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Photography by @ethereal.phi
Front row with Bobby Pineapple
The confinements of being a creator can bring about socialized restrictions for aiming to be more than a singular thing – or exhibiting more than one talent. For example, being easily boxed in as only a make-up artist and socialized as that only that could lead to a potential disregard for other immeasurable skills, talent & traits (aside from make-up) – which one may also take pride in. Overall, I think what most creatives really want is a clean shot; an opportunity to show themselves in their entirety, and I don't think our next interviewee, Bobby Pineapple, is any different.
Bobby Pineapple is a creative polymath, a genuine industry professional, who continually shows us that our creative duplicity & being cannot be boxed in. Aimee Bobby Lokota, aka Bobby Pineapple, born in Congo, DRC, is a Johannesburg-based professional self-taught make-up artist (MUA) & multifaceted creative. She started her journey as a MUA in 2017.
Photography by @trevor_stuurman for YUNG @thisisyungmea
Her alias, 'Bobby Pineapple' wasn’t a half-thought out idea; the story behind her name dates back to her childhood. She tells us: “My dad thought his last born would be a boy, so he nicknamed me before I was even born (Robert Jnr. Bob). It’s a big family joke but it grew on me being a girl named Bobby.” She went further to tell me where exactly the latter part of her alias originates from. “Fun fact? My favourite cartoon character happens to be SpongeBob too... and where does he live?”
Photography by @badlikemichaeljackson_
We spoke on the beginning her journey as a pro MUA – which happened through a collaborative process with a close friend, who later mentored her. “A good friend and mentor of mine, Sandile Mhlongo, asked me on a random Wednesday in 2017 to help him do make-up on models for his online magazine, and I had never done makeup before on anybody—so I took a tub of Vaseline, four foundation Colors, four makeup brushes and a towel. The rest is history.” Ever since then, Bobby has worked alongside Trevor Stuurman on Thebe Magugu’s editorial photo shoot for the cover of the audio-visual platform, 'YUNG'. Aimee Lokota is the person responsible for the many polished & neatly composed faces we see in some editorials and music videos.
Photography by @trevor_stuurman for YUNG @thisisyungmea
Beyond doing make up since 2017, Bobby says that she still continually learns something new – and this should be the case with many emerging creatives. Constant growth & learning. An important lesson Bobby has learnt when on set as a creative director and MUA is to be cautious of lighting; sometimes, “it’s not you, it’s the lighting!” One thing a make up artist has to keep in mind is the endurance of their look; it has to withstand heat, harsh lighting and humidity. According to Bobby: “Lighting plays a big role in my creations. Soft, natural, studio, red, blue… Always focus on how you capture your muse & how the light compliments them.” It is with such specific care & attention to detail that Bobby has managed to cultivate her career as a pro MUA within this industry.
Photography by @mogul.mihlali
Beyond maintaining this standard on set – Bobby translates these same characteristics throughout all which she does, including her creative process and what it entails of her. She mentions: “I think really long and hard [during my process] because I draw a lot of my inspiration from work that I’ve researched, seen and even worked on, so I try to double the impact, or effect, that it gave me when I first saw it." Being analytical and attentive to detail is not easy; criticizing and constant alterations to your work serves as practice in refining & blurring the lines between what one conceptualizes and the end result. Although this is true, we cannot neglect or diminish the joy that comes from creating one’s work – finding the balance and duality between these aspects requires patience and centeredness, qualities which Bobby clearly exhibits within her practice.
Photography by @ethereal.phi
Bobby also adds that on some days, she’s really "just vibing" and "let’s the brush do all the talking". To be so free and trusting in your skill & the explorative process is a lesson many creatives undermine, and Bobby instinctively being so self-assured is nothing to overlook. At the end of our interview – I felt obligated to ask Bobby that, as much as we wanted the opportunity to speak to her, why she had made the choice to engage in this conversation with FRM. And as she simply put it as: “Everybody has a story, I’m glad you wanted to hear mine.”
Photography by @mogul.mihlali