An Interview With Alex Kujawa

[Liz]

Today is a very special blog with an interview with Alex one of our fantastic artists! I love this lady so I am super excited for you to find out more about her:

Name: Alex Kujawa

Website: AlexKujawa.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlexKujawa

Tell us a bit about your art:

Several years ago, my then-boyfriend (now my husband) took me up to his family cottage, an old farm house near a lake in deep rural country.  No electricity, no plumbing, very rustic.

On our first night there, he told me many ghost stories that had happened to his family members while they stayed in the house, some of which took place in that very bedroom.  Then, to my horror, he said goodnight and immediately fell asleep.  Unable to sleep, my mind focused on the many sounds of nature coming from outside.  Amid these noises, I thought I heard a female voice, sighing.

Later, in the middle of the night, my love woke up to use the outhouse, which was outside and across the property from the house.  Not wanting to be alone in the house, I insisted on following him closely.  As done his business, I waited outside, swinging my flashlight around the dark.  It was a pretty night.  The moon was bright in the sky, and there were more stars than I had ever seen before.  Then beam from my flashlight crossed over a particular tree, and what I saw made me scream in terror.

Inside the outhouse, my love called out to me, asking what was wrong as he gathered himself up and prepared to protect me.  I took a better look at the tree, and assured him that it was nothing, that I had just seen something that could not possibly be there.  He looked around anyway but found nothing out of the ordinary.  I kept telling myself that I had just seen a trick of light and shadow, but what I had seen in my mind has haunted me ever since.

Come see my art, and let me share my visions with you.

From what do you draw your inspiration?

What inspires me is basically nature – all its beauty, magic, and mystery. Our mortality, spirituality, and emotion. I find images in dreams sometimes, or they just appear in my head. I enjoy images just emerge on paper when I draw, trying to let myself go and let my subconscious drive my hand.  Music is also great in helping the ride along.

What other artists do you admire / influence you?

There have been quite a lot of artists throughout the years that have influenced and or inspired me in all kinds of ways.  If I were to give you a complete list it would be very long so I will try to shorten it to the biggest and most current influences and loves.

Classically I would say I have always admired and been inspired by William Morris and Alphonse Mucha’s work.  However if you go back to my childhood it was probably comics that gave me the drive to draw, and the work that I loved the most was by Todd McFarlane,  Jim Lee, and Grzegorz Rosiński – all great artists I still admire.  I also got exposed to the surreal work by Zdzisław Beksiński early on which keeps haunting me.
In high school I discovered David Mack and following his work taught me to experiment with new media and styles, break the rules and to express my feelings, dreams, and ideas however crazy and not to be afraid to basically put a piece of my soul into my art.  He is still a big influence to this day.

More recent artist whose beautiful haunting work makes my heart sing is Jenny Frison. I could stare at any of her pieces of hours.

I also love Jarek “Khaal” Kubicki who I think of as modern and more versatile Beksiński.

Megan Lara is my idol.  She is not only super talented, but also it was basically following her work and social presence that gave me the drive to want to get my own work out there for people to see on the internets, rather than just keeping it all to myself.

I think the biggest influence and inspiration for me most recently is Mikey Babinski who I recently met at a con. He is an incredibly talented artist who made me look at ink work in completely different ways and gave me several ideas on exploring different styles and techniques.  Thanks Mikey!

How would you describe your style?

Earthy grunge nouveau.

What previous work are you most proud of?

Probably the Orange Bird.  It’s the first drawing I did after months of not being able to draw at all due to a crappy time in my life.  I picked up my sketchbook and decided to just start drawing without thinking about what I was drawing, without trying to plan my next move.  No pencil sketching was involved, I just went with my Micro pens until the page was filled.

What is your favourite piece you have made for WITCH so far?

You should ask me this again once I make more, but thus far it’s probably the very first one because it was a favorite subject of mine to draw: a dryad.  There is just something very therapeutic for me to draw a human figure morphed with a tree.

If you were Fated, what Fate would you be?

This is a hard question, and I am having trouble deciding.  I worked as a manager for several years, playing a part of a negotiator and peacemaker, so the Pagan might fit in that aspect.  The Lich, on the other hand, sound like hermit nerds which is something I can also identify with.

If you could have any magical power, what would it be?

The ones I already have will do for now.