The Connected Existence Tee: Artist, Sabrina Bezerra Reevaluates The True Meaning Of Connection
This season, MAUBY has partnered with female illustrators in creating premium organic cotton blend stretch tees. The “Connected Existence” design is the second fall print we will be releasing, created by Sabrina Bezerra! Check out her profile feature below to learn more about this inspiring artist and her backstory for the “Connected Existence” illustration!
Q: Tell us about yourself! What first sparked your interest in becoming an artist?
Sabrina: “I don’t have a lot of memories of my early childhood but the few of them were about me drawing, I always liked it. I know most kids do but for some reason my family always encouraged me. They would buy me materials and I always found a lot of pleasure in thinking about what to do with them or just play and figure out how they worked. I grew up to be a designer, but always drew as a hobby. My friends started asking me to draw things for them and that’s how it started.”
Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating a new piece? Can you share a bit about your creative process? How do you determine when an illustration/design of yours is finished?
Sabrina: “I am constantly checking what other artists and creative people make. I am obsessed with old art books and history videos about artworks and how they were made: the techniques, materials, processes, etc. That usually helps me a lot in my process. I usually think about a theme and then start researching it. For example I just painted some wood box lids based on some things I found on Greek and Korean ornament books. I never really know when I’m done, that’s a big issue for me. I always find things to fix even years after looking at a piece.”
Q: How would you describe your artistic style? And how has your artistic style changed from when you first started to now?
Sabrina: “My style changed so much from when I started, I feel like it is still changing and who knows where it will be in a year. It went from women portraits to botanical, detailed, strong lines and now I feel like I’m more casual, relaxed and color oriented. I used to blame myself for not just sticking to a style forever and developing it for 10 years. Then (again) I see how other artists - classic or modern - styles vary and evolve in their lifetime, how different art schools were created by this process and I feel less terrible.”
Q: Can you share the backstory of your illustration, “Connected Existence” which we featured as a design for one of our printed stretch tees? What was your inspiration behind the design and how did you come up with the name?
Sabrina: “When we think about ‘connection’ it is a word that has so many different meanings. I feel that currently the initial one, the ‘before the internet and social media’ one ends up being at the end of the line. It is about how we felt about human interactions before and how we value our connections now. We are living in a moment where you can have 3.000 friends but none of them available to have a coffee with you this afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet. I am a millennial and an immigrant, the Internet is where I take a lot of my inspiration from and stay in touch with my old friends and family. It’s also where I consume information and work. I just feel like we should start reevaluating what being really connected means to us.”
Q: What do you root your identity in?
Sabrina: “I am a woman (whatever that means) and most of my life I was raised by other women that I considered the strongest humans I’ve ever known. I was always inspired by them, and when I started drawing it was the only thing that I drew: strong looking women. Now that I am an immigrant woman, I feel like my latin Brazilian roots have kicked in and I just admire even more the use of color and style from my motherland. I come from the northeast of the country, which was considered a marginalized area for decades. The food, weather, clothes, people and our art is something that I miss, that I am proud of and want to portray more.”
Thank you so much for your incredible work Sabrina! Follow Sabrina on Instagram and check out her other account to see her illustrations! Visit her website to see her stunning artwork.
Photography by Sabrina Bezerra
