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Interview

Teen Art Out nr 16 ISSN 2284 – 6549 ISSN–L = 2284 – 6549

Our editorial team Editor-in-Chief: Editors:

Photo credits: Artistic projects:

Cover design: Cover graphics: Design:

Simona Mihalca Andreea Bădeu Aubrey Joy Songcog Julia N. Hamermesz Michela Sereni Andreea Albulescu Irina Iliescu Carmen Manda Ana Maria Dorofte Cezara Miclea Viola C. Malone Mihnea Săvulescu Koustav Shaw Shevaun Lemieux Tonya Ridener Al Stewart Andrei Apostol Anca Buzilan Mark Nixon Ruxandra Albulescu Ruxandra Marin Mark Nixon Ioana- Mădălina Sterpu

We reserve the right to select the submissions received before publishing.

Contact:

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www.artout.ro redactie@artout.ro

Interview

SUMARY LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Love letter from the editor, Andreea Bădeu Slow, love, slow, Simona Mihalca

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INTERVIEW Tony Kakko and Elias Viljanen of Sonata Arctica

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READ ALL ABOUT IT Always in this twilight, Aubrey Joy Songcog Amorous choice in the view of Ortega y Gasset, Ana Maria Dorofte Do I love you orthe thought of you?, Andreea Bădeu Dragobete – the Romanian god of love, Cezara Miclea In love with the thought of love, Viola C. Malone It advances slowly, Mihnea Săvulescu Love Slow, Viola C. Malone Live, laugh, love, Koustav Shaw Love 9/16/13, Shevaun Lemieux Love is in the air, Andra Albulescu The truth about love, Tonya Ridener Finding your “someone(s)”, Simona Mihalca Ghost Love Score, Julia N. Hamermesz

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PROJECTS Anca Buzilan. Ink on paper Mark Nixon: Much Loved Ruxandra Albulescu

48 65 81

SOCIAL WATCH Mission: Erasmus Part II/ II, Irina Maria Iliescu

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Best safety lies in fear. Racism, media: an everlasting love story, Michela Sereni

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GOING FOR GOLD The 2014 Gymnastics Season is on!, Carmen Manda

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Interview

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Interview

Foto: Andrei Apostol

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Letter from the editor

Love letter from the editor

B

eyond all the prejudices about love, one thing is sure: every love story is unique in its own special way. Each one, no matter how long or how serious it may be, has the capacity to teach us crucial things about ourselves and about life. Love means respect, common sense, equality, spontaneity, craziness and beauty; hence, it is undoubtedly the best guide both in the labyrinth of mind and of soul.

However, there are plenty of people who seem not to have understood the value of this praiseworthy feeling. They let themselves be deceived by inane words and impetuous deeds, thus forgetting to fight for their own happiness. It is never easy, that’s true, but love is an extremely fragile thing and we have to take good care of it. Don’t run out of patience!

Take it “slow, love, slow”!

Andreea Badeu

Managing Editor

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Letter from the editor

Slow, love, slow

H

ere we are, celebrating our 2-years anniversary with a special issue. And what can be more special than love? It is a classic and one would think that you cannot go wrong with it. However, we are not resorting to clichés. Don’t take my word on that and go and brush through the articles. I am convinced that they will surprise you, amaze you and most of all make you think.

What is love? (Baby don’t hurt me, no more) I’d be cheating if I told you. I will not be giving you an Oxford Dictionary definition, nor will I give you my definition.

However, as always, I can leave you with some thoughts from the song that inspired this, “Slow, Love, Slow” By Nightwish. Since it’s an anniversary issue and a short song, I will actually leave you read the whole of it, because it’s a priceless gem.

Foto: Al Stewart, Segesta

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Letter from the editor

Come and share this painting with me Unveiling of me, the magician that never failed This deep sigh coiled around my chest Intoxicated by a major chord I wonder Do I love you or the thought of you?

Slow, love, slow Only the weak are not lonely Southern blue, morning dew Let-down-your-guards, I-loveyou’s Ice-cream castles, lips-to-ear rhymes A slumber deeper than time Slow, love, slow Only the weak are not lonely

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(Nightwish – Slow, Love, Slow)

I’ve been told I should tell a little story of how the magazine came into existence. Of course, it all started as a ‘what if?”, a challenge, an idea. It seemed something so interesting to have, and most of all, something so much more amazing to be running. Sure, I was out of my depth for a while and it took a few issues for me to get on my feet, to know what I want and whom I want with me to do so. But as time passed, it grew a little and then a little.

The turning point of Teen Art Out was Rock the City 2012, a music festival I attended on behalf of the magazine. Not only did I enjoy the best of shows, but I also got the chance to meet the guys from Sweet Savage and interview them on the spot. It was the first interview I had ever done and rest assured, I do believe the worst one, too. What did I know back then?

Enough to get me started. To make me see that hey, interviews are cool.

So, issue by issue, I have worked to get more and more people to respond to my questions. Some were easier to do than others, but I firmly believe that these interviews

Letter from the editor

are both what makes me and what makes the magazine. One (e.g: Laura Mihalca, Editor-in-Chief of Art Out Magazine) may be prone to say that most of the interviews I have done are with people surrounding the symphonic metal scene. She’d be right as there is so much truth in that. Going in that direction was the easiest step for me, it felt natural and it gave me and a lot of our readers a great deal of joy. And now, so many issues later, we are becoming quite (re) known for it. So wish us luck and tell us what and whom you like and dislike. If I were to pick a favourite out of the interviews I have done, though it’s no easy thing to do, I would definitely choose two (because they are all so good, quite honestly): Marco Hietala and Tony Kakko.

I cannot tell you how proud I am of the magazine itself, because it is becoming something in itself, a spirit, an idea, something bigger than me. And more than that, I am proud of each and every one of the people who helped me build this magazine, the editors, the photographers, the designers. It’s

been quite a journey and I have been happy to watch some of them grow, mature in their skills and give out their absolute best so that Teen Art Out continues to be better and better each day.

Lastly, since this is a love letter, I will tell you that I love you.

You, the reader who stood by us so far and is reading this line, you are what keeps us going, you are the reason why we do this. A big heartfelt thank you from me and all our editorial staff!

Love,

Simona Mihalca Editor-in-Chief

P.S: Want to know what comes next for us? Ask, write, like and share because the next issue is going to be royally fabulous. Yes, you may have guessed, our next issue will be about…”Royals”. Feel like a prince(ss) yet?

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Letter from the editor

Foto: Andrei Apostol

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Psych(o)

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Interview

Interview:

Tony Kakko and Elias Viljanen

Simona Mihalca: Hello. You are set to release your newest album “Pariah’s Child” in March and it’s said to be returning to the early days of Sonata Arctica.

How did you choose to do that?

Tony Kakko: The early days in the sense that this could have well been the album we might have released after Reckoning Night instead of choosing a different path with “Unia” and all the things that road gave us. So you could say we’re going back to that intersection, rupture in time space continuum and choosing the other option. I’m a big fan of Back To The 12

Future. Haha! This 15th anniversary tour we’re on now, I think it in its way spawned this direction again.

We had to start preparing stuff for it already before we begun to rehearse the songs for this new album. I just thought to check if there’s something I find amusing in that “old style”. And sure enough, there was. I found myself smiling.

Elias Viljanen: We are celebrating the band being together for 15 years. We also have a new bassist. I think we needed to re-find ourselves as a group and of course at the same time please the fans.

Interview

S.M: Tell us a bit about the creative process for you. How do you get inspired and when can you finally say “yes, this is it” as you’re happy with what you have created?

TK: Almost anything can inspire a song. Sometimes I just sit down and lay my fingers on the keys or fretboard and see what happens. It’s an adventure, every time. I write a song until it has to be ready. Duke Ellington put it well when he said “don’t give me time, give me a deadline”. I’m just like that. Sometimes, though, I may get a song ready without realising

it. I just notice in studio that I don’t want to change anything. The song is perfect. The song will let me know when it’s ready. :) EV: We can go really mental when we work on an idea. Usually we find it easy, but sometimes it needs a bit more time. Tony composes the songs. He takes his inspiration from the nature, books, movies, music, games and life. As do we all I would say.

S.M: Speaking of happiness, you have described the style as “speedy happy go lucky 13

Interview attitude”. However, some fans say that Sonata Arctica does not really have happy songs. Have you thought about that? What could be the cause?

TK: We were called happy metal on our early days and I never understood that really, because the lyrics were almost always fairly dark. Suppose says something about what people pay attention to in songs. Musically Sonata stuff was then at least really uptempo with happy sing-a-long melodies, so I think that’s how that came to be. Why I said something like that was probably just the fact that I got really tired of fighting the windmills. Can’t beat them, join them. I don’t find happiness and sunshine at all inspiring. I think vast majority of the really great art is inspired by something other, sad subjects and tragedy. I try to write about happier stuff at times but it really does not come naturally for me. “Love” is the only happy love song I’ve ever written, I think. I’m a pretty happy and cheerful guy in personal life, I think. Suppose I pour all the darkness we all have somewhere within, due the rules of dualism, in my art. It’s better that way.

EV: We don’t sing about dragons or Satan, our songs can be everything. In that way we are in a 14

nice situation creation-wise. I think our songs have usually a deeper aspect in the lyrics, like universal stuff, you know, growing old, losing a loved one, even though sometimes the lyrics can be a bit metaphorical.

S.M: Is this alienation and aloneness of the concept album strictly something for the lyrics and music or is that a recurring feeling of yours that fires the songs?

