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The season of everything
And nothing.
Hello from everything and nothing happening all at once.
From the Kendrick and Drake dissing saga.
From skies exploding into pink auroras.
From the Challengers sweaty reviews.
From the fart-like Met Gala.
From the forgotten Sudan
From the hell-like Gaza.
From the nightmare
or the dream
“In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.”
Bertolt Becket
Meet Alexandra Hochreiter
Alexandra is a visual artist and illustrator with a background in architecture and an appetite for exploration and colourful poetry. Born in Romania, she now lives near Vienna with her husband and their cat, Strudel, cultivating a slow life in the middle of nature, much in the spirit of her childhood memories.
Working with a blend of digital and traditional mediums, Alexandra builds up worlds of whimsical, dreamy characters and fantastic gardens, touched by folk tales, myths and symbols, travelling through imaginary lands and weaving stories.
Nothing is ordinary in her world – everything has a hint of magic and an appetite for the extraordinary.
Here’s our Q&A:
What tickles you (and your fancy)
What tickles my fancy are textures, the delicious strokes and blobs of paint that always seem to find their way onto the paper in an uncontrolled yet meaningful manner. I love encountering good design in unexpected places. The scent of lilac on summer nights fills me with joy. An honest portion of handmade French fries. And there's nothing quite like the soft fur of my cat Strudel, that gently wakes me up when she sneaks into the bed in the middle of the night. It's the simple pleasures in life that bring me the most warmth and happiness.
Something you’d change in the world
I wish for people to cultivate more empathy towards those around them, and to be more mindful of their impact on the world and its animals. While humans can often find ways to adapt and help themselves, animals are often the innocent victims of our reckless behavior and encroachment on their habitats. I wish we would prioritise conservation efforts and respect the delicate balance of nature to ensure a sustainable future for all living beings.
How does your background in architecture influence you?
Having studied and worked as an architect for a very long time, I noticed that it does absolutely influence my practice. Perhaps not necessarily aesthetically, but from an organisational point of view, strategically tackling a project, maintaining a timeline and meeting the deadlines rigorously, finding solutions in any given circumstance. And the ease of working digitally in softwares that I was already very familiar with.
The biggest challenges in being an illustrator
One of the biggest challenges is the uncertainty and the lack of a mental comfort of a monthly salary, the struggle of consistently finding clients, which implies a lot of marketing, networking, and wearing many hats that usually have nothing to do with the creative flow. The biggest struggle is not getting enough time to make art, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know that everything I do, I do for my own business which grows slowly but steadily and this fuels me constantly.
...and the biggest rewards :)
There are so many moments that weigh heavily on the positive scale. First, the sheer joy of the people encountering my art for the first time or receiving it into their homes. The stories they share and the proud pictures they send me afterwards are incredibly fulfilling. It's heartwarming to have happy clients who come back for more. On a personal level, there's a profound sense of fulfilment in knowing that I'm living a healthier life by trusting and allowing myself to create, whatever it may be, and to constantly improve and deliver what I know I'm best at.
Your current obsessions
I’ve only recently managed to see Poor Things, and I am haunted by those compositions and the way it was artistically brought to life. The enchanting world of David Wiesner whose books I am now obsessed with and trying to get my hands on as many as possible (“Tuesday” and “June29, 1999”)
“Oom Sha La La” from Haley Heynderickx is constantly on repeat for some time now. As well as the “Dawn Chorus” from Boards of Canada – this is an older love of mine.
Something you love doing in your city
I love that I live 30 minutes away from the very posh and aristocratic Vienna, but otherwise I am surrounded by corn fields and an army of wild rabbits that roam freely around this very simple and charming rural countryside. It's a unique blend of city and country life that I find both invigorating and serene.
A favorite
childhood memory
My most precious memories revolve around the summers spent with my grandparents in this little cottage house in a village hidden between valleys and tiny streams. Behind this cottage there was such a little stream with a very old, precarious passage above it built from scraps and wood boards, and I would often spend entire afternoons there, building castles from the rich clay and adorning them intricately with that soft sand. It was and still is a place of wonder and magic.
The frill - PAYAL KHANDWALA
Lately I’ve been searching for Indian outfits for a wedding, so finally, the algorithm caught up with me and suggested this beautiful, modern take on Indian design. Payal Khandwala creates “considered clothing for women”, draping silks and linen, building flowing harmonies and using colour in an awe inspiring way. Swoon!
The thrill -
Shane Gabier
Shane Gabier is a NYC based designer and artist creating beautiful works inspired by modernist design, 70s psychedelia and brutalist architecture. Utility meets form, color and texture in his sculptural works and I fell in love with this beautifully hatched vase. Think it would’ve made a nice addition to the Arrakeen palace on Dune.
The shine -
Maryam Moqisé
I left my heart in Istanbul and it looks like I’ll leave my wallet in this shop, as well, because these earrings are simply gorgeous. The hand embroidered accessories created by Maryam Moqisé look like they have a thousand stories to tell and I’m here to listen. Plus, the brand empowers female artisans across the Middle East, so what’s not to like?
+ Your new Sunday strut tune (& my fav thing from “Challengers”) ✨
That’s it for today, but before I go, a little bit of shameless self promotion, hehehe!
I started setting up the pages for my first merch line called Life Tickles - it’s still very much WIP but, if you’re curious, the buttons below will take you there.
Hopefully I’ll launch the shop somewhere in June, so keep an eye out ;)
Copyright (C) *|CURRENT_YEAR|* | Emilia Barbu | All rights reserved.
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