Yes, the above image is a little freaky, but I really like the work of Andrei. His magazine collages are colourful and creative, and I hope he continues to explore this medium. But I'm biased, I think everyone should explore the collage medium, if not at least once in their lives!
Name (Real or Screename): Andrei Cojocaru
URL (Blog, Website): http://andrei75.deviantart.com
Location (Where are you from?): Living in Paris right now, but born in Bucharest, Romania
Q: Describe your work in 10 words or less.
A: A rather random mix of shapes, colours, letters and numbers.
Q: What do you like to work with (magazines, photographs, vintage)? Be specific!
A: I like to work with just about anything that I think will look good when put next to another thing!:) Seriously, I work with magazine cutouts (both new and vintage), clothing labels, supermarket receipts, pieces of old posters I find on the street or in the subway, transfers... and I also like to add, from time to time, some handwriting or some doodles, so I also use pens, markers, watercolours.
Q: How long have you been creating collages and what made you start?
A: I've been really doing it for about six months, but I've been admiring this art for about two years, and started thinking about doing collages myself about a year ago. What made me start? I don't really know... I just felt attracted to this form of art and all of the sudden, my hands started cutting stuff and putting that stuff together in another configuration, until my eyes were pleased with the result...
Q: Are you solely an artist, or do you work in another profession?
A: I'd say that "artist" is the last thing I am! I am a full time student, I study Law... totally unrelated to art! But that doesn't keep me from doing collages and some graphic design.
Q: Do you have any formal art training?
A: Absolutely none! I was a graffiti writer for a few years, though, that is my only "art training."
Q: Explain your favourite techniques.
A: I just put some stuff in front of me (magazine cutouts, photos, etc) and start combining them, putting them one on top of the other, next to the other, I'll put some other pieces if I feel it will look good, might get bored of an element and take it out, and so on an so forth until I am happy with what I have in front of me! It's only at that moment that I glue the stuff together! Sometimes I like to put a lot of colours together, make something flashy and eye-catching, some other times I just like to keep it minimal... Depends on my mood.
Q: Describe your favourite piece ever created.
A: It's hard to say! Not because I have so many pieces I like, but because I don't really like any of them! It may sound weird, but I quickly become unsatisfied with my work, maybe because I am new to this field and I'm still evolving, still exploring the world of collages. But I think that getting bored of my own work is a good thing, because it keeps me going, it makes me want to try new things, etc.
Q: What other artists do you admire?
A: Thomas Schostok/{ths}, Eduardo Recife/misprinted type, Augusto Giovanetti/prrr!, Liz Cohn, Fred Free, Kareem Rizk, Alex Hamrick and many, many more! I found a lot of the artist i admire on deviantart.
Thanks Andrei!
Comments (1)
it's so great to read about Andrei and learn about his path through the art world. A very nice interview!
Posted by liz cohn | December 4, 2008 7:09 PM
Posted on December 4, 2008 19:09