Gina Knight // The Modern Bohemian Life

 

Gina Knight is a nomad and brave and humble. Her life is simple, purposefully so. Creativity isn’t a skill she’s had to hone it’s innately expressed. You see it in the makeshift aesthetic of her beach-side, Long Jetty home — the converted garage and outside laundry repurposed into a bespoke one bedroom studio with outdoor kitchen, a tee-pee in the backyard that doubles as her husband Cameron Knight’s (aka Pepa Knight) music studio, the jars of colourful legumes a disorderly rainbow along the hardwood shelves. She lives genuinely— a modern bohemian life, unmanufactured. Seeing many parts of the world in her short years has had a profound influence on Gina’s everyday choices and her effort to live more consciously and waste-free. We talked about her old life as an interior designer, what it’s like to dumpster dive and her favourite fashion finds from far away lands.

 

Photography: Jozef Oldfield
Words: Jessica Oldfield

JO: So I wanted to start with a few facts I know about you and get you to confirm whether they’re true or not.

GK: Okay.

JO: You have dumpster dived.

GK: True

JO: You are the mother of a 2-year-old boy named Biko.

GK: True

JO: You are married to a musician.

GK: Yes

JO: You are a drummer in a band.

GK: True.
…I’m sounding so cool. [laughs]

 

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JO: You use a hanky instead of tissues.

GK: True. I have to use a hanky instead of tissues!

JO: Why?

GK: There’d be too many!

JO: You love to travel

GK: Yes

JO: You have lived in a tee-pee.

GK: Yes. Slept in. It was our bedroom.

 

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JO: Now for those reading who don’t know, can you explain what dumpster diving is.

GK: It’s pretty much going through bins, after hours, on bin night, when people put out there bins and getting the good food out of it that people were going to chuck out.

JO: So packaged foods?

GO: Not necessarily just packaged, fresh produce too that’s still good but not good enough to sell. And it’s stuff that’s still in date, but might be quite close to the use by date. Or sometimes it might be passed the use by date but you can tell it’s still okay.

JO: What are some of the foods you’ve found?

GK: Lots of fruit and veg. Packets of things like tofu. I’ve found some good raw desserts.

JO: What do you like about dumpster diving?

GK: Basically its fun. Like, it’s really fun, ‘Cause you feel a bit sneaky. But also, there’s so much food waste and it’s good for the environment to use it rather than it be wasted. And it’s free. One of the other really cool things about dumpster diving is you’re not really choosing what you get, you just end up with a bunch of stuff and it helps you be more creative with cooking because you’re just using what you found in the bin.

JO: So food and creativity are closely aligned for you?

GK: Yeah definitely. I feel like that’s where I get most of my creative skills out.

JO: Aside from dumpster diving and using hankys, how else do you try to reduce waste?

GK: We use cloth nappies for Biko, which has been great. I use a reusable menstrual cup. Then all the usual basics: not using plastic bags, buying food in bulk and using glass jars for refills. And even if I’m at a supermarket, I try to choose options that are not in plastic. I guess just trying to be more aware in general.

JO: Do you find this stuff challenging? Or did you initially?

GK: Yeah definitely. I think at first it was overwhelming. I’ve noticed that it’s had to be a very gradual thing over the years. But now as I’ve changed stuff over time it’s really easy because it starts to become habitual…and it becomes your life. And I think that’s what you’re seeing when you visit other countries. Particularly when we’ve been to India I’d think: “how do they live like that?” “How do you use a bucket toilet?” But it’s ingrained into their everyday. They’re not having to change, they’re just doing what they’re doing, and once you are doing what you’re doing, its just normal life.

 

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“I think at first it was overwhelming. I’ve noticed that it’s had to be a very gradual thing over the years. But now as I’ve changed stuff over time it’s really easy because it starts to become habitual”

JO: India is quite a special place for you isn’t it?

GK: Yeah, India, out of all the countries I’ve been to, is probably my favourite. We’ve been there a few times now and there’s just something about it.

JO: Would you say it’s influenced the way you live?

GK: Yeah I think every country I go to influences the way I live, but India is a particularly inspiring place for me.

