Ces derniers temps, une force inconnue et incontrôlable semble pousser la rédaction de Juste à mettre en avant le talent de nombreux créateurs spécialisées dans l’illustration. On les appelle aussi plus simplement des illustrateurs. Ce qui est semble logique étymologiquement parlant puisque leur travail est de produire des dessins ou des oeuvres graphiques plutôt originales à l’aide de crayons, feutres, stylos et autres pinceaux.
Vous l’aurez compris, chez Juste magazine, nous admirons ceux qui savent créer un univers et nous y emporter sans l’aide d’autre outil que leur mine de plomb et leur imagination. Oui mais voilà, c’est sans compter les outils technologiques actuels tels que Photoshop et Illustrator qui permettent d’apporter une autre dimension ou plus simplement des retouches à un dessin fait main. Ils permettent aussi de transformer une simple illustration en imprimé textile all over ou de faire plein d’autres trucs que nous garderons secret par respect pour le processus créatif des illustrateurs. Grosso modo, l’idée est de jouer sur le contraste organique, artisanal du fait-main avec le côté très maîtrisé précis, graphique, géométrique et froid du digital computerized tool.
Cette introduction me permet de vous présenter en toute quiétude la jeune illustratrice danoise Karen Segall. Elle a eu la gentillesse de prendre le temps de nous accorder une interview où elle nous explique son point de vue sur divers sujets liés à son travail d’illustratrice et aborde les diverses facettes de son activité.
Et c’est là que la dimension internationale de Juste magazine prend tout son sens puisque l’interview est en anglais.
Il faut tout de même préciser que Karen Segall ne se contente pas de réaliser des illustrations. Elle tricote aussi des masques étranges et fascinants qui peuvent s’avérer pratiques si l’on souhaite braquer un concept store à la hache en tout anonymat. Karen Segall réalise aussi des compositions graphiques galactico-ésotériques que l’on pourrait qualifier de graphi-collages. Elle collabore avec des marques de mode, commercialise des foulards imprimés de ses propres créations graphiques…et une somme d’autres créations toutes plus décalées et originales, ce qui donne tout son sens au terme univers lorsqu’il s’agit de qualifier son travail pluridisciplinaire et varié.
Ami lecteur, toi qui fantasme sur la créativité hipster du Danemark. cet interview s’offre a toi !
What in your art reflects your background and current life story?
I’m always using my emotional state of mind to work out from, and fascinated by detailed stuff, wich reflects in my art, way of living, thoughts, interest. i’m supersensitive, and react, feel and work best when I feel what i’m doing. I have been fascinated by national identity for years, not only the danish, but when I’ve been traveling picking up stuff, colours, bits and pieces. Africa has been around in by visual inspirations for years, always with the cold and nordic contrast.
What is your connection with Fashion?
I have always been aware of what I’m wearing. Mostly because of the detail. It’s not always been pretty, but more or less fun thought all the time. I have been sewing since I could. My mom would let me use her sewing machine. My grandmother taught me how to knit in her kitchen. I stopped knitting for years, and now I’m back in that business of knitting sweaters, shirts and masks. I’ve never taken a « real » course in fashion, but work from my feelings about the business. and is now working on getting people in, who knows more about the practical stuff (because I don’t and really just want to do what I’m good at).
In what kind of Fashion do you believe in?
Ha ha, this is kind of difficult, I believe in the personal one, but if you look at what is going on right now, and what everybody is saying that they are very personal, I don’t believe. The entire Danish street fashion as an example is not personal at all, it’s a big copy cat from bloggers, just jeans and sneaks, and thats not very personal, sorry to say. I believe that if we, as individual humans, stopped looking at magazines for figuring out what to wear, but had a look through the history, culture, what our grand parents has been wearing, movies ect ect. and not being affraid, you would have my believe in fashion. I can’t be a slave of the industry (or have any one dictating what to make or do wich), If I would I wouldn’t love going on sale or just make my own stuff. shortly I would say I follow my feeling – question one could be read again…
How do you deal with the very organic feel of your watercolors and hand sketches with the digital imagery? How do you switch?
In some way, i find it very natural. My watercolors are as you wrote very organic, and my collage work always reflects the human being, animals, nature, wich also is organic. The main connection between this is the details, always a bit too much on both sides. I like the photo/digital world for making transparent layers, and ghost like universes that I can’t get in watercolor. My watercolors are honest, the digital collage is fiction. This state is where i let the fantasy live, and loose the control and imaginary stories happens.
Tell us a little about your latest work and forthcoming projects.
I just finished a book for children. And I am finally back, working on « ego » projects. I just started a limited mini fashion collection, based on a ton of old digital printed textile, wich I am going to use as collage items on bomberjackets, combined with a lot of animalprint, masks, fakefur, leather. Lots of texture. My collages and illustration in fashion, 3D, wich hopefully will be done soon and available on my webshop. Art wise i have been kind of fascinated by the semi taggy, take a picture of what you eat and put it out in socialmedia world. And i am also working on big watercolor illustrations
Texte et interview : Laurent Desgrange