1. What does art mean to you?
For me, art is a tool to express myself and escape into another world. I am so fascinated by the fact that art can not be defined and it has no limits.
I love the feeling of being free to just create whatever I want. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about painting, writing, dancing or making music.
2. Describe your art in 9 words, or less:
Free, playful, bold, vibrant, and surprising.
4. Give me one example of a situation that has made you think – jeez, society really needs to change its perception of women’s bodies
A situation that happened recently actually: A really close and normally supportive person told me, “you are so skinny, but maybe you should think about doing some sports because your cellulite is showing pretty much.”
I was really perplexed and couldn‘t say more than just “and what’s wrong with that?”
4. What gear do you use to make your art?
I am usually using my iPad most of the time, but when I create analog, I love to use coloured pencils and soft pastels.
5. What do you imagine the expression on people’s faces to be like when they have one of your images come up in their Instafeed?
I can’t tell, but I hope to bring a smile to people’s faces 🙂
6. How do you deal with creative blockages?
At first, I really could not deal with them. I was so stressed and in those times when I couldn’t draw anything, I was pushing myself even more to create something.
Then, when I was really desperate, I asked my fellow illustrators on IG how THEY deal with it. I got a lot of supportive messages and understood that everyone experiences it and it is pretty normal.
I also think that the whole pressure we as creatives build up in times when we’re blocked comes from social media and not from the blockage itself. We all think we just have to create and post constantly to get somewhere. I really had to change my mindset in this respect, because I didn’t want to be a slave of social media anymore.
Since then I am always telling myself – I am creating for myself, and not for social media or anyone else. If I am not in the mood, or I am actually really unable to create something, IT IS OK and it will pass.
7. Does your art change over time and is influenced by how you change personally?
YES. It changes EVERY day. Depends on many things, for example – how I slept that night, in what mood I am in, what the weather is like, what I’m seeing at that moment, or what’s happening in the world.
8. What do you think is your biggest challenge as a female artist in Vienna?
Well, the first is, to find a well-paid commission.
I am not sure if it has something to do with my gender, or being an artist in general, but all the jobs I have gotten were actually really underpaid.
It seems like clients have always just a small amount of budget left for creatives and don’t have an idea how much the work really costs.
I wish our society would start to take artists and their work more seriously.
Personally, the second challenge for me is keeping myself inspired and motivated. Somehow, when I’m at home and in places, I know well, like Vienna, I find it hard to get inspired. Probably because mostly I get inspired by new things and places.
9. How does social media affect your work?
It affects me in both positive and negative ways. Social media platforms like Pinterest is an endless resource for inspiration and fascination. I could really spend the whole day just scrolling through illustrations on Pinterest because I am so fascinated by all the styles and colours I see. It also boosts my mood in an unexplainable way.
Instagram, on the other hand, has more of a negative impact. The pressure that it creates that I talked about in the previous question. The whole algorithm and its huge hunger for likes and acknowledgment can really make you go crazy.
It’s like a devil’s circle from which it’s really hard to break out.
I‘ve been there – checking and counting likes every 5 minutes. When I didn’t get the expected amount of likes, I fell into a hole of self-criticism and insecurity.
Now, I managed to break out and am trying hard not to fall back into this trap.
But I still love Instagram as it offers the possibility to ‘meet’ and talk to other artists from all over the world.
Once you get on theree, there’s a big community of friendly and open-minded people are waiting for you who understand your struggles and can teach you a lot.
10. Describe your art style if it was a person that you met at a party.
I can visualize 2 people – both women, both different from each other. One is young and crazy, dancing around with her coloured hair and not giving a damn. The second one is sitting at the table with a glass of red wine.
11. If you would describe yourself with one piece you made, which one would it be, and why?
The one with a girl holding a huge cup of tea. I drink like 10 liters of tea a day.
12. Did you ever keep a piece to yourself, even though you made it with the intention to sell it?
Actually, I sold one piece which was pretty personal, and thought I would never sell it. But I changed small details like the hair colour, for example.
13. If you have bad habits that stop you from getting better, what would they look like if personified?
My biggest bad habit is laziness – if you can even call it a habit rather than a personality trait. Also, procrastination.
So, when I personify it, I just think of Garfield, the cat.
Check out more of Alexandra’s work and follow her on Instagram!
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