Get to know Kiki and her artwork.
Kiki: I’m a Swedish-Italian illustrator raised in Brussels. I now live in Barcelona to be near the sun and sea, and my new apartment has typical Catalan floor tiles. I bite my nails and my mum says I have bad posture.
Subsign: What was your childhood like? Do you think your experiences from childhood have influenced your present creative endeavors?
Kiki: My memories from childhood are very romanticized as it’s a period of life I am very attached to. Many of the things that excited me as a child still excite me today, and I spend silly amounts of time collecting toys, children’s books and doing craft. It is a world I am very much inspired by and that fuels my aesthetic and my creative drive.
All of my childhood things are in Brussels but I found this picture of me in a mouse costume on my phone camera roll.
Subsign: What did you wanted to be as a grown up?
Kiki: A florist or the owner of a candy store. I liked the idea of being in a colorful environment surrounded by sweet smells.
Subsign: How does your workstation look like?
Kiki: I just moved from Paris where my workstation was essentially my living room sofa and coffee table, and my desk space in Barcelona isn’t set up yet, so here is a photo of where I work when I spend time at my dad’s in Brussels.
Subsign: Do you have a work style? How would you describe it?
Kiki: People usually use the words bold, colorful and childlike, so we can go with that, although those are pretty loose adjectives!
Subsign: Can you share with us how your creative process works?
Kiki: For my commercial work the routine is pretty much that of any job, with the flexibility of adapting my hours to my work flow. My mornings usually start late as most often my creative energy erupts later in the afternoon. If I’m on a deadline I work through the rough patches and if I have more time I will take breaks, go on walks, browse through book stores, go for ice cream, to return to my screen with a fresh mind.
Subsign: What is your favorite work you have done so far?
Kiki: I was very proud of my illustrated children’s books made in collaboration with the natural history museum in London, although I feel like my style has developed lots since!
Subsign: What advice could you give to someone starting out in the creative field of work?
Kiki: Don’t judge your work and give it time to form! Focus on your practice and the work will develop and transform by itself.
Subsign: If you would a super power, what would it be?
Kiki: I would love to be able to fly or to climb things, like Cat woman or a computer game hero.
Subsign: Can you recommend for our readers a book, a song and a movie?
Kiki: Peter Pan the play by J M Barrie, Bim Bom by Joao Gilberto and the BBC Planet Earth 2 episodes.
Subsign: If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for?
Kiki: I’d throw a dog bloc party and invite all of the dogs and the owners of my neighborhood for picnic and games on the beach.
Subsign: What famous people would you invite to the party and why?
Kiki: A dogs affection is indifferent to fame!
Thank you Kiki for being a part of it!
If you know an artist that should be in the spotlight, contact us at jojo@subsign.co .
For more of Kiki’s work you can follow her on the links: Kiki’s portfolio, Kiki on Instagram, Kiki on Tumblr.
