Introducing…

Taken from the new print issue of THE FACE. You can get your copy here, if you’re into that sort of thing.

When Teoni Hinds took her first life-drawing class while studying fine art at Middlesex University, there was no question: someday this would be her full-time job. ​“My teacher was the most wonderful old man,” says the 23-year-old from Harrow. ​“Old art teachers bring life into you because they don’t give a fuck.” Now, Teoni’s large-scale oil paintings bring life and heart into people’s homes – and into Beau Beau’s in East London, fellow artist Slawn’s new café, where she hosts a regular arts club. The saturated colour of her paintings is inspired by Spongebob (“which I loved growing up”) and people (“I find their energies fascinating”), mostly featuring Teoni’s friends and family. It’s a winning combo: Little Simz recently snapped up a Teoni x Slawn collab and she also has a solo show in the works. The world is her canvas. JW

Back in her hometown of York, Seren Metcalfe was that kid in the school playground selling Mars bars. Now living in London, the 26-year-old artist is creating an animatronic fox head out of nos canisters. Seren has always had an unconventional approach to her work. ​“I remember a tutor telling me [that] I was unteachable,” she says. ​“I could never just paint a picture.” Whether she’s making a 12-track album or throwing concrete around the studio, Seren’s artistic practice is based on real life experiences and struggles. That’s also why she created the Working Class Creatives Database during her final year at Slade University. A platform for working class creatives to showcase their work, the aim is to share opportunities within the community, while tearing down elitism in the art world. About time. GM

The key thing about Lengurz’s work is that it’s grounded in East London, specifically Newham, where the director was born and raised. ​“I’m from Somaliland, but I’m othered there. In the UK, it’s the same. So your ends are your culture,” says the 22-year-old. He’s always been fascinated by local stories – ​“the old man across the road, the shopkeepers, people’s homes.” Having studied film at college in Essex, Lengurz was stuck in a dead-end retail job for a bit, but decided to do his own thing post-Covid. Now, he’s directed music videos for PinkPantheress and Dexter, and runs Peak Television: part clothing brand, part creative studio, it’s his version of a visual magazine. ​“When you’re from working-class London, your voice is considered secondary. But our voices are so rich and important. It’s a collective effort I want to contribute to.” JW

“We describe ourselves as the most normal magazine in the world – our stories are all chip shops and train journeys,” says Ol Gabe, 30, of The Paper, a wonderfully odd, scathingly funny and decidedly Welsh publication. He runs it with pals Erin Mathias, 31, and Ow Davies, 28. ​“It’s all about the mundane flex,” elaborates Erin. ​“How exciting can we make the most boring shit ever? That’s what being in Wales is like.” In November, the Cardiff-based trio posted a Kickstarter to raise funds for what ended up being the principality’s most idiosyncratic mag. After nearly losing hope, actor Michael Sheen donated almost the entire amount of cash they needed. They’re already switching things up for their second issue: expect to see a terror-themed The Paper early next year. If Mr Wales himself likes it, it must be good, right? JW

Life comes at you fast. A few years ago, Slew used to wake up at 4am to work in his cousin’s flower shop. Now, he’s gearing up to release his debut, as-yet-untitled mixtape. Dropping in October, it blends the high-octane sounds of grime and rave, genres that the 27-year-old grew up with, first in West London then in Hertfordshire, where he moved at the age of 13 and is currently based. ​“I also remember picking up Roll Deep and 50 Cent albums and thinking they were so sick,” he says. ​“Then came squat raves. But I’ve always fucked about with music.” Beyond Slew’s gritty, no-holds-barred flow, he also models for the likes of Moncler and A‑COLD-WALL*. ​“I just want my music to make people feel gassed, you know?” JW

Mia McKenna-Bruce isn’t a crier. But when your first lead film role has taken you to Cannes, given you a standing ovation and nabbed one of the festival’s biggest prizes (Un Certain Regard), the tears come in floods. ​“It’s because I was pregnant!” the 26-year-old Londoner insists, recalling How To Have Sex​’s triumphant bow earlier this year. Ageing down almost a decade in the giddy, authentic, heartfelt film, Mia – an actor since childhood – plays Tara. She’s fresh from her GCSEs, on a girls’ holiday in Malia, Crete, and determined (kinda) to lose her virginity. Not unsurprisingly, the course of true sexual relations doesn’t go entirely to plan in this debut feature from writer-director Molly Manning Walker. ​“It’s personal,” says Mia. ​“Knowing we’re telling Molly’s story, and so many other’s, it was like: we want to get this right.” CM

Growing up immersed in the Tumblr era, Fabio Dessena’s childhood dream was to be 50 Cent. The 25-year-old hasn’t achieved that goal (yet), but his social media following is helping him rub shoulders with rap’s finest – not least, his idol Nines. Better known to his 13,300 TikTok followers as FDfromthefuture, Fabio started making sneaker videos from his parent’s house in Crawley, West Sussex, before moving to London and graduating onto street style interviews and challenges (25 press ups and a pair of Adidas trainers could be yours). Who’s next on Fabio’s interview hit list? If he had it his way, ​“it would be all the people that I idolise: Drake, SZA, Summer Walker…” And once he’s conquered social media, Fabio plans launching his own brand, while his mother is gearing up to be his mumager. Watch out, Kris Jenner. GM