TK: Those things just have always sparked stories in me. I love living far away from everything, all the hassle, solitude, I’d like to move even further away in the woods, but for family reasons and probably also for my mental health, haha, I think it’s better to keep up the social contacts and live among people.

EV: It’s definitely there, but there is a lot of other thing going on as well.

S.M: Can we expect any duets on the album?

TK: Henkka heard the question and answered on my behalf as follows: “Yes, but there will be none”. That’s a good answer.

Interview Hahaha!

EV: Not exactly duets, but there is bit of surprise coming up.

S.M: Now that you are releasing another album, what can you tell us about the Genesis cover for the last album that didn’t get released. Is there still hope for that one?

TK: Yeah, I hope we get it out in some point. I really love the song and our version of it.

S.M: Do you think that the success of the album will be influenced by other bands in the genre, or better said associated bands as genre is quite flexible, releasing albums around the same time?

TK: No, not really. We’ve got our own following and we’ve always done thing in our own way. I don’t really even know what genre box we’ve been placed at the moment.

Don’t really care either. Genre is just a marketing tool and I don’t want to have anything to do with that other than giving interviews. Tired of fighting that windmill as well.

EV: Yes and no. There is lot of different releases from different

bands. The record company is trying to cope with those things.

But the main thing is that we are different from any other bands, at least we try to be unique.

S.M: Where do you see the future of album releasing going?

While everyone enjoys a copy, people are breaking from labels and releasing them with the help of fundraisers. Or you have more notorious examples, such as Beyoncé dropping an album with no word beforehand, exclusively on iTunes or other singers releasing their work through brands like Samsung or Target.

TK: I don’t know. In some way I would love to get the big labels back where they once were. It made things very easy for everyone.

Bands had larger budgets to bring greater productions to the fans and, it’s a harsh thing, but there were also less bands on the top. The current trend will slowly destroy everything and everyone will lose.

That’s how I see it.

EV: The traditional cd sales is going worse all the time, we have to change and create new stuff to help the record sales all the time. You know, change with the changing world.

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Interview

S.M: We want to congratulate you for this huge milestone of 15 years. While most bands celebrate with one show, you are set to do a full-scale anniversary tour. What do you have in store for us, other than Xandria and Delain as support bands?

TK: Thank you very much!

We’re playing a lot of songs we have not played in a long long time or ever. Had the first show last night in Helsinki, Finland and it was a blast. Lots of happy people in the audience. It felt like as if the good old days of Sonata power ear were back. Once we start the European tour after “Pariah’s Child” is released, were gonna alter the setlist some as we REALLY can’t wait to play these new songs live.

EV: We have an extended

show with lots of old songs and new as well. We bring our new bassist Pasi, he has brought a lot to the band.

S.M: Do you believe that being an all-boys band makes your life in general or touring life easier?

TK: I’m pretty sure it does.

Simple as that.

EV: No. I think you get along with someone or don’t. It is not about sex necessarily.

S.M: Can you at this point imagine how your life would be when you retire, hopefully for us, a long long time from now?

Is that a good perspective or do you believe that you will miss the band and touring life?

TK: I don’t think I’ll ever retire, personally. The band might come to an end as a touring version in some point, it’s actually inevitable as we’re human beings, unlike KISS. But I will always continue writing songs. Hopefully we can keep Sonata Arctica active as long as our forever lasts. If this all was simple taken away from all of us… I don’t even want to think how that would be like. This is all we know. Our life

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Interview and 2nd family.

EV: I would miss the good times, seeing the world and people, play live. But I don’t know, when I am old and tired, maybe those things are just the things I wouldn’t miss. But the retirement day not at hand just not yet.

S.M: Do you follow what fans say or do (in matter of artwork, memes or maybe fanfics) on the internet?

TK: No. I try to not read anything related to us from the internet. People so often have no idea what they’re talking about and reading all that is that depressing.

There’s good stuff there as well, but I rather hear and read all that either in person on tour or via emails.

EV: Sometimes yes. Our fans are suberb!

SM: Do you ever listen to a song and wish it was you who had written it?

EV: Sometimes, but usually I just admire someone who has done something great, for example Steve Vai’s For The Love Of God is one song.

S.M: What is the most touching thing that fans have said or done?

TK: There’s a headstone on the grave of our fan with our logo on it. Can’t go much touchier than that.

EV: Our music has changed someones lives in a good way, so its touches.

S.M: Do you watch any TV shows?

TK: Lately, say 3 years, I have not really watched that much TV. Mostly daily news. I’ve found it to be just waste of time. I rather spend the same time writing songs or doing something constructive.

But then again, on tours it’s a nice way of spending few hours of dead time if you have nothing to read anymore. It’s a phase in life I’m in.

I’ve heard there are some good series running at the moment, but… yeah.

EV: The Mentalist when I have time.

S.M: Who was the last person you have asked for an autograph?

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Interview TK: Oh wow…I have no idea.

I would probably lie if I named someone.

EV: I asked Gene Simmons for a picture a year ago.

S.M: Lastly, seen as February is seen as the month of love and our magazine is centered around that this month, as well, we would like to know what are your views on love and how you feel about it.

TK: Love makes the world go around. Even if it did not revolve around its axis, love could make it happen. It’s such a huge source

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of energy. We would not be here without it. At least at its most superficial and carnal form. All equally nice and needed.

EV: Well love makes things happen in this world so it’s everything. I love my family, parents and band mates and life itself. You know and the nature too!

S.M: Thank you very much and here’s to hoping to see you soon back in Romania.

TK: Hope to see you all soon!

Much love!

Simona Mihalca

Slow, love, slow

Slow, love, slow

Always in this twilight

by Aubrey Joy Songcog

by Aubrey Joy Songcog

“A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it’s left me blind” Florence + Machine, Cosmic Love Foto: Al Stewart, Sailing Annapolis

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t was a finer mess of things.

A pleasant arrangement of chaos. A movement of stars through the contrails and slowly without a rough to form their chronic constellations. And it caught my attention. How do they align themselves when they are light years away from each other?

Who guides them in the midst of darkness in the cosmic space? Who decides when they should align and when not to? Does it hurt every time they fall? And in the first place, why do they shoot themselves 20

from the sky when there is no one to catch them beneath?

I was once someone who dared to defy the gravity. Falling into something and expecting to rise. Loved someone the way astronomers love the stars, the way the meteors collide, and the way a nebula breaks from a big bang. Somehow, my body metamorphosed into a cosmos.

My heart blazed like the sun and breathed life like the Earth. My bones becomes the orbit that holds

Slow, love, slow

the shattered pieces of myself in place.

It all had me confused as to why something so beautiful could be compared to a mayhem mortal like me, something disarray? And the thought of this crushed me into a millions of stars. My words turned into dust and the air I breathed out turned into a gas that formed vapor trails. My tears fell through the sky like comets and my heart drifted into thousands of light years away. A universe that turned into a riot and

unholy mess. The simple physics of collision. An elastic collision that when we collide, we both bounce --bounce away, out into our own separate and opposite ways. �The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out You left me in the dark No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight In the shadow of your heart And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat 21

Slow, love, slow I tried to find the sound But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness, So darkness I became.”

When it came for us to fall, I took a step closer to the edge and get ready. But you took a step back, unsure, confused. I wavered on whether or not to grasp you hand but then I jumped into the unknown. You were supposed to fall with me. We were supposed to fall together. You left me at the edge falling alone, falling for you alone, falling with something that wasn’t falling with me.

Some time after midnight, I feel this sudden ache and I lay there wondering if you’re aching for me too. I still see you around places, or things that remind me of you whenever you’re not. I still can write your name over and over again until it lost its meaning. But my pen will continue even after the paper shatters and even after I have given up. You and me but never us. A complicated series of almost interaction And I wonder in such instances where I can’ t help but to feel butterflies and lost at the same time. It’s beautiful and it’s tragic.

The madness was kept under my bed outlasting thousand of 22

sleepless nights. Blanket wrapped thoughts tucked safely underneath the metaphors.

But then, my breath still stopped short in my chest and beat again like it always has. I can still see the speed of light through the glass and eventually fade in my eyes.

The way my heart echoes between pulses and the way it drums in every throbs. My fingers seems to trace again the constellations with the raindrops on my window and I can’t help but to begin searching again in the sky for a sign.

It must be the way I guess.

To think of you and dream aloud when there are no more dreams left along the void of stardust. But I know, to be with you is to feel the universe align itself again. It is lovingly painful but strangely beautiful.“I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map And knew that somehow I could find my way back Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too So I stayed in the darkness with you.”

Aubrey Joy Songcog

Slow, love, slow

Amorous choice in the view of Ortega y Gasset

by Ana-Maria Dorofte Foto: Al Stewart, Flyover

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he inquiry of “Why is it that we love the people we love?” is one of great interest in the contemporary world. It is this question that essayist and philosopher José Ortega y Gasset tries to answer in his essay “La eleccion en el amor”.

For the “axis mundi” status love has, it seems insufficiently discussed. While it is a theme which pervades the majority of literary masterpieces, it has been scarcely taken up as a subject by philosophers. As such, Spanish philosopher’s Ortega y Gasset 23

Slow, love, slow

“Estudios sobre el amor” is an opportunity to consider the subject from a philosophical perspective, which I believe succeeds in providing clarity on a subject whose very nature is based on unintelligibility. In this article, I will attempt to illustrate and explain the chapter “La eleccion en el amor”, which refers to the choice of partner in the initial phase of falling in love, the enamoring.

