Kayla Amador ’19
Small Business Owner, iconografi
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
WFU Class of 2019
Majors: Studio Art & Japanese Language and Culture
Kaylah Bozkurtian ’22 (DeacLink): What did you study at Wake? What year did you graduate?
Kayla Amador: I graduated from Wake Forest University in 2019 with a double-major in Japanese Language and Culture and Studio Art. Usually, I say it the other way around—I say Studio Art and then Japanese Language and Culture—so people’s faces kind of fall when they hear Studio Art, and then they hear Japanese, and they’re like, “Oh, intelligence!” [laughing] Within Studio Art, I graduated with honors; I did an honors exhibition of photography, and photo and video were my main concentrations.
KB: Could you walk me through your path from graduation day to your current job?
KA: Yeah! So there’s this university gallery called the stArt Gallery—short for “Student Art Gallery”—and it has a special program that used to be part of the Wake Forest Fellows program, but it evolved into its own thing. It’s a one- to two-year fellowship program with the gallery where the university hires a recent graduate to manage that space. Everything from preparing the exhibition schedule, to actually installing the exhibitions, to all of the marketing and receptions—events, all of that—wrapped up into one nice package.
I applied and was accepted for that position, and I held that position for two years. Again, it’s for one year, and then you renew it for the second year. So you do reapply, but as long as you don’t burn the place down, it’s not usually too bad a process. [laughing] In my case, graduating in 2019, my first full year in the position was the 2019–2020 academic year. And so it was right after we finished our annual “5&Under” program, where we invite back two recent graduates—one from Studio Art, one from Art History—and there’s a concurrent exhibition.
We were just taking down the exhibition when COVID hit, so we weren’t even able to transition to the next one. It was a really interesting experience, managing all that remotely, because we kind of consolidated our team into the Hanes Gallery space. Being in that more stable and familiar environment of Wake Forest while navigating the wild new world of COVID was definitely something. It gave me the space to really focus on remote and virtual programming, and it also gave me the time and space to complete the stArt Gallery’s consignment catalog. Until that point, we didn’t really have a codified system for facilitating the sale of student work. So one of my biggest projects became easier to do once I was on the computer all the time, and I created a catalog of works on consignment, so that anybody can browse what’s available, and it’s refreshed every six months or so, with every new exhibition.
Around the same time that I started out with start gallery, I also started my own small business, iconografi. I was hand-crafting jewelry, doing some laser cutting, experimenting with different types of making. I’d been doing all that on the side, kind of as the job after the job, and it had allowed me to work my creative muscle in a different way—working with costuming and cosplay. My plan had been to pivot to a system where I would work a part-time job and also focus on my business, after the stArt Gallery position ended. I was in that mindset, but a great thing happened—the opportunity opened up for an interim Hanes Gallery assistant director position. I forgot to mention this earlier, but in undergrad, I was actually a Hanes Gallery student assistant. So I worked at Hanes for four years, and then went to stArt for two years, and then the opportunity to return to Hanes for another year rolled around, and I got to sit in the other chair—I was at the same desk, but in a different capacity.
That interim position just came to an end this past month, so I decided, “Okay, now I’m going to pivot back to that plan I had a year ago…but maybe, instead of getting the part time job, let’s give this business thing a go. Let’s switch to doing the business full time.” And I still do some freelancing with photography, and stuff like that, because I just love to have the camera.
KB: How much did your studies and general experience at Wake inform or drive your career path?
KA: Especially with the double major in language and art, I’ve always been looking for ways to combine those two things. In undergrad, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Tokyo during my junior year. And, of course, I was taking photos of literally everything, that semester. I found myself, as a student of Japanese language, taking photographs of street signs, things I didn’t know how to read, so I could go back and look at them and kind of learn what they said later. So I was taking all these pictures, but of course, I wasn’t just taking photos of the words—I was trying to make them artistic, in a way, catch them at a certain angle. I wanted to showcase text as both image and functional thing and play with that relationship.
I didn’t want to be that person who buys something with kanji on it who never looks it up to see what it means. In the same way, you know, I wanted to acknowledge that no, I’m not going to know all of these words—but if I photograph them, I can look them up later. So I started collecting a lot of images, and noticing language in images I took that just so happened to have text in them. That collection turned into a solo exhibition at the stArt Gallery when I returned.
That project, for me, really made sense, like, this is how I combine my interests. That’s something that I’m always looking to do. A lot of the pieces that I create for iconografi have risen from my interest in Japanese street fashion and Japanese popular culture, which pushes me to further research these things. But even in terms of finding the title of my shop, iconografi—“iconography” is the study and interpretation and reinterpretation of images and symbols.
KB: How did you find and apply to the various positions you’ve held? Do you have any tips and suggestions for students on networking, interviewing and applying for jobs?
KA: In my case, [applying] was pretty straightforward, but it certainly didn’t come without work and research and all of that. My best advice, based on what I did, is that if you see somebody doing a certain job that you’re interested in, you should ask them about it: What is it that you do day-to-day? See if they’ll let you get involved with some of the tasks.
