Interview by Emma Freeman

We recently discovered Zoe when we were approached about publishing a video she had edited. After browsing one of her Instagram accounts, we were immediately drawn in by her unique and grungy artistry style. Video editors within the roller skate community are hard to come by, so we just had to sit down with her and find out more about this self-made artist from Argentina.

How does the inspiration of skating tie into your artistic outlet? Are they directly related?
It’s automatic because I always have roller skating on my mind. I can’t think of anything else. When I want to design or draw something, the first thing that comes to my mind is obviously roller skating. I’ve been skating for almost seven, eight years. I started doing roller derby when I was 16 and I’m 23 now. I did a whole year of roller derby and then I discovered parks.

What is your background and experience with digital editing?
It started when my parents gave me a computer for Christmas, I was 10 or 11. I downloaded PhotoScape. I was really a fan of Miley Cyrus, I had a Facebook fan page, and I started doing these edits with pictures of her I found on the internet. And then I just started to learn how to use Photoshop. And I never thought of it as graphic design, it was just playing on my computer with stuff. From there I got really good at Photoshop. I never really thought, Okay, I’m going to be a graphic designer or I’m going to be a photographer or a videographer or anything. It was just something that was fun, drawing or doing collages. Then I realized, “Hey, I’ve been working at this for the past five years.”

Skating replaced Miley Cyrus. You combine a lot of different platforms, what is your favorite path to take with your art?
I really like to print my stuff. I take pictures, then edit them and print them out, edit more and scan them back into my computer. I bought a huge scanner on Facebook Marketplace. It was cheap in a sketchy neighborhood, and I came back on a bus with a huge scanner. But that has been so much fun, I use it for everything. I just draw it, scan it, and then use that in my designs. That’s my favorite.

You just created your own system. Are you self-taught then?
I mean, I think maybe with YouTube videos I went bit by bits, but yeah, self-taught.

How do you get into the zone when you’re editing your videos or creating a project?
I drink a beer and put some music on. I make sure I listen to myself and only sit down to create when I’m feeling inspired.

Do you usually work around friends or alone?
Depending on what. The video we did with Carola, I edited on my own, but she also came by a few times to my place and she was like, “Hey, I would like this and maybe this.” And we chose the music together and it was her video, too. She doesn’t know how to edit, but she was next to me saying, “Hey, we should do this and this and maybe try this.” So it was really cool working together. But then for my own stuff, I like working on my own. I get into my space, you know?

How did you get into creating skate videos?
Well with Carola’s video, we went out dancing with some friends and I was happy and knew I liked the way she skated. Eventually I was like, “Oh my god, I just love how you skate. We have to make a video.” And she was like, “Please!” And then the next time we went out skating I said, “Hey, let’s start Caro’s video!” And then it came from that and just enjoying life together. In general, I think I’ve always been creating videos. I started with taking pictures before doing graphic design. And then when I started roller skating, it was instant. I didn’t even think about it. I just started recording moments with my friends. A year later I saw my first skate part and realized other people were creating videos, too—it was awesome.

You just had a natural chemistry, and I think that that totally shows. How do you decide on people you want to work with?
That’s quite an issue for me because I’m quite picky with my own work. I’m really strict like, “I like this and I wanted this to be done perfect.” I really want to capture the essence of something. So, it’s difficult for me to find other people that I say, “I like your work,” just because I’m extra picky with myself, too. The people I’ve been working with are simply my friends. It’s like, “I know you, I love you, and I like what you do because I love you, and we connect in a lot of ways because we’re also friends.” That’s really my path. I haven’t worked creatively with someone I don’t know.

So your friends are your muses?
Yeah, definitely.

What did the journey of finding your community look like? Are there a lot of other roller skaters or did you have to find your crew?
In my city (Rosario, Santa Fe), it’s a bit smaller than in Buenos Aires. When I travel to Buenos Aires, it’s crazy. The parks over there and the streets are amazing. It’s like a playground, basically. But here, in my city, we don’t have that many parks. The community of roller skating here was non-existent. But I started skating and I didn’t really care anymore about derby, so I met another girl that also left her derby team, and she really liked going to the parks, too. Then I convinced my best friend at the time to get her skates and come skating with us. Eventually it was maybe five of us, this was about six years ago. We’d go to a park, and it was only us. If one of us went on our own, we’d be the only roller skater in the whole park. We used the Vans roller skates. I made an Instagram page and then it started growing. From five people to 200.

