughout these years and create scenes from scratch and using memory to fuel those feelings. So that’s kind of the psyche of where I got to.

Justin James Lopez:
But it’s almost like it’s all of it was motivated by that love for photography because when you really break it down, moving to the 3D rendering, to your point where you can’t wake someone up at 1:00 AM and you can’t always recreate the clothes on the line back in Jamaica when you’re in LA. But effectively, you took that picture with your eyes, and I always felt this way, where just replicating, our technological innovations really are just replications of what humans can already do. The lens is your eye, and you took that picture through your human experience, and you uploaded into your brain or the cloud or hard drive, whatever, that you would do for photography. And then you downloaded it and put it on display through your use of the 3D rendering techniques. So, you basically created a world where you can still fall in love with your photography from different perspectives, from different angles, whether that’s the camera that you hold in your hand or the one that you have on your shoulders.

Acquille Dunkley:
Yeah, exactly. And then to tie back in your question of my journey from Jamaica to here, Elizabeth Gilbert, she’s a wonderful writer. She mentions about being a hummingbird. A hummingbird flows from flower to flower and pollinates the world, right? That’s how I see my work too. Hopping from skillset to skillset and enjoying myself the whole time because I’m learning something new, not being afraid of change and having all those skillsets, I’m able to bring something else to the table.

And then to conclude, I know that was a lot how I got to LA doing motion graphic design, which is totally different from the three things I just mentioned is the opportunity just came about through an internship. And I took the last six months out of college to learn after effects, to learn motion design so I could be fit for the internship to move to LA. I didn’t want to stay in Atlanta, Georgia after college where I was going at SCAD. I didn’t want to stay there. So, I said, “Let me learn after effects the last six months in college, I’ll tell them that I can do the job.”

Got to LA. I stayed back late after the internship days. I stayed back late to learn even more of how I could be an asset to the team and picked up motion graphics, the six months internship. And then I’ve been with that company doing motion graphics. The company’s called The Refinery Creative. I’ve been with The Refinery for since 2018 until now, 2023, doing motion graphics full time and also doing all the other things I just mentioned too.

Justin James Lopez:
So, this is a really big testament, right? That idea of when you get an opportunity, say yes to the opportunity and then learn how to do it later. And I think that that’s one thing that I’ve learned in my career as well. But there’s this idea of consistency through your journey. There’s a lot of consistent themes that kind of get you from one hurdle to the next. What are some of the most important lessons that you learned in your journey that you think helped you continue moving forward?

Acquille Dunkley:
That’s a great question, Justin. So, a couple years back now, I came up with three Ps. Three words that I’ll start with P. It’s persistence, perseverance, and patience. So, I’ll explain what those mean to me. So, persistence is when you have a goal or when you have something that you need to accomplish, it’s making sure that you’re doing what you need to do to lead up to that. I’ve developed how to be a high functioning, organized person. So if I have to call a friend, I’m going to put it in my Google calendar, this talk today, I put it in my Google calendar. If I have to take during college homework, I put it in my Google Calendar. So just being organized on a day-to-day basis and being persistent with it. It’s not just goals.

And then the second word is perseverance. So, that is when those days get really tough, how are you going to push through and remember the end result that you’re trying to achieve? Being able to just push through and continue. The last word is patience. It’s a process. It’s going to take a long time. A lot of people don’t like when I say I got to this stage, but it was a 8 to 10-year journey to get here right now.

But I wasn’t focusing on the work. I was focusing on the end result. And you take the pressure off yourself a little bit when you’re not really worried about the day-to-day work. So, outside of me say, “Oh, you have a full-time job. You’re doing all of this, da, da, da, how do you do it?” But I’m not even thinking about that right now. I’m thinking about, look on all that I can accomplish if I focus, persevere, and have the patience that it’s going to happen. And that’s the main thing.

Justin James Lopez:
No, yeah, I think that that’s really interesting. Where we intersect in our philosophy. I got to add perseverance to mine. So, I would always describe life in general, not specifically for me, but in general, I would, then I say this to my son too. I go, what’s interesting is that life is, it’s patient and persistent. I personify life this way. In this way. I think about it’s patient in trying to teach you the lessons that you need. It’ll be patient with you, but it’s also persistent and if you don’t learn the lesson, it’s going to come back.

Acquille Dunkley:
Right, right.

Justin James Lopez:
And the thing about that persistency is it’s going to come back and it’s going to teach you the lesson a little bit more aggressively next time, but it’s patient. It’s going to keep teaching you the same lesson over and over. It’s going to be there. It’s the greatest teacher that we will ever experience. Issues like life and in general, but it’s cyclical in that way. But I’ll, I’m going to have to incorporate that third P, right of perseverance in how we can utilize that in our journey. But that’s really powerful. When you think about all of the things that you’ve done so far and you forecast yourself in the future, what’s next for you?

Acquille Dunkley:
A lot of creative direction roles, definitely I see myself doing more of. I also see myself doing more art shows with my artwork as well as with other artists too, and more public speaking, especially for the youth, because I want to inspire the youth and let them see someone that they can relate to. The reason that I went back to Jamaica to do the art show is I wanted to show Jamaicans that their culture is powerful. So, showcasing the jerk chicken pan where jerk chicken is made on almost every street corner in Jamaica, showcasing that in a classical art way, it has that regal energy to it. Just reminding people of how powerful their culture is. That’s definitely what I see myself doing more of.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah. There’s a theme that I’ve caught on not just in this conversation, but in general, just spending more time with you, that idea of how important community is and giving back to the community is for you. And I just kind of wanted to dive deep into that before we close out here. A lot of your work is, from my perspective, influenced by going and giving back to the communities that kind of helped create this version of you that we have today. Talk to me about that.

Acquille Dunkley:
Thank you for that opportunity to mention that. I’ve noticed that I get joy in helping people and seeing how happy they get that I am willing to help them. When I give, I don’t expect, but it’s contagious. So, when I’m in need of something or when something needs to get done, there’s so many people in my circle that they would do anything just to have me ask for help without even thinking about it. And we get farther together. So, I realize that one of my main purposes on earth is to use my visual art talents to help people visually. So, how can I be of service to that? And that’s how I live my life. And blessings keep falling into place because I see life like that, and it’s like a domino effect. People remember that kind of stuff. People remember how you made them feel.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah, that’s true.

Acquille Dunkley:
It’s like giving, being a giver. And then more times than not, it’s received. I gain it back without even asking.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah, the energy you put out into the world. Now, you’ve mentioned that throughout a number of our conversations over the past year. But yeah, I definitely wanted to hit on that as we close out. But I think there was a lot of gems here. When you think about your overall process, how you’ve been able to take all of these different skillsets as you added them on, and all of them kind of amplify your reach, your impact for all of the things that you’re passionate about. And then for me, the key takeaway is that P cubed, because I used to say P squared because I only had the two, but P cubed, right? With that perseverance, persistence, and patience there, and how important it is for us to be kind to ourselves.

Acquille Dunkley:
Absolutely.

Justin James Lopez:
And also push ourselves beyond our perceived boundaries to continue to grow in different areas, even when it can feel a little bit scary. And I’ve definitely gotten that from this conversation, from you, and just look forward to continuing to build our friendship and continuing to watch you grow in all of the things that you’re doing.

Acquille Dunkley:
Absolutely, man. Absolutely.

Justin James Lopez:
Yeah. But thank you again for joining us on the show, and I look forward to seeing the growth.

Acquille Dunkley:
Thank you so much again for this opportunity. I was waiting for a minute for it to finally happen. I’m so glad it did, and I really appreciate this. And yeah, man, I’m excited for the future for both of us.