Nicoleta, apart from presenting your work on toonpool.com you also host your own website, a blog and post on Twitter regularly. How important is the internet for a young illustrator?
In her book Digital and Video Art Florence de Meredieu says something very interesting about the consequences of the mixture of new technologies and art: Being present in many places in the same time is the huge advantage of the New Communicational Era. BUT, like in plastic surgery, any miracle of the scientific progress has it’s downsizes. […] Being everywhere, in huge communities and vast image libraries sometimes means a very, very short lifetime for a drawing.
That’s why I believe it’s very important not only to be present on the internet, but to be very active. My interest in Public Relations, self promoting and image is also reflected in the fact that right now I am studying for a PhD Degree in Communication Studies.
What do you mean by “being very active”?
For me, in web terms, “being very active” is the code name for “regular updates”. Sometimes once a week. The problem with updating your work with incredible speed is that you are tempted to just post your work to see everyone’s reaction.
This includes artwork that, when you are harder on yourself and try to gather works for an exhibition, you might consider unsuitable . That’s a paradox because the public of the exhibition is a smaller number of people compared to the number that can see it on the internet.
Would you say that artists necessarily need PR in times of the internet?
Considering that PR was invented in times of no-internet and was considered necessary back then I guess now it’s the same thing – but with better channels for the message. Not only the artists benefit from the meeting between PR and the Internet. I just close my eyes and I can picture Ivy Lee [the father of modern PR] with a MacBook on this desk!
You are currently working on an exhibition scheduled for early March. Can you tell a little more about that?
It all began with my collection of representation of beauty icons from Hollywood here on toonpool. Now the time has come to gather them all in an exhibition.
The timing is perfect because in Romania at the beginning of March we celebrate women on a traditional holiday called “Mărţişor” and on the 8th of March – International Women’s Day.
So, my idea was to celebrate femininity with an event called “The Cinema Diva”. This will take place in a pub called The Fourteenbar, somewhere in the center of Bucharest. The exhibition will be followed by the “Golden Age Glamour Diva Night Party”.
Is there any special quality you try to capture in your portraits of female celebrities?
Yes. I wanted to keep the essence of beauty by avoiding unnecessary details and using flat colors, very few discreet shadows. I also super-sized the most sensual features: the lips and the eyes. The nose is almost invisible and the neck is elongated.
I wanted to push the lack of details to the point that some faces are white, no flesh tones only a touch of red. Sometimes, my intention is not to perfectly reflect the portrait of a certain celebrity but to make an allusion to her features and beauty.
You’ve been doing the “Letter from X” questionnaires for a while now. How would you sum up your experience doing these interviews?
I love the interviews! Talking with the artists, sharing their personal stories, slices of their life is something unique. A side that can’t be seen in traditional interviews. Each time I am very anxious to see the pictures artists send me and to read the answers. Maybe curiosity killed the cat, but a cat has nine lives!
Toonpool is the artist community with the strongest friendships between its members that I have seen on the internet. So this journey around the world spiced with jokes, funny stories and great photos is like a big family album.
Do you have any favorites among the interviews?
My favorite is always the one I am currently working on.
Thanks for your time!
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