By Cori Wilbur

February 16, 2021

A large aspect to finding your groove as an artist of clout is establishing a brand and honing in on your inner entrepreneur. Lile Kvantaliani’s journey has just begun but she clearly possesses the wherewithal and determination for enduring success.

“If you stick to your own style, you kind of establish [a brand] without even meaning to,” she said. Kvantaliani, a recent graduate from San Diego State University, founded Sublyme last year, after she printed one of her works onto a shirt and posted to Instagram. Her friends and followers responded with a plethora of interest in purchasing one of her wearable creations. 

After this initial spark, she worked hard and fast to come up with a brand for herself. She was immediately drawn to the word ‘sublime’–as it alludes to the meeting of the familiar and unfamiliar. The artist sees Sublyme as the meeting of these two different energies. 

Currently, she sells prints, t-shirts, hoodies and yoga mats of her various works, a true testament of her parallel dedications to art and a healthy lifestyle. “I want to target surfers, snowboarders and anyone who lives an active lifestyle but also who also expresses creativity in their own way,” she commented. 

Sublyme evolved from Kvantaliani’s own admiration and awe for things outside the scope of predictability and convention. More often than not, we place limits on ourselves and take what we see at face value. With her art, she likes to play with “how objects behave, look or make [us] feel when they are taken out of their comfort zone or own home and put into something very different.”

Moreover, she acknowledged the interest in displaying some of her work in a gallery eventually. But for now, she is embracing whatever the present has in store, taking in the natural beauty and art San Diego has to offer. 

This week, SDSU’s “More Than Music” virtual festival will showcase some of Kvantaliani’s work as one of the featured artists. To find out more about tickets, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/more-than-music-tickets-130966758099?aff=erelexpmlt.