JO: Is it the simplicity of their lives that inspires you?

GK: Yes, I’m very attracted to simple living. And living waste-free as much as possible. I think Cameron and I have both chosen to live life a bit more simple so we can do the things we love. I like travelling and I love the beach and gardening and a lot of the things that do take a lot of time. Cameron has always worked a few days a week whilst doing his music and I’m working a few days a week too, but I think it’s all about balancing it. ‘Cause you still need to pay the bills.

JO: What does an unbalanced life look like for you?

GK: I guess just a feeling that something’s not quite right. If you’re not feeling good it can be an indicator that your life’s a bit out of balance in some way. I guess work, particularly, is where the balancing act is hard and sometimes I think I’d like to not work at all.

JO: How has becoming a mum affected your creativity?

GK: Every change in life affects where your creativity comes from. Years ago I was an interior designer, so that’s where most of my creative energy was going into, plus cooking. But since having Biko I haven’t had as much time to cook. But now things like dressing him are a creative outlet for me. I guess now, it’s the things I do with Biko that I put creativity into, rather than the things I do for myself.

JO: Well he’s a super stylish kid. Can you describe your style?

GK: It’s probably a mixture of a few things. I really like vintage, second-hand clothes. I love doing clothes swaps with friends so a lot of my stuff is second hand, but I do like mixing it with some new stuff, which might be plain basics, or something bohemian-inspired. I like finding unique clothing when I’m travelling that’s been handmade.

JO: What’s a favourite find?

GK: In Morocco I got a really beautiful, old Berber necklace. I really love that. I also got a great pair of boots in Morocco that are made from a patterned Berber rug.

 

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“If you’re not feeling good it can be an indicator that your life’s a bit out of balance in some way. I guess work, particularly, is where the balancing act is hard and sometimes I think I’d like to not work at all.”

JO: They sound incredible.
…So why did you stop interior design work?

GK: It just wasn’t feeling right. I’ve never actually wanted to work, but I thought I had to do something, before I had kids and became a housewife. [laughs]
So I studied interior design because I am really interested in it and I love it, but I just don’t really like doing it as a job. I found it really restricting, you can’t just do what you want. You have to do what your boss wants, or if you work for yourself, you have to do what the client wants, so it never really feels like your work.

JO: What motivates you?

GK: I really like to do a big trip every year. Going somewhere I’ve never been and spending a really good amount of time, like a month, away. I feel like that really helps me have something to work towards and look forward to and then while I’m away its really nice to be out of your life, looking back on it, reassessing things and being reinspired. I’ve found that’s a really healthy thing for me and I would like to keep doing that.

 

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JO: It’s such a good thing to do I think. You can put travel off for a long time, ‘cause you’re just thinking about booking it. But you really do just have to not overthink it, book it and go.

GK: Yeah and I’ve noticed since having Biko it is harder to plan a trip. Or harder to get your head around a trip. But the last trip we did, we just booked it and didn’t even think too much about it and we went and it was so good. And I’m so glad we did do it, because you can just keep going with the everyday stuff and not get around to it.

JO: What’s it like travelling with a two-year-old?

GK: It’s really good. Biko has a great time. I think because he’s doing something different every day he’s always very entertained and exhausted by every night. He can watch movies now. So there was a lot to distract him with if we were on a plane, we can just put a movie on. It’s a bit easier now then when he was one.

JO: I feel like there’s a lot of fears, maybe fear of the unknown, fed into mothers about travelling with their children, which is a shame, ‘cause it can really stop you from having a memorable experience.

GK: Yeah I don’t know what the fear is. I’m confused by it still. It’s probably just the fear that other people give you. Like when we had our trip booked to Morocco when Biko was nearly one, so many people were saying “what are you doing taking a baby to Morocco, its so unsafe” and even though we knew it was safe, what those people said started to get into our heads and started to make us think: “am I irresponsible?” But then just going and doing it was amazing. It gave us a lot of confidence. We got back and said: “that was so easy and so fun.” And now we have the confidence to take him anywhere in the world. It was good to just do that and be reminded not to let other people’s fears make you doubt yourself.