The author brings forward the unusual idea that the type of people we fall in love with is a clear indication of our most intimate selves. Our choice of partners would then seem to possess the same revelatory function as dreams in psychoanalysis. For Freud, dreams are the manifestations of the subconscious censored by the ego, bearing significance about our most authentic self. In the same manner, whom one loves mirrors the structure of their soul, encompassing intimate beliefs and desires.

This assertion, furthers Ortega y Gasset, implies that there is reason in love, meaning that one

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loves knowing there is something lovable to the partner. However, this does not suggest that love is due to rational reasons. Such a suggestion entails the emergence of criteria which would take away one of the essential traits of love, making it incompatible with the very definition of the concept. A legitimate question might then occur: “Is it not contradictory to state the existence of something due to reasons, without correlating those reasons to rationality?

In other words, doesn’t motive naturally imply the appeal to the mind, consequently to the cold, rational part of the brain?

I will attempt to explain the subtle difference which preserves the correctness of this claim. I will first demonstrate the implications of tracing love to rational motivation.

A world where people can quantify the justification for the act of loving through something similar to mathematical operations could hardly be qualified as a human world. In such a reality, the result of adding up all the desirable traits and then taking away all defects would account for the reason of

Slow, love, slow

love. It is impossible to sustain that defects can also constitute reasons for loving, as it is in the indelible characteristics of reason to reject defects. Furthermore, for the sake of argument, claiming that reason has something to do with love would be debatable insofar as the extent to which one could clearly and lucidly judge another person.

Not only are we involved in a constant process of reevaluation of people, but our perspective of objective facts is often subjected to change.

Rather than this absurd view, the philosopher argues that the reasons for affection are not associated neither with positive, nor negative appreciations. There is something valuable to be loved for the enamored, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Subjectivity plays the major part, as love springs from deeper levels of the person, which go beyond consciousness. It is the subconscious which can encounter value even in shortcomings.

One of the questions which follow from loving due

to an intuitive adherence to a certain type of humanity regards time. Establishing whether that adherence is real represents a prolonged task. However, Ortega y Gasset sustains that this affinity can be accurately guessed in as little as a few minutes. It is the confirmation of this correct guess that will take a prolonged period of time.

Intuition is the channel through which one comes to the knowledge of soul correspondence.

As such, there are certain exterior signs which intuition translates into core attributes of the individual.

It is a person’s physical expression ( gestures, manner of walking, mimics) that is the representation of the soul in material form.

Certainly, the spiritual level is also articulated through the voice.

Therefore, it could be stated that the uniqueness of the soul is physically translated by the muscles into physical expression.

One more characteristic which springs from the intuitive nature of love is its elusiveness to attempts of explanation. As Ortega notices, we feel the others, but if we

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Slow, love, slow tried to pin down their spirit into language, it loses its power. This is not to say that it is impossible to accurately concretize features of a person through words, although it is a capacity that, as Ortega remarks, only few people possess.

To illustrate this, I will refer to personality traits. The overtone has to do with the generalizing aspect of verbalization. The advantage of words is that they can be indiscriminately applied to any manifestation which fits their definition. The disadvantage of this universal capacity is that it cannot accurately designate the particular. Although the same trait can be found in other people, it does not also convey the specificity of that as manifested in a person.

Thus, words lack precision in the dissociative aspect (the distinction of the exact same trait in different people) of characteristics.

As a philosopher who spares no effort in scrutinizing all possible weaknesses of his claims, Ortega y Gasset anticipates a possible objection to his theory. This objection stands on the empirical, common-sense observation that people may have partners of contrasting difference. If a person’s

amorous choice is conditioned by their personality, shouldn’t that also reflect in the repeated choice of the same kind of person?

How is it possible, then, for the same person to love opposed types of humanity? The author’s explanation stands on the belief that there are approximately three major changes in a person’s character, which are reflected accordingly in the pursuit of partners. These changes, however, do not mean total irrational modification of personality. They are rather predictable changes caused by each individual’s evolutionary pattern. These are the general rules which are related to the deepest behavioural structure.

As such, these shifts are generated by the most intimate part, but do not translate as modifications of it.

Also, this is possible only for those whose character is fertile, rather than stagnant, with a tendency towards evolution.

To summarize, the chapter “La eleccion en el amor” upholds that our beliefs, wishes and nature are reflected into our choice of partner, who is loved because they possess something of value, which is transparent at the physical level.

Ana-Maria Dorofte 26

Slow, love, slow

Do I love you or the thought of you?

by Andreea Bădeu

Foto: Andrei Apostol

L

eaning over the window, she could see taxi cabs manoeuvring like windup toys.

She edged up inches farther and too a big bite of the high, cold air, spiced by some distant noises.

That morning, while the street looked so peaceful, she was more inwardly stirred than ever, as if the blizzard from the night before was prolonging inside her soul.

If only he had been right there, by her side, so that she could rest her head on his shoulder and warm her freezing hands into his! She peered through the thick mist, vainly hoping she would catch a glimpse of his stout silhouette among the passers-by. Nonetheless, she knew that when they were together, his presence made her feel utterly uncomfortable. There was an

abyss of secrets and a mountain of vanity between them and she was bereft of the courage to build even a frail bridge, afraid that a single word, a look or a gesture would wreck it all in no time. And he… well, he seemed rather insensitive, desultory, egocentric, unfaithful and yet so fascinating.

All of a sudden, the wind began blowing furiously, almost uncovering the barren trees and taking the snow to the translucent sky. She wouldn’t close the window, even though her body had started shuddering. Her fingers had become bluish and she could hardly feel them, so she put them around her scalding neck.

What a bitter sensation! She soon realized that never had she wanted him more. Still, she was a foul 27

Slow, love, slow sinner, whose stained conscience dreadfully contrasted with the purity of the blinding snow. What was she supposed to do? It wasn’t too late for repentance, but was it any use?

She closed her eyes and for a moment she was back there, caressed by the soothing moon rays and by his velvety touch. Again, she could hear him whispering bewildering words, while pouring her another glass of wine. Yes, he had offered her a sweet taste of eternity which had converted into a sour taste of nothingness.

Awaken from her day dream, she expected to smell that elusive perfume of his, as it usually happened when she thought of him. Of course, it wouldn’t have been anything else, but a figment of her imagination. However, right then, she could only smell her hair scented with stifling smoke. She felt profound compassion- for him, for their love and for her foolish hopes. She wished she had been strong enough to dryly bid farewell to him. Frustrated, exhausted and overcome by appalling thoughts, she wondered what it would be like if she had merely given up…

The idea terrified her. It was impossible. Even though their affair was sprinkled both with love 28

and hatred, she was reluctant to let go of it. He belonged there, in her dreams. Should her illusions had ruined, there wouldn’t have been anything left to stand for. After all, we can’t live on air, can’t live on fear, so we live on dreams. Not only did she desired him, but she also needed him in order to survive.

It had started snowing again.

At first, quite mildly and then more and more heavily. Snowflakes lay neatly on her hair, her eyelashes and her nose. She knew she was doomed to carry the curse of this love forever. Dreams, illusions, misconceptions, lies and tears- they were all inane burdens that had found place inside her soul, inside of that ocean that kept sobbing helplessly.

Overwhelmed by the unfathomable feeling for that bizarre man and paralyzed by the freezing wind, she eventually closed the window. On the window frame, she left some words written with her finger in the snow- a question which soon got covered as if it had never been there. Actually, it was the sole question she had, one to which she hopelessly lingered for an answer: “Do I love you or the thought of you?”.

Andreea Badeu

Slow, love, slow

Dragobete – the Romanian god of love

by Cezara Miclea

Foto: Andrei Apostol

A

s love is a universal language, there are many chances that gods of love exist in each mythology. One of the most astonishing existences of such mythical creatures is the existence of Dragobete, the Romanian god of love, which is still celebrated in some places of Romania.

of love and joy. He is celebrated on the days of the late winter, when the birds start creating nests. It is also the day which is considered the first day of spring.

He is a young god of the inland Pantheon in the Romanian zones of Muntenia, Dobrogea, Oltenia and Transylvania.

Being celebrated either at the end of February, on 24th or 28th, or at the beginning of March, on the 1st, Dragobete is the son of another mythical creature of Romanian mythology, called Baba Dochia.. Its celebration is made with another saint preferred by the young people of Romanian villages, Saint Vlasie, who is celebrated on the 11st of February, and is the protector of forest birds and pregnant women.

Dragobete is also identified with another mythical creature of the inland Pantheon, a young man called the Impetuous. He is known for stealing young women’s hearts, which is why he was transformed into a flower with the same name

by Virgin Mary.

Dragobete is the son of Baba Dochia, and is considered the god

Bibliography: Ion Ghinoiu, “Obiceiuri românești”

Cezara Miclea 29

Slow, love, slow

In Love with the thought of Love

by Viola C. Malone

I

would love to be in love. The thought of being intimate and having a deeper connection with my best friend would be magical. I imagine the feeling of oneness and completion would be magic. To have my other half to do, well, just that, be my other half. I always feel warm and fuzzy inside when I see couples when I am out, especially if they are young, around my age or elderly couples. (Sorry for those who fall in-between, your love is still magical, but not my magical). It is some sort of hidden beauty to it to me. Young and fresh love that may or may not last “forever”, but it is love NOW. Aged and matured love that withstands tests time and time again, love that gives others hope, love that gives me hope.

Let me give a little background. I was an odd female 30

child. I went back and forth about someday wanting to be married and in love. Unlike other little girls, I did not have my wedding all planned out. Actually, the only thing that I did have set in stone was that I would not wear heels.