A lot of departments on campus have—if not a work-study—available internships. When I first came to Wake Forest, I knew that I wanted to be involved in the arts, so when I was offered a federal work-study position, I looked at the different options that were available and preferenced the arts and arts-adjacent opportunities. If you’re not eligible for work-study, you may still find internships in these places. You might be in the right place at the right time.
For me, being in the gallery space—always thinking about art, always being around art—was a really great experience. The very first exhibition at the Hanes gallery during my time was called < 2 Years In Between >, and it featured the works of photographer Andrew Moore. The exhibition was built around this one work that was purchased on a previous student art-buying trip, so there was all this talk about that trip happening every two years: just buying trip, buying trip, buying trip. So I said, “Okay, what is that?” And then as a sophomore, the next year, I applied and was accepted to the art-buying trip. At the time, it was pretty much unheard of to have sophomores on the trip. And I felt a little bit of that, the oh, my gosh, do I know what I’m doing? But it was a great experience.
There’s so many opportunities out there, so many different trips and classes. Just asking around and talking to people, even being on this platform—I mean, this is like coming full circle, you know? We’re resources, as alumni, and a lot of us would love to talk about stuff like this. Wake is so relational. If you show an interest in something, there’s going to be somebody with the ability to help you.
KB: What is your favorite part of living and working in Winston-Salem? What is the most interesting thing going on in the art scene there at the moment, in your opinion?
KA: I love how Winston-Salem is very small—but at the same time, it has accessibility to a lot of places that are not small, so, you get several places to build community. There’s access to things that you wouldn’t think there would be access to just an hour or hour-and-a-half away. But even within Winston, people are really trying to revive the downtown area with the arts. It’s “The City of Arts and Innovation,” and we’re trying to put our money where our mouth is.
I’ve personally been trying to find out more about these great organizations downtown: like the Associated Artists of Winston-Salem—of whose Arts Council I recently became a board member—and all the different galleries. There’s this new gallery called Culture, which is a really interesting space; a couple of guys bought up the ninth floor of Liberty Plaza, and now it’s a gallery-slash–artist residency.
I didn’t necessarily take advantage of the easy shuttle access downtown, as a student, but there’s so much there! It’s just a matter of trying to tap into it and see how you can get involved, because they need young people—not just to keep things going, but also to bring some fresh ideas. I think, as a student, the best thing you can do is ask around. The hardest part is connecting the people looking for opportunities with the people offering opportunities, but there’s a lot of both, and there’s always someone willing to help.
KB: What is your favorite part about working for yourself?
KA: Oh my gosh, working 24/7? No, I love it. Honestly! And no shade to Wake, or anything, no shade to the 10-to-5 or the 9-to-5. But I really enjoy the ability to be my own boss. I think, again, it’s just one of those things where it feels like the limits don’t exist as much. You, your imagination, and your finances are the only barriers. Things you learned in the past—things you never really thought would be useful—randomly come back, and you get to actually do something with them.
Working for myself is really pushing me to get more involved in the community, even to get more involved on a global scale, via the internet, social media, things like that. I get to learn what it means to market myself and market what you do. It’s exciting, because I feel like running a business is a way to meet people, collaborate with other small businesses, and just see what’s out there.
I love being able to put something out there in the world and say, “Yes, I made that. Yes, I was able to bring something from an idea to completion.”
KB: What and where is next for you?
KA: I believe in, you know, say it and it’ll happen. Manifesting, right? So a big goal of mine has always been to live in Japan. I studied abroad for only one semester—about four months—and the reality is that you can only cram so much in. And this new American Dream of leaving America is very sparkling-new-shiny to me. I think if I had the opportunity to live and work in Japan, even if it was only for a little while—because who knows if I’d like it after more than four months?—I’d enjoy it like I’ve enjoyed my experiences so far.
Living in a new place, you’re constantly learning, and that’s always exciting! To me, it’s like I’m learning a new language: I’m learning new ways that other people live, learning that there’s pros and cons to being anywhere—no one place is a utopia. Of course, for me, personally, being immersed in the language is a big deal. And again, a lot of my inspiration comes from Japanese street fashion, specifically in the Tokyo area, from those alternative fashion styles. I’m really interested in being able to be in that place, on the ground, getting involved in that community.
KB: A kernel of advice you’d like to impart to the readers?
KA: If you have a question, ask it! There are no—I mean, there are certainly some stupid questions, but I feel like the only really stupid questions are the ones that you don’t ask. You know what I mean? Don’t be too shy. Don’t let impostor syndrome get in your way. Lean into what you’ve been able to do so far, and focus on that. It’s like, “I was able to do this. Now, I can push it further and do this,” or, you know, “I want to do this. Let’s see how we can make it happen.”
I’m a firm believer in just going for it. You’re the only person trying this thing? Okay, go for it! See what kind of network of support you can build to help you in that process. Because you can’t necessarily do everything alone. Sometimes you can, but if you’re able to find a community of support—whether that’s family, friends, or mentors—try to have a goal in mind, and then try to chart out what you need to do to achieve it.