MalDenisa Rahma

Dazed Club explore surrealist photography and sound

We love to highlight Dazed Club creatives so much, we do it every month! Meet them here...

DENISA RAHMA

“I’m an Indonesian photographer and CG artist based in Toronto. Drawing inspiration from day-to-day human scenarios, I mix 3D and photography into surreal, dreamlike images. My work magnifies the small, random everyday moments and mixes them with the mystical. Whether it’s myself having a bad hair day, people dancing at gigs, or jealousy between siblings. I like to explore them in an exaggerated lens but not too literal. Lately my work is a lot more minimal and quiet. I love negative space and a lot of optical illusion.

“These shoots didn’t start with a fixed concept, the story came later in post production. Marcolino became about coworkers’ rivalry, and Dancer in the Dark is my spin on catching someone dancing alone on the subway.

“I got into 3D at a time where I felt stagnant with the photography I was doing, mostly because of the usual budget, location and prop limitations. With 3D there were no constraints, and I could take that photography and build entire worlds from scratch.

“Growing up in Indonesia, I was surrounded by mystical and spiritual ideas from early on. I’ve had a few inexplicable experiences back home that made me pretty open to the idea of things existing beyond what we understand. That shaped how I create. Music is a big one, in college I dreamed about making visuals for artists I admired – funny because that’s all I do now – and that ended up influencing my style a lot too.

“Nothing compares to the creative energy in my hometown. Everyone’s making something, and inspiration is everywhere. It’s contagious. You can’t help but create. Since moving to Toronto, I’ve been energised by the people I’ve met. It’s important for me to be surrounded by doers. All of us, artist or not, could use a little more creating and less consuming" – Denisa Rahma

EDWARD KONU

“I’m a 20-year-old photographer born in Tema, Ghana. My whole journey with photography started in high school when I had no career in mind to look for during my school career day, and all I had at home were cameras and field vests, with no idea I’d even become a photographer. On that day, my principal asked who would be dressed as a photographer to take photos. Then from there I was called to photograph the event, with no idea of what I was doing! From there my interest started growing even more when we went on break during COVID and I met a model from my neighborhood who wanted to collaborate with me. I was more into nature shots when I was starting out, and that has really guided my journey now, because I get colour inspiration from plants and clouds and anything to do with nature.

“After high school, I got to work with Free The Youth – a Ghanaian street-style collective. From here, I found mentors and the initial plan of doing editorial photography started to grow more, because I became more exposed to it. I got the opportunity to shoot one of their biggest drops this year – their collabs with Jordan shot in Ghana.

“With my creative themes I like to play around and edit with emotions using cool colours. Gabriel Moses, Ashmond Kwesi, Free The Youth, PM Boakye are just a few creatives who inspire me. My creative community is centred around Free The Youth Ghana, Adom Gee The Brand, and a couple of model friends. The stuff we like to do is to work more on challenging concepts. I’ve got a project I am working on named the Noble Herd which talks about a Fulani man of wealth and elegance, not defined only by his cattle, but by his presence, style, and grace all in a modern way” – Edward Konu

ELLIE MAI BUTLER

“I’m a 22-year-old abstract-expressionist painter from Lincoln who specialises in using acrylic paints and oil pastels on wooden panels to create playful yet evocative pieces with an emphasis on texture and colour. I vowed to stop making art for other people and instead to create art that is a genuine reflection of myself. During this period, I became fascinated by the idea of reductionism, which I channeled into a series of small black-and-white drawings that evolved over time into larger textural paintings with unique and vibrant colours.

“My practice takes the concept of abstraction very literally – I split the subject into smaller ‘segments’ that are visually distinct from each other but come together to form a cohesive image. This reflects my deep fascination with the binary between abstraction and figuration.

“At the moment, I’m deeply influenced by artists such as Amy Sillman and Wassily Kandinsky. I connect deeply with the way they create space for abstraction and figuration to coexist. They both treat abstraction as something to be experienced and felt, rather than just something to look at, which is how I approach my own work too. My background has definitely influenced my practice in a lot of ways too. Even though my paintings are playful and full of colour, there’s a lot of my experiences and trauma buried within them. Painting has become a way for me to process those emotions and turn them into something tangible so others can interpret them in their own way.

“At the moment I’m working on a publication with a few friends that focuses on highlighting fashion, art, and culture through the lens of young people. My role involves researching and writing articles about emerging artists, exploring their influences, creative processes, and the stories behind their work. This summer we recently released our first issue, titled Restoration and hope to continue releasing more in the future. I am always looking for new artists to collaborate with so if you are interested please drop me a message here on the Dazed Club app. Alongside this, I’m also collaborating with local artists on smaller creative projects within my area” – Ellie Mai Butler

ZLATA MECHETINA

“I’m a curator and producer with a background in art history and theatre, working at the intersection of contemporary art, club culture, and post-internet sensibilities. I’m interested in how music tonalities, performance, and collective behaviour form new cultural languages. My practice moves between nightlife and critical theory writing, treating both as stages for experimentation.

“I moved into event production because I wanted the ideas I studied, collectivity, liminality, emotional space, to live beyond academic writing. Nightlife became the most honest medium to explore them, embodied, porous, and collaborative.

“Fetchish began as a small cohort for Eastern European diaspora artists in London, and has since grown into a multidisciplinary collective hosting cultural events, supporting artistic projects, and building experimental spaces across London, Berlin, LA, and NYC, centred on experimental sound, hybrid performance, and community-led club culture. As an event agency, we bring all things culture to the club: weaving algorithmic feed-logic with Eastern European discipline, taking music seriously as an art meant to be shared and interpreted collectively. We move between pleasure, polite erudition, and play. Our community isn’t just a scene but a constellation of taste, curiosity, and hunger, a place where people inspire one another through the luxury of shared attention. Fetchish in three words could be described as curious, terrifying, theatrical.

“We’re developing a multidisciplinary Fetchish night for Cambridge Union event (29 November, 2025), featuring Babynymph in a debate-meets-performance format that extends our interest in treating club culture as a site of discourse. The proposition declares Cambridge nightlife dull and dead. The opposition, led by London’s Fetish Studio, responds not in speeches but in basslines. Expect a night of experimental electronics, heavy rhythms, and euphoria. Check it out here on the Dazed Club app.” – Zlata Mechetina

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