High-top black and white Chuck Taylors would do just fine in a beach setting. I told you I was odd. Then time would pass and I was back to not wanting a part in any of it at all.

No love, just basketball and beach trips and fun. Now that odd child has grown up into an awkward young woman who no longer toys with the idea of marriage – eh when it happens, if it happens, I will deal with it then- but would like to explore and experience young love. So what is holding me back?

Pause. Before I answer that, what exactly is love? By definition it is an intense and constant feeling

Slow, love, slow

Foto: Al Stewart, Cenote

of deep affection for another being. That is nice, but honestly who comes up with this stuff? I mean I do agree that that is a part of love, who is really to say? It seems as though from the time I was in high school up to now (post college), all of my peers think to have figured it out. I look at them and their relationships and cannot help but to wonder, why have I not figured it out yet? Which then leads us back to my initial question of what is holding me back from love? To answer both questions the answers lie within me. I am holding me back from love. I am fearful of the unknown of love, and more so I fear myself in love.

When I love, I love hard. Just because I love hard does not mean I love right, which causes me to worry about a short-lived love. I fear me in love. I think I love love

so much that I am some times okay with just the thought or site of it.

That is somehow satisfying for me. I am okay with not actually wanting to cradle it as though it is a fragile crystal vase. I do not want to break it. Love is all kinds of shit. Love is patient, kind, scary, beautiful, delicate, painful and time. To me it is all of that and more, more of a feeling that cannot be put into words. Love takes time. Love needs time, and in time I believe I will experience love. In time I will find love, so I can someday lace up my Chucks (in low-top style I have now decided) and walk down a sandy isle. Love is unexplainable and I want to experience that unexplainable feeling.

Viola C. Malone 31

Slow, love, slow

It advances slowly

Foto: Andrei Apostol

O

h Lord, such a curse, this love. Never knew where I or it were going, never knew where we were, but it always followed me, sticking sorely in my mind, like a memory both good and bad, like a taste both sweet and sour. Has it ever brought things good and pretty? Maybe, but it brought upon just as much of the opposite, of dread, suffering and pain.

Actually, love is a condition, a disease that advances slowly, that takes root into your brain and kills all logical thought in favor of some random person that you may or may not know and whom you’d want to share a bed with. Illogical, as it prompts you to do favors and gifts in moments you wouldn’t usually do, and without prompt, all just because of this feeling, this dysfunction of everything normal…

It brings happiness, when reciprocated, it brings sadness Foto: Andrei Apostol 32

by Mihnea Săvulescu when not. And misery, dread, sometimes death, when mocked and not appreciated in the slightest.

How does this compare, is it even worth it? When you’ve been there and back again… You realize that it’s the one of the few rays of light and hope, and in a world in which they are rarer and rarer, it can only be described as being worth it, despite all the suffering it might bring, it has the potential to bring up happiness thousand-fold.

You may run from it, as did I… Always running… But I’m not running anymore. In the dawn of a new era, love might be the last pure thing that remains in this world, as such, cherish it, and use this disease, this dysfunction of logic, slowly. Love slowly, as to not use it all at the same time, for it is rare, and you might not have it again.

Mihnea Savulescu

Slow, love, slow

Love Slow

by Viola C. Malone Foto: Andrei Apostol

A Love Poem inspired by life Released by “Slow, Love, Slow” by Nightwish

D

o I Love You or the Thought of You? I mean, damn, do I really even love You? I think (Love slow) I’ve fallen deeply in love with your Potential to be Much more than Who you are Who are you and What is love?

(Love slow) My definition is so clouded By the fog of lust I lust for trust and security And slow love Slow love In words and you Lust Lust and We are both feeding each other Through the lusty whispers and

Lips to ear rhymes Because Love is slow And we just do not share The same speed of time (Love slow) You’re accelerating on And I’m cruising and Trying to enjoy the time Time you are not spending Speeding through love (Love slow) As if life will soon End This is the end End Of our lust, I Just want Slow love (Love slow)

Viola C. Malone 33

Slow, love, slow

Live, laugh, love

by Koustav Shaw Foto: Andrei Apostol

H

onestly, I have no idea from where to begin.

Valentine’s Day is already around the corner and, as they say, love is in the air so I couldn’t resist writing something on love. It’s easier to figure out theories of relativity and applied calculus but not love.

Maybe that’s why it so intrinsic to us. Let me see if I can start by defining it or not.

To me, love is fun. Being in love is like being on a dream vacation to the place where you always wanted to be and all on someone else’s paycheck. However, sooner or later you have to return from that vacation.

That vacation is way too celestial to have at all times. To be completely 34

candid, love is the only word which has got a million definitions in over thousands of languages but still it cannot be defined or rationalized.

You got to feel it for yourself, buddy.

Being in love will render you speechless and will leave you with nothing but complete awe because there’s no greater feeling on Earth than being loved by the person you always wanted in your life. That intent smile which finds its way to your lips when you see her for the first time every day. Then the blushingly shy moment when she smile backs at you and you just can’t stop blushing and make yourself look like an idiot. On your way back, holding each other’s

Slow, love, slow hand, softly and protectively, and cracking funny jokes and compliments so that you can make her smile all the way. On a bright day, in the park, lying on your back with your head on her lap while she caress your hair and discuss how it would be after 25 years from then or even getting married. The soft tender kisses on her forehead in the evening while holding her in your arms gently. The stroke of her hair right across your face every time there’s wind. At the end of the day there is the soft pressing of your lips against her with your eyes closed and you hold her in your arms as gently as you can.

You let go of all your defenses so you can feel secure by unfolding your true self to her, while feeling like floating in the air and with no worries at all. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many such heavenly feelings for which even all the pages found on earth would not be enough.

When you love someone, then there’s no holding back of your feelings. Friendship is important but once you start developing feelings for that person then there’s no coming back because every little act you do or word you say would only express your feelings.

If you want to suppress it in the name of friendship, then it would be like hiding the most fragrant

roses underneath a bunch of tulips.

Always remember one thing, that no one can tell you if you are in love or not other than yourself so if you feel that someone special out there can change your life then go for it, no matter what. I know, the thought of her not reciprocating has just come into your mind as soon as you read the last sentence but just think for a moment: what if she does? I guess, you are smart enough to figure that out for yourself. On a serious note, try not to have any expectations of any kind at all. I know, expectation comes from within, but trust me, if she hasn’t understood your feelings or hasn’t developed any such feelings about you, then no matter how much you self-harm or exploit your physical and mental self, nothing’s going to change. We simply can’t force anyone to fall in love with us until and unless they got the same vibes.

Won’t spoil any more of that fun mood so here’s a tip, let go of the past and fall in love again because nothing freaks them out more than seeing you perfectly smiling with all your imperfections.

With love for you all, as always.

Koustav Shaw 35

Slow, love, slow

Love 9/16/13

by Shevaun Lemieux Foto: Andrei Apostol

I

t sounds common and strange at the same time. It is easier to define when it is not still felt. It has changed the way I see things – most especially the way I see you.

I was never curious about how it would feel like. I heard it was different, but I never cared about it. All I knew was you came – you came to inspire me to do better and be better. Since then, I never competed with anyone else but with myself. “This must be what love is all about”, I thought. Everyday, I long for a better “me”, and not for a “me” better than anyone else.

Everyday, I make sure that I get to flash my best smile in hope that you will notice me someday.

Magical, indeed, it is. I wonder if it is powerful enough to be able to create fiery attraction between two repugnant hearts. I hoped as I came to realize the first lesson I learned from love: believe in the impossible. Not desperately, though. I believe that someday, I 36

Slow, love, slow

will be able to get along with this power that drives love without exerting too much, or no force at all.

I always get this strange feeling whenever I read any all-time great piece of literature. Sometimes, I do not get the message of a poem. But, it just brings and end to the queer sensation as I take in this form of art. Weird, I know. It gives something off – like unique pleasure? Whatever it is, I still go and seek out the one ultimate truth about the credibility of what I feel.

There goes my favorite music playing. It has been a long time since the last time I heard Chopin’s Nocturne in E flat major.

I listened carefully, like I was trying to decode something out from it.

Are there powerful words behind this composition and every other symphonious piece of music that need to be discovered? I think I have to put things into perspective.

Good thing I have made friends with a writing instrument that

help me inscribe my thoughts with precision. And with a purpose, as I believe.

First step? Take a trip back in time to explore the realm of the mysterious “you”. I cannot just figure it out no matter how deep I go. Something pulls me back, is it gravity? Love is around, of course. It is actually the thing that pushes me to be this way. Well, I again hoped for something impossible. I did not stop and just continued on pushing the limits, as I cannot go beyond it.

It was successful, I think. I was able to see you playing around my own creative imagination. I was not still very sure, though. I was lost – so lost. However, I liked this feeling of being lost. I could just simply ask and get the directions, but I would not do that. I do not want to cruise away from this road of confusion, as I am afraid I might end up finding myself close to you yet distant from your heart.

Shevaun Lemieux 37

Slow, love, slow

Love is in the air

by Andra Albulescu Foto: Andrei Apostol

F

ebruary is considered to be the month of love. People celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th and on the 24th, in Romania, people celebrate “Dragobete” (very similar to V-day). Some of us may never admit it, but who doesn’t enjoy the sweet smells of love and romance gently floating in the cold air? How every flower shop is suddenly full of beautiful roses and how a thick fog of invisible dizziness takes over people’s minds?

Valentine’s Day is that day, when many dare to confess their feelings towards the one they love or admire. It is the perfect occasion to show that you care and who knows… maybe impress someone.

