"Tell us a bit about you as an Image Maker."

I always used to do arts, but I was never encouraged to do anything in this direction. Overtime I started to draw less and less because I had a big shift in thinking around age 25 I would say. Since then, I have tried to further understand myself and the world I exist in, returning to the mindset that I used to have as a kid where everything is possible (because most of it is!). I was experimenting in a lot of different ways with my work until one day I felt a click, the last piece of the puzzle fit into place. It gave me a sense of inner happiness and satisfaction and ive been working in this way ever since. 

"It's great to here the joy you get out of developing your artwork. What themes are you exploring?"

I am constantly exploring my own feelings and the themes of my work draw from this. There's a lot of anguish, melancholy, and feeling of being alone. But through this, I still present work that is optimistic, empowering, and independent. The world has a lot of wonder and beauty which I feel necessary to bring to my craft. 

"That duality is definitely clear in your work. You once that that you like to explore the human mind and social behaviour, how does the medium of Collage allow you to do this?"

Collage doesn't help my explore social behaviour per say, but it does allow me to visually represent my ideas on these topics in a way that feels relevant. There are a lot of thoughts and feelings that can't be expressed in words, or feel limited when spoken, so Collage art gives me the voice I never felt I had. 

"Why reference outer space?"

Again, it's one of those things that's hard to explain in words. Space isn't actually space in my imagination; it's consciousness. Space in art represents a network of higher common knowledge and existence. I guess that association comes from space being both infinite and unknown. My mind goes to this concept when I am feeling happy and positive because it makes you believe anything is possible. 

"Your work has a feel 80s quality to it, do you look to nostalgia when creating?"

I don't know if I can say i'm nostalgic to that period based on experience because Im a 90s kid, but I do wish I was around to see the 60s,70,80s. 

"How has social media impacted the work you create?"

No matter how much we like to hate on social media, there are still many ways it benefits us. Social media, mainly Instagram, made me addicted to creating. You do get a certain tingle when you get recognition for your work which for me, motivates me to continue working and to improve. Instagram helped me to believe in my work and not feel ashamed to say i'm an artist anymore. 

I also get a lot of clients from social media, so I owe a lot to it. 

"What is the future of art?"

I really can't say. But I do think that art is incredibly important for the future. More and more things will be replaced by machines and AI; but art can remain the one genuine thing in our lives that cant be replicated artificially. 

"Thank you, Larisa."