Subsign: First, can you tell us a few things about yourself?
Beatrice: My name is Arzoiu Beatrice Cristina and I have been living in Bucharest for about 6 years. I started to create actively since 2020, but since I know myself I have had this artistic side in me, and it manifests itself through literary works or painting/drawing. Ever since I was a child, in life, I wanted to be free, independent in my decisions and prompt in my actions. To live without regrets for yesterday, full of confidence for today and with much hope for tomorrow.
Subsign: What was your childhood like? Do you think your childhood experiences have influenced your present creative endeavors?
Beatrice: I spent my childhood in Pietroșita, a mountain village in Dâmbovița county, Romania. This village had a great impact in my life, I always remember it with pride. I was raised by my grandmother and lived in the house with her two brothers. We were poor, but I can say that I was lucky in all that poverty, I was liked by the village, by the wealthy people my grandmother worked for, by my godmother. Their love for me pushed each of them to help me as they could. Sweets, books, dresses and teachings, but the most important gift was their time.
A lady, a former ballerina, when I was 5 years old, taught me to feel my hands and dance charmingly with them. Everything I experienced as a child, for me, was art, inspiration. From the worst to the most beautiful experiences, I am and will be forever grateful because they taught me life.
Subsign: What did you want to be as a grown up?
Beatrice: I used to play a game where I pretended to be my grandpa’s doctor, when I visited him in Târgoviște. He would lie on the sofa and always tell me that something hurt, his head, his ear, his hand, his leg. I was always ready to consult him and write his prescription. When I grew up I really wanted to be a teacher.
In the 12th grade, however, I decided that I wanted to be a social worker, I went to college, which I dropped out of in the third year because it didn’t fulfill me. Now, what I want most is to be a housewife.
Subsign: What does your workstation look like?
Beatrice: My workspace is my home, for me it’s perfect because it gives me the freedom to create at any time of the day or night, whenever inspiration strikes. Three years ago, the studio apartment I was staying in had only a sofa with two armchairs and a wardrobe. Now it’s full of me, I wanted to create a universe from every corner of the house. Decorated with paintings, old photographs, crochet napkins and dried flowers, my home, my workshop, is my oasis of peace.
Subsign: Do you have a work style? How would you describe it?
Beatrice: I think it all starts with the hunt for books and photos that I do through antique shops and fairs, then comes the process of selecting the right pages for cutting, then cutting out the pieces and sorting them into categories, nicely ordered in folders. The texts too, I start by hunting for thoughts, catching the idea, writing it down, and then ordering it in my journals. Everything is formed by matching.
Subsign: Can you share with us how your creative process works?
Beatrice: In most cases the creative process starts from the text, the appearance of an idea leads to the visualization of the image, having the pieces cut out, well organized, it is easy for me to make the connections in my mind.
When I have all this in mind I then choose the worksheet, suitable in size, texture and color, and when all this is ready the actual marking of the work begins, taking a picture of it and uploading it to Instagram.
Subsign: What is your favorite work you have done so far?
Beatrice: Here I can’t decide, I have many great works dear to my soul. I can answer with a text, my favorite text so far is “Pune mâna și trăiește” (which translates as „Go for it and live”). I would write these words all over Bucharest.
Subsign: Who do you follow for inspiration?
Beatrice: For inspiration I watch the people on the street. I like to go to the old center sometimes, put my headphones in my ears where I mostly listen to rap or hip-hop music, sit wherever I feel like, at a table and order a beer. And from here I wait. I take out my notebook and pen and follow the energy of the people passing by and capture it, as much as possible, in words.
I follow a lot of people on the internet that I respect a lot as artists: Roman Tolici, Ștefan Pruteanu, Nicolae Romanițan, Otto Constantin, Saha Bandi Robert and the list can go on.
Subsign: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the creative field of work?
Beatrice: The only advice I feel I can give is to try as much as possible to do something for their art every day. I think this advice is good in any field. If you want to build an “empire” you have to work on it every day. Brick over brick. Murphy’s Law “You took yourself too seriously” is as true as it gets, the extreme never has a pleasant outcome, but neither does slacking off. When you want to build something you need to take yourself seriously, not too much and not at all.
Subsign: If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Beatrice: I recommend a book: “Am ucis pe Dumnezeu” by Carol Ardeleanu.
I recommend a movie: “Café de flore” 2011.
I recommend a song: “Nimic nu e nou” by Puya.
Subsign: If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Beatrice: When I was little I wanted the most to be able to teleport. I wanted this so that I could see my mother, who lived in Spain, anytime. Now I think I want the same.
Subsign: If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what special occasion would you choose? What famous people would you invite to the party and why?
Beatrice: Since I was little, I dreamed of an eccentric party, something in a big house, with lots of people and diverse music, played loudly. As a location, I would like it to be more like in the desert, I don’t like the idea of disturbing the neighbors. It would be a great pleasure for me to have Tommy Cash, the guys from LITTLE BIG come to this party, and despite the scandals about them, I’d like Die Antwoord to come too. About this level of eccentricity.
On the other hand, another party very suitable to my soul would be a wedding party, in a tent, somewhere in the country, with a river running past us and the young girls bathing in roses together with the bride. Let there be such a good mood, violinists with tight mustaches and a Resurrection from the dead, let Gică Petrescu sing us “Zaraza” at 3 in the morning, and let the world be drunk, cry and understand life. The next day we would wake up like in a dream and play again until the evening, only in laughter.
Thank you, Beatrice, for being a part of our Spotlight!
If you know an artist that should be in the spotlight, contact us at teodora@subsign.co.
For more of Beatrice‘s work, you can follow her work on the links: Beatrice on Instagram.
