Hello, beautiful creative people!
This week we sat down for a chat with the brilliant Alexandra, aka Moatzart. Her Instagram videos of the linocutting process have had us spellbound, and we couldn't wait to get to know the artist behind the knife.
Hello Alexandra! You are an artist whose art takes several different forms, I know you like to collage for example, but the moment you seem to be focussed on linocut printing. What is it about that which inspires you?
I fell in love with printmaking straight away, and I think the main reason is because I'm quite prone to having really chaotic work. With printmaking, first of all, there's a limit to the details that you can have because of the medium itself. You're carving with carving tools, kind of like knives and depending on how well you plan it, there's not a lot of detail that you can get, it's quite limiting in a way. And then also at the end, once you print the image it’s so contained nicely within that border.
So I think because I am so prone to making such chaotic work with a lot of elements in it printmaking lends itself quite nice to that because it makes it look like a finished piece of work.
I think it's incredible the level of detail that you manage to get into your prints! I can actually see that you're aware one of your T-shirts!
Is that really cringy?! It wasn't even on purpose! That's one of the Circus prints. It's one of my favourites, it's a massive one with multiple characters.
I read on People of Print that you're fascinated by the circus, so talk to me about that?
For that I'd like I have to give props to Draw Brighton, a life drawing community. I think they've been going for around ten years now and they've got a ‘drawing circus’. They put on these life drawing events where it's essentially a performance slash event and they all dress up like they're a circus that you can draw. It's great! I used to go there all the time it was like going to a circus, but you could also just study really attentively.
Do you do any actual circus activities?
No, I don't think I would ever be able to do any of that myself! There's so much skill in it. Maybe that's some of the fascination, for just something that you could never be a part of.
But I think also another reason why I'm always fascinated by it, is that I'm fascinated by the kind of things that might be deemed... Ugly. I say ugly in more of an aesthetic term, not necessarily like the adjective, but I'm fascinated by things that look a little out of place and then you can't stop staring at them. And I think the circus is so much like that.
You also have another series called the Sylphides...?
Yes, that was one of my first ones.
I looked it up because I didn't know too much about it, and it's an old ballet with no plot. It focuses on mood and emotion, but centred around a young poet, which is quite interesting!
You know, I think you've just discovered a reference that I just did not have when I did that! I had no idea… That gives it another level that I didn't know about! I thought Sylphides was another word for 'lady', but an elegant lady sort of thing, and I thought it was just the French word for that.
Perhaps you’re right! Perhaps my Google algorithm is set to automatically find anything poetry related to my searches. The young poet in the ballet wears a pair of white tights and a black tunic, so I was tempted to wear a pair of white tights and black tunic. I’m glad I didn’t now!
I just wouldn't have known what it's about!
How have you found your creative process affected by the lockdown?
It definitely encouraged it. Just on a practical level, because I was put on furlough and I work in hospitality I was just at home all day. And so I basically was able to take it up full time.
Also I think carving is very therapeutic, so maybe that's why I produce so much work, just because it's a nice thing to do.
How long does it take you to make a print?
It depends on the size. The latest one is an A3 three print and it is very detailed, but it only took me two full days of carving. And I think, a block like that might have taken someone else about a week. Most printmakers work like that but I work quite quickly. I don't know why!
How did you get into printmaking?
I basically I started making art around fifteen years old. I'd moved to England and I had not much else to do, so I was just making art all day. And then my mom took me to this printmaker and painter in Romania, Matei Serban Sandu. He's very well-known painter and he introduced me to printmaking for the first time. I just loved it, I loved it straight away.
Do you have any projects that you're working on that you're excited about?
Yes, I'm doing a few things at the same time because I realised that it's really exhausting to work on one collection only and then release it. So I'm working on a couple of things this year. There's the Heaven and Hell series - the piece you mentioned earlier is part of the Heaven and Hell series. And then I'm working on illustrating the Neverending Story as well. And then there's also the They're Dreaming collection, which is a collection with a few characters and the things that they aspire to. That's more like a collage-y type thing, with some smaller prints in it.
So yeah, so there's a few different things that I work on at the same time!
Thanks Moatzart! Her full interview is on our YouTube channel here, and if you like the sound of Moatzart's work, check her out on Instagram (@moatzaart) and on her website at www.moatzart.co.uk!