A tiny box of chocolate, a rose or a note can make someone’s day better, even if, at first, it is a bit hard to believe. Two don’t have to be in 38

love with each other to celebrate this day. Two good friends can go to see a movie, go shopping or maybe just going out for a drink.

Now talking about Dragobete… it is the perfect occasion for making up in case of screwing up on V-day or repeating 14th of February :) It is celebrated only in Romania and the legend says that in this special day, birds look for a partner and if couples see them building up nests, their relationships will be a happy, long lasting ones.

All in all, except from Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon, CO2, CO, WiFi and radio waves, in February… love is in the air!

Andra Albulescu

Slow, love, slow

The Truth about Love

by Tonya Ridener Foto: Andrei Apostol

T

hey say a person falls in love on seven different occasions during their lifetime, but I’m here to tell you it happens more often than that. People associate love with finding ‘the one’, getting married, and living out your happily ever after; but do not be fooled.

Love is most certainly the greatest gift ever given to humans (though I would happily argue that penguins and countless other animals possess the same ability), and I think some people don’t understand the complexity and simplicity of it. What is the first thing you think of when the word love comes to mind? Does it remind you of the really cute guy that sits in front of you in English class? Or maybe you immediately think of the pretty barista you’re too shy to ask out on a proper date. Maybe

you’re reminded of your grandma and her homemade cookies she prepares especially for you. Either way, no matter what comes to mind when you think about love, you aren’t wrong.

I can’t say that I’ve ever been in love with another person before, but I have loved a lot of people during my existence on this earth.

Family, friends, celebrities, and fictional characters; yep, I’ve loved them all, but love runs so much deeper than that! It is possible to fall in love with a song, or a movie, or a baby’s laugh. You can love a higher power, or someone who inspires you (even if they may never know you exist). As human beings, we are free to love-and are encouraged to do so.

How does that saying go?

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Slow, love, slow Live, Laugh, Love? Yes. That is the secret to happiness. I believe everyone deserves that one epic romance of sweating palms, an accelerated heart rate, and the inability to think of anything aside from the person causing such events; but I think you will be much better off, now, if you realize that love doesn’t always have to be romantic. It’s okay to love your favorite actor from that tv show;

it’s okay to love the guy who writes lyrics you’d swear he took straight out of your diary; and yes, it’s okay to love the teacher that never let you give up.

Love is what makes the world go round, my friends. It conquers all, remember? Maybe if more people would realize that it’s much stronger than hate, this world would be better off.

Tonya Ridener

Foto: Andrei Apostol

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Slow, love, slow

Finding your “someone(s)”

by Simona Mihalca

T

here is someone out there for everyone, they say.

What if that is not true? What if you never find your “someone”? What if there is more than one someone for everyone? I don’t mean to say that is not wrong, but in the same time I don’t mean to say that it is not right. We’re going to have a little talk about what that means to me, what that means to the world, and maybe, in the end, you will know what that means to you.

So far, you have made and lost countless friends. You still have some of them. You might or might not have a boyfriend.

Did you ever think about what would have happened if you had not met them? Maybe you would have met someone else, someone better or worse. But maybe you would have found nobody to fill that void, a void you would not know you had and would not crave to fill. Remember how you were before your first big love? Before

the first friend you loved more than yourself? It was, perhaps, an easier life, having no troubles and no dramas, no heartaches, but in the same time, you did not really feel you had a heart.

Every single decision you made so far and every decision others have made for you created who you are right now. I am not one for paranormal, but you can picture this as an infinity of alternate universes. If you just turn left instead of turning right, your whole world would be different. Maybe you would have met someone there, maybe you would have learned a lesson or maybe you would have remained the same when you could have changed. There are so many ways in which you could have turned by now. You bear the mark of every person you have been in contact with. You have learned something from most movies you have seen and most books you have read.

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Slow, love, slow Think hard about that. You could have been born in another time and another space, you could have gone to another school, you could have been one second late and missed the bus in which you were supposed to find someone.

So, after every decision, after every big stage in your life you are fundamentally a new person.

And here I say again, maybe there is more than one person for everybody. Maybe your 18 year old self has her one person, your 25 year old self has someone else and your 40 year old self has someone.

Look back and think about how you change day by day, week by week and year by year. Think of your most meaningful relationships and how they have changed, how they have evolved, and their way, how they shaped you into the complex human being you are today. So maybe, just maybe, in the course of some years, you become a whole different person. It can be that that is why, at some point you just stop loving one person, why someone else may stop loving you. Or simply you just find someone you fit better with, even if for the longest time you only had one person in your life. So, for every stage in your life you might have a person, someone waiting somewhere, someone just as oblivious as you are. It can happen to be the same person, it 42

can happen to be someone you will never meet. You cannot know now.

I do not want to be one telling you that there is no such thing as true love or soul mates. Everyone has to search for that. I can only say that I have come to the conclusion that there are more people for you.

You may wonder why. See, marriage is a beautiful thing. It’s where every relationship is supposed to head to.

But it simply is just a piece of paper.

It can be torn apart with such incredible ease. And after a breakup, after a divorce, after you split your heart in pieces and try your hardest to make it through, you will think that you will never love again.

You might think that that was it. But maybe it’s not. Maybe 5 years later you are bound to meet someone else and to love again.

Everyone talks about stages of love. You can never claim to love 2 people in the same way. Can you really say how much you love someone? Is it a 3.5 or maybe 8?

Did not think so. Of course, you can tell that someone is far more important in your life. But just like this, you will have more types of love. You will have a crazy wild passionate love, those summer loves that make you be a teenager and live on a little cloud, that make you bright and glow. But it’s just

Slow, love, slow those loves that will shatter your heart in a million pieces. You will spend nights crying and wonder why. You’ll try to get it back, but it won’t be back. And you know what is really interesting? That even if you think that it breaks your heart, it will not break you. Slowly, you will stop remembering that aching pain. You will have your memories and your stories, the good feelings.

You will have something that, in time, will become perfect to your mind.

Hence, the song (Slow,Love, Slow by Nightwish) says “Do I love you or the thought of you?”. If you spend so much time dreaming of impossible loves, pining over someone else, creating a version of it that suits your mind, can you really say that you love, that you love that someone? You might be passionate, you might dream, wish and have the best of intentions, but will that be enough?

And when it’s not enough, you will look for the other stage of love, the mature one, the one where you can depend on the other one. I call it the “white picket fence” love. It’s that moment when you are sure of what you have, when your feelings are maybe not as tumultuous, but so much deeper. When you know you have someone waiting for you and when you have blind trust.

When your partner will be there to help you through anything. When you know you will be put first and foremost. When you can give as much as you get.

So where do you go now? Is the person who drives you madly insane the one you can always see there as your support system, the one you can see yourself getting married to and having children with? Like Bryan Adams says “when you can see your unborn children in her eyes, you know you really loved a woman.”. And if that is the case, you are very lucky. You are inspiring to me and to everyone else. You should be the one talking about love right now, because you have it right. Because you managed to grow with your love, to mature with it, to see all its forms and still have the same intensity of feelings.

You wake up each morning and your first thought is her (or him) and late at night you still want her (or him). But if all of this doesn’t sound familiar, you should try to ask yourself what kind of love you want and once you know that, you will find your one for that. Because, as I said, there can be more than one person meant for you. (While absolutely not in the same time.

I am the bigger advocate of monogamy and you cheating will never be ok in my book) 43

Slow, love, slow By now maybe you can imagine that love is complex and indefinable. You can see sides of it.

You can see it in every love story, in every movie, song, book. But somehow, if you think about it, all those stereotype images of love don’t fit with the couples you know, the couples you see and admire.

When you see a movie, it has to be dramatic, to have plot twists, to have a climax (now, now, no dirty thoughts about that), a big hype and resolution. When you look around to the real relationships, you are indeed impressed by the way they proposed or that one big thing they did 5 years ago, 10 years ago. However, the little things are the ones that stand out. You see people who have been married for 20 years and still go on dates, still call each other “love”, still find the smallest way to show their feelings: a kiss, a hug, a kind word, a little present. I say it’s all about that.

Gathering the little moments. How you just make time for each other and always try to be nice, always think of the other, how when you see something beautiful, you just

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want to show it your partner, how you simply fit day after day after day. And that, my dears, is not something you see in movies.

But what makes someone “your significant other”? Sure, you meet, you date, you fall in love. But why? Sometimes it is so natural it seems like there is some “destiny” to it. But sometimes it takes work, and patience, it takes time to find anyone not the one. What to do then? You look and you look and no result. Nobody has been able to answer that questions. I won’t even begin to try. I am simply trying to make you think, you make you relate.

To conclude, hopefully I have left you with something. So now just go and be kind to someone, tell someone you love them (not necessarily romantically), think of who you are and think of who the people around you are. Fight for what is yours and try to be happy.

And most importantly, be someone who makes everybody feel like a somebody.

Simona Mihalca

Slow, love, slow

Ghost Love Score

by Julia N. Hamermesz

Foto: Andrei Apostol

L

ove – so common yet so rare. Poems, songs, movies, books: love stories are everywhere, real or not, making it hard for anyone to be unaware of them and not found of at least one.

From sonnets to nowadays music, from Jane Austen novels to Harry Potter, this element is explored widely or subtly insinuated in nearly everything around us. And yet here I sit, finding it very hard to

write a simple article about it.