You were a huge contributor to building the roller skate community in your city.
We were quite a pain in the ass because it was like we would not leave anyone alone. It was like, “Come skate with us. You’re going to love it. Come hurt yourself.”

How did the Dirty Roller Skate Media Project come to life?
It happened with a few friends. I think two years ago, three, because we felt like the roller skate community here in our city was growing so much that we couldn’t represent everyone anymore. It’s like if I make a video, I don’t know if the song I’m going to choose or the way I’m going to film it is going to represent everyone. There were so many people. We didn’t even know all the girls anymore. And that was crazy for us because we were used to knowing everyone, and it just got so out of hand, we felt like it didn’t represent ourselves anymore. We didn’t want to be the whole city. We wanted to be something more specific. So, we did this project with some friends and then half of them didn’t skate anymore, and with the other half we were like, “No, we don’t speak anymore.” It was like it died, the project. But last year I sent a message to my friends, even though I didn’t speak to them anymore, and I said, “Hey, we filmed for a whole year and I have a lot of videos of ourselves, and I’m going to do something with this because I don’t want to let it die, even though you’re not skating or we’re not talking anymore, so if you’re okay with it, I would like to keep using this space to keep showing skating because I love skating and I’m not going to stop doing it.” And the girls were like, “Yeah, absolutely.” I made the video a whole 2023 video with everything I just filmed that year, and then the project for the video with Caro came up and I said, “Yeah, it makes sense to use it in this space.” Not be something personal of ours, but to have a distinction.

What do you see the Dirty Roller Skate Project becoming in the next few years?
Keep the wheel turning, in terms of producing videos and doing stuff. Mostly in my city because I really love my city, and I really want that to happen here, too. It’s awesome seeing it in other places or traveling. We go to Buenos Aires and Cordoba sometimes, and it’s fun getting to know the girls there and skating in new places.

Well, you’re already reaching completely new corners of the world with this new video that Fantom has promoted with Dirty. You have fans here now.
That was crazy. We were so happy. We couldn’t believe it because we started doing the video just purely out of love and passion. We love doing this. We never thought of sending it over to anyone. And then I think a week or two before finishing it, I was like, “Hey, maybe we can send it to someone, send it to one of those magazines we see on Instagram. There’s a few, so someone has to pay attention to us.”

Aside from using social media to put your videos out there, have you ever held a video premiere?
Yeah! It’s actually crazy how I made my premiere happen. I went to this pub that has a small mini-ramp…

Wait, the pub has a mini-ramp?
Yeah, inside the pub there’s a mini-ramp.

Whoa.
And I was there one day and was really drunk. I went up to this guy I knew from derby and said, “Hey, I’m doing a video and I want to do the premiere here so we can skate and watch the video at the same time.” And he was like, “Okay.” And I was like, “Really?” And I didn’t even have the video, I just knew I had the idea. It was a really cool space. They were selling beer and food, we brought some DJs, and everyone was having a great time. It was kind of a party, and then at the end, we put on the video. It was amazing. Some girls came up to us crying afterwards because they were so inspired. They wanted to learn to street skate!

It sounds like you have a lot of confidence in sharing your art.
Yeah, I don’t know why though. I’m an impulsive person, so I don’t give two thoughts to anything.

And you’re working in graphic design now?
I’ve been working in graphic design for the past three or four years. I’m trying to get more into doing graphic design with things I’m interested in. I want to stop working for companies and do more work for music or skating. I have to do things that leave a really empty space in terms of my passion. I just applied for jobs and it’s like, “Oh my god, I don’t even care about this.” How am I going to create something if I don’t even care about it?

Especially as an artist, it’s hard to feel inspired when you’re not feeling passionate about what you’re creating, right?
Yeah, definitely. Luckily, I’ve been working part-time and that does leave me so much free time to do my own stuff, like the video we did with Carola and produce more things I’m actually interested in.

Is Instagram the best place to view and explore your work?
No, what I do most is physical things. I really like making posters, and I’m always selling my stickers. We have a little fan scene now. And I always forget to post those things on Instagram. But yeah, it’s really difficult to try to keep a few Instagram accounts. It’s way too much. I’m always doing something. I never stop.

It seems super hands-on. It’s almost a whole experience, not just the finished product. I guess Fantom will just have to visit Argentina.
Definitely. I mean, my place is my studio. I have it full of stuff and magazines and papers and bits of this and bits of that. It’s crazy. I have a much bigger portfolio than what’s online.

Check out Zoe’s work for yourself on Instagram @drskshit / @madebyzowi or support them by purchasing their recently released zine found on behance.net/zoecatalinagonzalez