SILVIA GARCIA CAMPS
"MY HOME IS YOUR HOME" & "WHAT IF" DRAWING SERIES
Silvia Garcia is an illustrator from Barcelona. Her drawing technique is one of the things that makes her work stand out. Through a combination of hand-drawings and collages, Silvia has created new spaces using everyday objects and her eye for beautiful compositions.
For this interview, Silvia will be talking about her process when creating “My home is your home” and “What if”
About: In a few words, describe yourself and your work.
Describing oneself is always hard so I’ve asked a few friends how they see me. This are their answers: energetic, clever, with a high sense of good taste and aesthetics, observer, reader and traveller. (I agree with most of them hehe)
About my work I could say is fresh, a bit chaotic but at the same time I pay attention to every detail. Everything has to be put on it’s exact place to end up creating the best possible composition.
Where do you look for inspiration and what is your creative process like?
For inspiration I mainly look at books and magazines from all kinds without choosing any specific topic. I also travel quite a lot and bring my notebook with me to draw all those things I like.
My creative process is quite simple: I draw everything on my notebook, then scan it and assemble it on Photoshop. In the meanwhile though, I keep thinking on what next I can do, how I can push myself further to create better things.
Could you talk about your new art series “what if”? What is the message behind this work?
This new series is one of the projects I feel more proud of so far as it has let me explore new ways of work, learn a lot and get beautiful and meaningful results . It was born out of the idea to try to proof that everything is already invented, no one is creating anything new (specially not me) , we are always re-inventing the classics on a new way so it fits the needs of the time we are living.
Through the question “what if this and that architect had worked together?” I have created unexisting places that could easily be real as the architects I’ve chosen to mix seem to be the same.
Is there anyone in particular who influences you graphically? Why?
I have always liked the drawings from Álvaro Siza, Le Corbusier and Lina Bo Bardi as they are very expressive.
What lead you to explore your illustrations through a combination of hand-drawing and collage? What other methods do you use?
I don’t like doing renders so I wanted to explore other techniques and completely by chance I came up with this “technique” which lead me to really show what I like and have a personal touch on each drawing.
How do Architecture and Interior Design impact your work as an illustrator?
As an Architecture student I spend most of the time surrounded by (good) books so in the end you end I have learned something (jokes). In Spain we have this sentence “todo lo malo se pega” which would mean something like after seeing something over and over and over in the end you en up learning it.
When I entered the university I barely had no idea about what architecture was, who were the big names, but through reading I learned everything, which has ended up being put on my work somehow.
How has your style changed over the years?
As I haven’t studied Arts, it’s all a bit trial and error. At the beginning I put “everything” into the drawings: design, architecture, fashion, food... but slowly I have been splitting every drawing into different topics so everything has its right place to be. I guess that in the end it’s about proving myself I can do better things about the topics I like.
“I don’t like doing renders, so I wanted to explore other techniques”
Could you show us / talk about the process of creating one of your images?
I have pointed it out a bit before and it’s pretty simple I guess: drawing (always with a pen) , scanning and assembling on the computer. For the series “what if”, it takes much more time as almost all the process is manual: finding the images, assembling, painting... but I have so much fun! and in the end I like the result very much as, most of the times, it shows what I wanted to express.
Which materials do you enjoy working with the most? Why?
I enjoy using “everyday” materials: paper, plastic, pencils, pens, crayons, chalk... and drawing on small scale surfaces. As I didn’t study Arts I still feel afraid of jumping into bigger scale projects because I think my technique isn’t good enough, but I’ll try to improve on that.
When do you know an image is done?
I can’t really tell it, I just feel it.
What advice would you give to young artists?
Try out every single idea you have without judging the result. As Sabine Marcelis once said te me: just do it.
“Try out every single idea you have without judging the result.”
Silvia, thank you for taking the time to interview with Arch-Vizz and show us your great work!
You can find more about Silvia's work on her website, http://cargocollective.com/repiauer.
Interview & Images Courtesy: Silvia Garcia Camps
Interviewer: Stefani Fachini