It would be too much of a cliché to say that love can’t be put into words. Although love is primarily a feeling (and for that it should be felt rather than displayed, as many commonly do) it is not impossible to represent it, for art is nothing without the feeling – and I do consider writing a form of art. And still, when you stop to think about it, the range of 45

Slow, love, slow

representations of love is so ample it might be impossible to pick just a few of the best. And that is not only because of everyone’s tastes and experiences, but because of love itself being too complex.

There might be a thousand types of love or there might be just one that adjusts and adapts itself to different things (that is not up for me to say) but one cannot deny that love may be the single hardest of feelings. We struggle to know whether we feel it, we struggle to say it, we struggle to show it but most of all we long to feel it and struggle to understand it. And why do we have such a hard time trying to understand it if not because of all its sides? And because of all these sides, maybe, I found it hard to pick something to talk about; until I realized that love itself was a theme.

After all, it really is everywhere.

All along I tried to see it as stories, to just now, as I write these words, realize that I don’t need a story: love is a feeling. It can be applied to all sorts of situations, it can be directed at anyone or anything, but you can never quite define its boundaries. That is, probably, why we all want it. Love is free, love isn’t picky, and love doesn’t care.

Love is in the air, every day, every time – not necessarily romantically.

So wide, so ample, such a ride – I close this small text choosing not to overthink in hope you don’t either. Love is love, and that’s how we should enjoy it, one way or another. Title dedicated to one of my favorite songs on the matter, and also the one to help me with this text. Happy (late) Valentine’s Day to you all.

Julia N. Hamermesz

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projects

Psych(o) Projects

Anca Buzilan

Ink on paper

I

have been drawing for as long as I can remember. As child I was drawing all the time and everywhere, a full time job!

In primary school I attended the courses of the Art-school from my hometown, Focșani. After that I chose a different path, going for a sciences oriented high school, with a mathematics-physics profile to be more precise. Even so, I didn’t give up drawings even though I was doing it less often. It was always a pleasure, giving me a feeling of comfort and security, like a mother’s hug. For college I decided to combine what I studied in high-school with what I learned in elementary school and my passion for drawing, so I attended the Faculty of Architecture within University of Urbanism and Architecture “Ion Mincu”, Bucharest.

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After finishing college, me and my husband started the Buzilan Digital Visualization Studio project, whose main activity is architectural presentations (and like this I’ve become a CGI artist) but still practicing architecture and interior design. Currently I’m involved in this project but also I’m drawing as much as I can. I have rediscovered the pleasure of drawing as the most comfortable and confident way to express myself, a critical need, I believe, to everybody.

Even thought my all time favorite techniques were graphite and oil painting (the latter, unfortunately, being a complex process that requires time and dedication, I didn’t use very often), last year, when I discovered Aubrey Beardsley’s art, I got a real

Projects

The blind cat is not blind

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Psych(o) Projects

Cats eating mice eating candy

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Projects appetite for black and white ink drawing. Since then the ideas have been flowing and my desire for improvement ever-growing, even though time does not allow me to draw as much as I’d like. Being a fan of the art that has a foundation, substance, an idea behind it, that conveys something, and less of decorative art, my creations are very personal and full of symbols, with themes spanning from innermost feelings to social phenomena.

My first ink drawing is “The blind cat is not blind”. It all started like a very pleasant ludic experiment, continued with a curiosity for what might come out and ended with a big surprise and me being thrilled with the result. Although I’ve always been a dog-person, it’s been four years since I have a cat and this animal managed to seduce me to the point she became a character in my drawings.

Another common theme in my drawings (I would say that is present in all my drawings

although it’s not obvious at first glance and requires a bit of analysis) is death. Death that terrifies and fascinates at the same time, death regarded as a natural process but also as a tormenting, anguishing thought, death about which you want to know more but, at the same time, you want to forget about it’s inexorable existence. I do not portray death itself, the moment of death, but perhaps it’s preceding period, the feeling that announces it, or as a metaphor for transformation, evolution, development, transition, initiation etc. In the “Sylvia” series, for example, although the first thing that hits you is the death of the child or that of the hopscotch, death symbolizes the separation from childhood, human growth, the passage through terrestrial time, not an end.

The important thing for me is to touch people’s soft spot, to make them flinch, to make them think and ask questions. If I manage that, I’m 90% pleased!

Anca Buzilan 51

Psych(o) Projects

Sylvia 1

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Projects

Sylvia 2

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Psych(o) Projects

Fishăreală

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Projects

Winter has come

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social watch

Social watch

Mission: Erasmus

Part II/II

by Irina Maria Iliescu Foto: Al Stewart, Segesta

T

he first thing I found interesting when I got to Milan was the mix of people from all over the world. The subway is the perfect place to see this. My way to university is very long and mostly by metro, so I have enough time to discretely look at all the people sitting next to each other. There are many Asians, I am never sure from what country, Russians, Indians, Arabs, Africans, and many for which I can’t clearly locate the origin. Most of them sit quietly or just play on their phones. If anyone would have a magical device that would make everybody’s thoughts heard, I think we could truly understand the Babel phenomenon. But although we are all in such close proximity of each other, we are isolated in our own little bubble, not really caring

about the people that surround us.

Somehow, I get the same feeling when I’m at the university.

The university is also full of students from all over the world.

It’s strange that most of them don’t really speak English very well, nor Italian. Communicating is always difficult (I mean more than usual).

It sometimes gets so frustrating to try to express my opinion about something, or to explain what I am working on, that in the end I give up, and just mind my own business in silence until my job is done. I made a few friends, mostly Erasmus, but I can’t say that people are generally very friendly. They are polite, but not really friendly.

Fortunately I am not completely alone here, since I came here with 57

Letter from Social watchthe editor

a colleague, also Romanian and we share the room, the food expenses and opinions about all this Erasmus experience. Otherwise I would feel very isolated. I heard that is pretty common among other Erasmus students, or foreign students generally. But in the end I am not here only to make friends, I am here to study, and to observe as many things as I can.

We made two great trips. One of them was to see Florence. Well, actually, my roommate wanted to go to an important anime/comics festival that was taking place in Lucca, a small medieval town near Florence. The problem was that we made the decision to go there a day before the festival, and the prices of the train tickets were astronomical.

So what to do? We tried a car sharing site, for the first time ever.

My parents would consider this very imprudent but we had to get to Florence/Lucca. And so we contacted a driver on the site who looked the least suspicious and the next day we started our trip. As it turned out, this guy was 20 years old and he was going with his

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friends to the festival in Lucca. Their passion was history reenactment and they had a beautiful collection of costumes and fake swords. The road there was fun – they played good music, they told us stories about different parts of Italy and they were overall very entertaining.

Lucca was beautiful but I’ve never seen so many people in one place in my life. Actually I’ve never seen a comic/anime convention in my life either and the combination was interesting. Thousands of people wondering around the small fortress of Lucca, most of which were dressed in the most peculiar characters that fiction has created. It is a thing to see at least once in a lifetime.

And then there was Florence.

It’s marvelous. You find something to admire on every corner, you feel overwhelmed by what this civilization was capable of. Sadly, we only had time to see the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Pitti and to roam around the streets until our feet gave up. During the day Florence belongs to tourists –

Social watch

the narrow vias are overcrowded with travelers and street vendors who move so excruciatingly slow (especially when you have to hurry from one museum to another). But at nightfall, when all the tourists are already back at their hotels, the real residents of Florence show face – they go out in small, precious bars to drink wine and share the happenings of the day, talking and laughing loudly. And because the streets are tourist free, it’s the perfect occasion to just take your time and really enjoy the beauties of this city in your own pace. ­­ Back to life in Milano, I must say that the difference between it and other famous cities in Italy is that it’s not a city dedicated solely to tourists. Therefore its inhabitants are not the ones who must provide entertainment for the tourists that visit, instead the city itself has to take care of the needs of its citizens – that’s why there are so many important artistic events all the time. I have seen more interesting exhibitions here in 4 months than I’ve seen in Bucharest in 4 years.

Just to sum up – Andy Warhol,

Jackson Pollock, Kandinsky, Rodin, very dense group exhibitions that gather contemporary artists from around the world like Anish Kapour and Marina Abramovic. Something always happens in Milan. For example, once every three years the Milano Triennale takes place – an art event that concentrates art, architecture, design and theatre, and I was lucky enough to take part.

Must also mention the wonderful experience that was seeing a show at the Scala Opera.

I have not yet finished the semester and I still have many things to see, but I can honestly say that Erasmus here is an amazing experience, despite the all the discomfort caused by the depressingly high prices of everything. I had a horrid time planning my money, I still do, but you get used to it towards the end.

I can’t stop not to think about the efforts my family made so that I could study here for a semester, but hopefully they won’t be disappointed of what I’ll show and tell them when I get back.

Irina Iliescu 59

Letter from Social watchthe editor

Best safety lies in fear

Racism, media: an everlasting love story

by Michela Sereni Foto: Andrei Apostol

B

eyoncè’s last album, shockingly titled “Beyoncè”, has dropped truth bombs on various subjects (and probably also caused pantiesdropping, as well. Because, let’s face it: you can’t physically avoid dancing like the inner stripped that’s in you, when Honey B is on. It’s okay. It’s a trait the whole humanity shares. It’s her power.

Let it go, Elsa style). Its success reminded the public that hey!

There aren’t only white people and Rihanna! One tends to forget that, since white washing is so big, these days (when they actually bother to hire non-Caucasian actors/singers/ etc instead of pretending Johnny Depp’s a Native American).

There are various types of people who are under represented in the media (I guess that’s so we forget they exist? Diversity?! Not here for that! Shit’s crazy scary! I’m sooo uncomfortable right now!

