Ila Magazine

No doubt that Corona is a drastic turn in the modern history of humanity. Its scary widespread helped to split the history into before and after. Even its hand corrupted our world bringing more social, political and economical changes in no time. You can say so on the relationships between groups and individuals. How do you interpret this? Any particular effects on your habits and work? Negative or positive?!!.

Do you think the response of every body is the same. And what about your future plans for new work. Is it a reflection on corona, direct and indirect, or you have more valuable preoccupations?..

we asked handful of artists and writers these questions. bellow are their responses in alphabatical order. 

Gitta Pardoel

The time that I had to work inside the house had a very contemplative effect for me with epiphane moments. At the same time, it is a time of uncertainty, fear of loved ones. The false security in our rich Netherlands has left us for good.

Nature plays a major role in my work. Gardens have always been a source of inspiration for me. This started at the garden of my childhood home. So many stories have already arisen here ....... for example the story of Dorus, the blackbird, who came to get cheese in our kitchen. Or the flowers from which you could suck honey. Or the delicious fresh green herbs from my own herb garden. Gardens proved to be a passion for me and my work. Life in balance, between flora, fauna and people.

Because of the coronavirus we are more bound to home and garden. We as humanity are unsure how to contain the virus and protect our way of life but the spring still arrived, flowers that bud and birds that lay eggs.

Gardens help to make the world more sustainable. It ensures less CO2, it helps prevent flooding. Plants in your interior help to purify the indoor air. And research has shown that seeing greenery is beneficial.

This and many more facts about the garden are an incentive for me to make my work.

art and illustrations,

In my more autonomous work I concentrated on the experience of the landscape, the experience of the place.

“At first glance, the word "landscape" seems to refer exclusively to nature, the rural, even the Arcadian. But on closer inspection it appears that traces of human presence can be found in almost all landscapes: almost everywhere one sees houses, an entire city sometimes or ruins; or else there is a walker, a farmer in the field, a fordable place, or a church tower on the horizon. So I may carefully conclude that indeed every landscape contains something of nature as well as of man. Now when I call all traces of people in the landscape "culture", I come to the conclusion that a landscape is a view of both "nature" and "culture".

Ton Lemaire, philosopher

Partly due to corona, those thoughts have accelerated.For me, the power to conjure up a whole world on paper, besides letting reality speak to the imagination through line and color, is still a miracle. My works are worlds in which flora and fauna live together in a balance. They are cheerful and hopeful about a different world. A world in which respect for our earth is normal. In this way I hope that my work can inspire the viewer.

Thanks to the inside home time we are forced in, I focus more on affordable work such as illustrations and children's books and small works of art, work that is easier to achieve by the people who live in the city and how they have to change the way they deal with the greenery in the city if we want to preserve a world where insects can still ensure the growth of our vegetables and fruits.

Designs and tips.

Corona has also brought me back to my design practice aimed at actually making cities greener. With designs and tips to make the construction and maintenance of gardens as easy as possible for the public, but also to show that it does not have to be difficult. Low maintenance gardens, yet good for people and animals.

Education.

Education has completely changed. In my work as a teacher I try to get the best out of the student. Let the student discover and develop his own talent. But in this work there is now also a lot of awareness for the world around us. Ultimately, the students are the designers of the future and they will have to ensure that we live our lives with greater respect and sustainability.

Of course, a part of the world is still at war or living in dire conditions. Another expression of the destructive qualities of man. And then your life is about survival. But the other part of people will have to reconsider what is important in their lives, how their children can live in the future, how we can live together with flora and fauna and not at the expense of each other or at the expense of nature. I hope corona is a wake up call for us to learn to live in cooperation and respect.

artist, illustrator, designer, teacher, the Netherlands