INTERVIEW WITH A DREAMER

Ulrika Kestere is a girl with good taste. Since discovering her blog last year I have not stopped admiring the Latvian illustrator slash photographer’s creative input into the blogging hemisphere.

Childlike illustrations bring a novelty factor whilst her photographs have a certain dream like quality you cannot help but adore.

It is quite stereotypical to say her artistic abilities have a feminine approach, but as Uli herself describes how she is inspired mainly by ‘fairytales, pretty little cottages and animals’, the word feminine fits in quite rightly so.

I thought I would veer away from the high fashion attitude LMN usually adopts, and throw something a bit different into the mix. So it is, my interview with a Latvian princess.

Tell me a little about yourself, where do you live and where are you from? Have you studied illustration at all?

I was born in Latvia but I moved to Sweden when I was four. When I was young I studied art once a week after school but nothing much. I’ve studied photography for 2 years but I’m self taught in illustration…that’s probably why I still find it quite difficult!

You have a very particular style, how would you describe it yourself?

I want everything I produce to have a cosy warm feeling. I’m very much inspired by fairytales and animals. However, in illustration I want to show this feeling monochromic while in photography I prefer to use a lot of colour. In order to use more colour in my illustrations I really feel that I would need some education.

In your photographs and illustrations it is evident you have a love for animals, what is your favourite animal and why?

That’s a tough question! There are so many wonderful animals. But of course I would absolutely have to say THE FOX. I like it because it’s almost a mix between a cat and a dog. Also it is a great size, not too big and not too small. And the colour…ah… it’s simply beautiful! Hah, and also I like how it does this yapping sound when it gets excited.

Fairytale and dream like references also seem to crop up regularly within your work, if you could create a magical world, what would it be like and why?

Either a crazy world were a new adventure happens every day, like a mix between Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. I love the idea of meeting new weird characters every day and doing things that don’t really make sense.

Otherwise, it would have to be a calm world, where everyone lives in little cottages in the forest and people and animals live in great harmony..like in the sweetest Disney movie.

Where do you get inspiration for your drawings and images? Does fashion play a part in any of it?

Of course fashion is a part of it! Great photographers like Tim Walker, Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, Camilla Åkrans and Paolo Roversi definitely inspire me. Fashion photographers are often very good at creating a fairytale like world and turning the model into an interesting character, so there is a lot to learn from them! Otherwise I search inspiration from other illustrators, children’s books, blogs and from my own head. But sometimes you see an interesting animal somewhere and a pretty little cottage and you can see the illustration in front of you. As for photography, I often base it on some interesting clothes or something with hair. I love flying hair and braids!

Do you have any favourite magazines?

Gosh, I wish I allowed myself to buy expensive beautiful magazines! I don’t… but I know which ones I would buy! Lula, V magazine, S magazine and Acne magazine (which I think has such an incredibly beautiful graphic layout) to say a few.

Do you listen to music whilst working, and does any particular genre inspire you?

Oh, my playlist is such a mixed mess. It’s all from Indian music, the velvet underground, French music, Nina Simone, Rihanna, Hotel Costes albums… anything that sounds nice for the moment and helps me to keep working. My friends don’t really get how I can listen to Edith Piaf all day to suddenly bounce around to Rude Boy. Why not?

Your calendar is beautiful; do you have any other projects coming up?

I’m making my children’s book at the moment. I’ve written the story and I know approximately how I want it to look, but since I’m studying industrial design at the moment I can’t really find any time to work with it at the moment. Hopefully it will get finished soon though! I’d love to base my bachelor project on the book somehow.

 To visit Ulicam click here.