Give me a middle aged white 60

man so I can rest my head from all these genders and skin tones.

Back in my days, we didn’t have this chaos), and the tendency to forget about, say, Latina@ humans, when planning a cartoon or a TV show, is damn high. Media take a big risk when they decide to portray reality, for it’s beautifully various and everchanging. Being visible on magazine covers, in high fashion runaway shows, and so on, is crucial, especially when the audience has a portion of kids.

Representation is important: it helps us create our identity within the outside world, and is gives us hints on what we can do, who we can be. “The media helps to shape who and what we see as important, as well as outlining the range of visible options for what is collectively seen as possible.

Who can be a politician? Who can be celebrated? Who is part of the community and who is Other, the outsider? Who is seen

Social watch to live happy, healthy lives, and whose lives are invisible? If you see yourself, or someone like you, portrayed positively in the media, it can offer a sense of belonging and opportunity, but the opposite is also true[…]The media is one of our tools for interpreting our reality, but when our reality is absent from the media, we may feel like our role has been written out” (Seeing Is Believing). It might sound repetitive and very guilty-dropping, picturing the media as evil doers and mindmanipulative forces, but the effect they have on us and our education is so big, it can’t go unnoticed.

“Himani Bannerji notes that the media provide us with images of prescription and description. They tell us how society sees us and at the same time, tell us how to behave in society. They promote a notion of consensus - that there is a core group of which we are a part, a core that defines the social order, and that it is in our interest to maintain” (Racism And The Media).

“But I see black people on the news!”. Yes. You do. But in which terms? Do we ever get specials on “How A Young Man who also happened to be black Saved A Girlscout From Choking To Death On Her CandyCane”?

Isn’t it more likely that we’ll get a fast and detailed report on how yet another member of a black

community became a thief? “The media is bias in being selective on reporting issues and how they tend to amplify certain issues or distort events because of various factors such as political reasons or for monetary benefit. There is also a higher tendency for headlines stories with racial dimensions as it usually creates much more commotion within the community demanding justice” (Media&Racism).

“Quite often, the filters used by the mainstream media dwell on people of colour and aboriginal people as victimized but favoured minorities.

They are represented as receiving undue, and unfair advantages. The government, within this filter, is seen as privileging these groups above the “common” person.

“They” are seen as people who sponge off the tax system creating an unfair burden on the rest of the population. “They” are the unassimable immigrants for whom the government has instituted special measures of protection so that they can carry on their cultural traditions and ‘regressive’ way” (StopRacism).

Even big companies such as Disney, who’s the go-to brand for kids everywhere, generally dragging their unwilling parents (and their “I’m gonna spend half of my paycheck in there” look of their faces) to the store, has made various 61

Letter from Social watchthe editor errors when it comes to ‘races’ (hint: biologically, today, races don’t even exist). Disney has been doing its best, or so I like to suppose, in the past few years. Yet, we got a ridiculously low percentage of non-white princesses, and “The Lone Ranger” faced a rather strong opposition, the key point of the sabotage being the usage of a white person to play a Native American.

Now, everybody loves Johnny Depp; it’s been agreed world-wide that he’s The Guy whom everyone wants in their bed, no matter which sexuality one identifies with. Still, there are areas you shouldn’t walk in (and “no” as in “no”, not as in “no, Harry, that scaryass forest is not a place you should go to! But, I’m sending you and your friends there all the same, because that’s how Dumbledore rolls”). “To his credit, Depp, does identify as having Cherokee heritage. He also went out of his way to consult American Indian leaders about the movie’s script and the development of Tonto’s character. He even went so far as to be ceremoniously adopted into the Comanche Nation, and received a traditional Navajo blessing. Depp appeared to be very intentional about the entire process, and it’s clear that he took into account the cultural implications of his role[…]And for all of his intentions about reshaping 62

the image of Native Americans in film, he must realize that he does not have the cultural authority to single-handedly solve this problem for Native Americans[…]

However and ultimately, as the people being represented (or misrepresented), their voices will serve as the ultimate authority on Tonto’s character” (PolicyMic).

Surely, the company has tried (see: Lilo from “Lilo&Stitch”), but the evidence of past movies can’t be denied, and Meryl Streep takes no shit. “In “Fantasia”, In the beginning, the centaurs all get matched up (heterosexually, of course) based on their color. What people don’t realize is that, originally, the scene included a pickaninny slave to the centaur females and exotic, brown-skinned zebra-girl servants” and that, somehow, we can tollerate, since it has been done back in 1940. Even more recent ones, however, have problematic undertones. “In 1992’s “Aladdin”, Aladdin’s skin color gets fairer when he wins the heart of Jasmine, defeats the evil Jafar, and let’s Genie go in the happily-ever-afterstyle conclusion” (6 Disney Films That Are Undeniably Racist).

But hey, at least we don’t get

black/yellow face any more, I guess.

Michela Sereni

Social watch

Foto: Andrei Apostol

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projects

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Mark Nixon :

Much Loved Press Information A whimsical, bittersweet collection of photos of well-worn, but well-loved stuffed animals by one of Ireland’s top portrait photographers

ISBN: 978-1-4197-1012-4 Price: £10.99 Pub Month: November Much Loved-Cover

A

ward-winning Dublinbased portrait photographer Mark Nixon has created a wonderful, whimsical and nostalgic collection of images of individual stuffed animals that have been lovingly abused from years of play. One of the bears was contributed by Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, a bear of a late friend of theirs. Another teddy belongs to the infamous Mr Bean

(Rowan Atkinson) utilized in his TV show. “The well-worn toys show battle scars of being the prized possessions of children and cherished companions that have seen many a repair as different parts start wearing down,” says Nixon.

An exhibit in the photographer’s professional studio led to a small sensation on the Internet when a few of the images circulated unofficially on scores of blogs and 65

Psych(o) Projects on many legitimate news sites.

Viewers have been intrigued by these funny, bittersweet images and their ironic juxtaposition of childhood innocence and aged, loving wear & tear. When you see these teddy bears and bunnies with missing noses and un-done stuffing, you can’t help but think back to childhood and it earliest companions who asked for nothing and gave a lot back. MuchLoved includes sixty full-colour portraits along with an accompanying background story for each animal.

Mark Nixon is a two-time winner of Overseas Photographer of the Year (British Photographic Awards) and winner of Irish Photographer of the Year (Irish Professional Photographers Association). He is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Visit Mark Nixon online: http://marknixon. com/ For interviews, features, extracts and reviews please contact: Tina Mories, Senior Publicity and Marketing Executive, Abrams & Chronicle Books Email: tmories@abramsandchronicle. co.uk direct: 020 7713 2074 Find us on Twitter & Facebook:@AbramsChroniclehttp://www.facebook. com/abramschroniclebooks

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Gerry Ryan

Rowan Atkinson

Projects

Bono

Greg’s Bear (age unknown). Height 4”. Belongs to Bono & Ali Hewson.

This little bear is a memory of one of the most incredible men in my life. Greg Carroll became a great friend of myself and Bono in the early 80s.

He died at the age of 26 in a motor accident in Dublin in 1986, and he left a giant hole in our lives. Greg was a Maori, and at his tangi a mate of his handed us this one eared teddy bear. It was Greg’s, and it has been with us ever since... a fragment of Greg’s reality gone but never forgotten U2’s “One Tree Hill” was written for Greg and all the great men and women whose river reaches the sea too quickly. Greg’s teddy smiles when his good ear hears it played.

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Psych(o) Projects

Maeve O’Connor - Peter

Peter (mid 50s) belongs to: Maeve O’ Connor.

Maeve brought Peter in to see the MuchLoved exhibition.

Maeves only attempt at knitting was to make Peters playsuit, it is full of imperfections as you can see but that only makes it more unique. Up until the exhibition, Peter was languishing in the spare room. Since coming in for his photo shoot, he is now a celebrity in the house and has pride of place in Maeves bedroom.

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Projects

Calum Nixon - Peter Rabbit

Peter Rabbit age: 10. Height: 16 “. Belongs to: Calum Nixon Peter Rabbit was the inspiration for this project. Calum’s ninetynine-year-old greatgrandmother Eva bought Peter for Calum. When he was born and he has slept with him every night ever since. Of the scores of teddies and soft toys now residing in black sacks in the attic, Great. Granny knew what she was doing; Peter stuck.

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Psych(o) Projects

Maeve Whelan - Open Ear

Ear Open (32). Belongs to: Maeve Whelan Ear Open was given to me in 1981 by my grandparents for my first Christmas, just before we moved to live in Luxembourg (which in the 80s, felt like the other side of the world). When I was 2 years old, I named him Ear Open. I used to carry him around by his ears (which have holes in them) . He has seen me through every stage of my life and is a very understanding, resilient creature. He started losing his fur roughly 10 years ago.

I brought him to the Teddy Bear Hospital to see about getting him some new fur, but I was told his teddy leprosy was incurable and he would need a total new fur which could never match his original one. I decided against him having this procedure, so now his once bright, glorious yellow fur is hanging off, but I love him all the more for it.

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Projects

Nicky Griffin - Teddy Tingley

Teddy Tingley (45) Height 5.5”. Belongs to: Nicky Griffin. Teddy Tingley belonged to my oldest brother who gave him to me the day I was born.

I remember when I was 3 years old, we were heading off on holiday by train. I had just settled down in the carriage with my brothers for the journey and as the train started moving I glanced out of the window to see to my horror, teddy sitting on my bundle of comics on the station platform. Thanks to my mum roaring like a mad woman out the window “the teddy!, the teddy!, I just want the teddy!”, some kind person ran with teddy as the train picked up speed, reaching up to the window just in time for Mum to grab him. This mad woman then had to sit down and face the other passengers for the rest of the journey. . To hell with them and the comics, teddy was what mattered.

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Psych(o) Projects

Mark Nixon - Panda

Panda (50) Height 16”. Belongs to Mark Nixon I think I only ever called him Panda. I remember clearly snuggling up with him in bed as a child, which is probably why watching my son, Calum, with his teddy spurred me on to starting this project.. As my interests focused elsewhere (girls & music mostly) Panda spent many years on top of the wardrobe in the spare room of my mother’s house, from there to a cardboard box in her attic and finally the box with the ultimatum, take it with you or it’s going in the bin. So he joined the scores of other soft toys belonging to my children, ending up in a trunk in the spare room.

I have just taken him out of the trunk to photograph him for this, he smells a bit musty but I have decided to keep him beside my computer in my studio while I work.

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Projects

Mairead Harrington - Big Ted

Big Ted (43). Belongs to: Mairead Harrington Named Big Ted used to belong to Mairead’s brother David, he was named Big Ted because he was bigger than Mairead at the time.

David held a race in the back garden between Mairead and her sister Elizabeth to see who would win him for a week. Mairead won, and never gave him back! He travels to Donegal with her on a cushion sitting on the handbrake of the car.

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Psych(o) Projects Pink Teddy (24).

Belongs to: Aisling Hurley My teddy has had quite an interesting life so far. Pink Teddy was born when I was six months old, on Christmas Day 1988.

He was bright pink back then with a red waistcoat and we were instantly inseparable.

We have only been apart for a few nights since because as much as I would love to bring him everywhere with me I would just be too terrified to bring him to a music festival!

He lost his waistcoat and mouth during my childhood and then a friend of mine gave him a glitter glue necklace Aisling Hurley-Pink Teddy

which has lasted for a good ten years now. He accompanied me to the Gaeltacht during my school days and he became known as Teddy Bn Dearg. He also came to college with me and we spent many years living the student life in Maynooth.

My great aunt Rosaleen managed to fix up Pink Ted and she even gave him some more stuffing because he had been getting rather skinny looking. That was nearly four years ago and he is still looking good although now his left arm is sort of hanging on by a few threads! He has been practically everywhere with me and he even loves archaeology and heritage as much as I do.

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Psych(o)

going for gold 75

Going for Gold

The 2014 Gymnastics Season is ON!

by Carmen Manda Foto: Andrei Apostol

T

he 2014 Gymnastics season has already started. Actually, it started last year with the first leg of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and will resume in late February with the first Aerobic World Cup event. If you are not a hardcore gymnastics fan, you probably only know that there are different kinds of gymnastics (but not always know how to tell the difference) and you’ve probably followed on TV, at some point in time, one of the two most watched events of the season: the Artistic European Championship (in April/May) or the Artistic World Championship (in October). What happens in between – World Cup events, friendly meets, other continental competitions etc. – is unknown to the vast majority, with the exception of an article here and 76

there, when a gymnast from your country wins a medal… Let’s see what we can actually expect from a gymnastics season in three of its six branches: Artistic, Rhythmic and Aerobic (Acrobatic, Tumbling and Trampoline will not be covered here).

Artistic Gymnastics, the oldest and most famous of them all, was made famous by its gymnasts´ ability to show strength, grace and control while performing very difficult skills on four apparatus for women (vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise) and six for men (floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar). This is one of the most popular and hardest sports in the world, with gymnasts training up to eight hours a day from an

Going for Gold

early age. The Artistic season revolves around the two major competitions already mentioned and officially starts with the World Cup events. In the first two competitions of this season, Larisa Iordache of Romania and Elisabeth Price of the USA battled it out for the gold medal, each prevailing once. The World Cup resumes in March with the first important competition of 2014, the American Cup (a competition first won by the legendary Nadia Comăneci, back in 1976) and wraps up in Tokyo in April. All European gymnasts will look to peak at the May Europeans so all the competitions in between will serve the purpose of preparing for this. The annual European Championship is held in the April/May timeframe but its format changes every year. This

year, the gymnasts will compete in a team event, while next year’s championship is dedicated exclusively to individual events (All-around and event finals).

The most important event of this Artistic season is the World Championship held in Nanning, China in early October. As with the Europeans, the team competition is also not happening with every championship, but 2014 will give us the chance to watch the best teams in the world compete for the gold medal, the most coveted award of the season. The “big four” and the best nations in the world of gymnastics – China, Romania, Russia and the USA – are those teams you always have to look out for, but Italy or Great Britain are as also strong teams. Some of the 77

Going for Gold gymnasts to watch throughout the season are the current World Champion Simone Biles or Kyla Ross of the USA, Larisa Iordache or Andreea Munteanu of Romania, Anastasia Grishina or Maria Kharenkova of Russia, to name just a few. But if there is one thing we know about this sport is that it is not predictable. Injury is a gymnast’s worst enemy in a sport that sees gymnasts deal with pain from a very early age. Elite gymnastics is not for everyone…

Follow the 2014 Women’s Artistic Gymnastics European Championship starting May, 16 and the Men’s Championship one week later. The Nanning World Championship starts October, 7.

Although significantly different from Artistic, Rhythmic Gymnastics (here gymnasts perform their routines accompanied by ribbons, clubs, hoops or balls) follows the same structure, with the European Championship held early in the year and Worlds coming at the end of summer-early autumn.

This extremely elegant sport, which requires amazing flexibility, is mainly for women (although some countries, like Japan, have also seen men competing) and has been dominated by Eastern European countries like Russia, Ukraine or Bulgaria. Italy and Spain 78

have recently managed to break in, especially in the group events, where both are World Champions.

Both Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics are Olympic sports, the latter being the first discipline to sell out at the London Games.

Gymnastics then became the most watched sport at these Olympics.

Russia’s Yana Kudryavtseva is the current All-around World Champion – the youngest ever – having won three gold medals at Euros and three at Worlds, an impressive achievement in her first senior year. With Russia sweeping the European gold medals and winning six out of the nine gold medals at Worlds, just making the Russian team is a true battle.

Ukraine’s Ganna Rizatdinova was the only non-Russian gymnast to win an individual gold medal at either of these two events, when she became the 2013 Hoop World Champion. Margarita Mamun and Daria Svatkovskaya, both Russian, complete the list of gold medalists.

It does not come as a surprise, then, that the most celebrated and successful Rhythmic gymnast ever is also a Russian. Evgenia Kanaeva holds one of the most impressive gold medal records you’ve ever seen (just try scrolling down her Wikipedia medal record!!). She’s won back to back gold medals at 2 Olympics, 17 World and 13

Going for Gold European titles.

Follow the 2014 Baku European Championship starting June, 9 and the Izmir World Championship from the 21st of September.

Aerobic Gymnastics has grown fast in the 19 years since it was officially recognized by the International Federation. It is a really dynamic sport which allows both men and women to compete together in events such as Mixed Pairs, Trio or Group. It combines difficult skills with high intensity movements, while choreography and music are also an important part of each routine. Together with Tumbling and Acrobatic Gymnastics, they are not yet part of the Olympic family and are only present at the World Games, the “Olympics of the non-Olympic sports”, also held every four years.

Romania, Russia, China or Spain are countries usually in contention for gold medals at the two major competitions, the European Championship and the World Championship, each held every two years. 2014 will take us to Mexico for the World Championship, where Romania will try to defend its team title (they also hold the European title, won in France in November of last year).

Sara Moreno of Spain will also look to defend her individual title under fierce competition from the European gymnasts. Spain is usually a serious contender in both individual and Mixed Pairs events.

They swept the gold medals at the 2012 World Championships in these events, with Sara also winning last year´s Europeans.

China is the one to watch in the trio and group events with Romania, France and Russia challenging its dominance. With all finals usually held in the same day, an Aerobic fan will get to follow back to back top level routines with gymnasts constantly preparing for their next performance, sometimes in a question of minutes. There´s not much time for them to take in everything that is happening until the end of the competition…

The road to Worlds takes us through the different stages of the annual World Cup, starting in late February and ending in May, a perfect opportunity for gymnasts to test new routines and make the necessary adjustments that will help them be successful at the most important event of the year.

Follow the 2014 Cancún World Championship starting June, 24.

Carmen Manda 79

projects

Projects

Ruxandra Albulescu

F

ashion designs are usually a means to an end. Their goal is not the art itself, but rather what can be achieved with a powerful, yet often very simple sketch at its roots. Fashion

illustrations are different in that the art becomes suddenly all the more important, with less thought given to where the art may lead.

I like to think of the project 窶連 81

Psych(o) Projects

Line or Two’ as treading the border between these two concepts.

While more illustrative in style, yet of a similar nature, my drawings started out as simple designs that grew into artworks as they stopped being part of a process and became more firmly established in my mind as their own thing.

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My attention shifted from the idea that my designs had to become something else and I decided, simply, to draw and to take the illustrations as far as they could go.

I sought to create a tangle of lines, patterns and textures in which one could find similarities to

Projects

various traits of human nature such as complexity, romance, elegance, grace, gentility and balance. There is a symmetrical approach to some of the drawings, whereas others focus instead on an appropriate asymmetry, but they all represent my fondness for details.

And it is in the details

that the heart of this project lies, in the small dots and lines that lead up to every pattern and in the combination and flow of its smallest elements.

But for me it is mostly a creative outlet and something that encompasses my love of drawing.

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Interview

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Interview

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