We love learning more about our contributors, and an interview seemed like a fun way to hear more about the writers and artists we publish, so we gave them a choice of questions to answer. We hope you also enjoy hearing more about the artists and their works. Check out Issue #27 for work from Dora Ilce and more.


Who or what inspires your work generally?
Ideas usually come from my daily life, but they are rather hazy at first. What gives them shape and inspires me to commit them to paper is other artists. Nothing gives me such a kick as going to a museum or an art market, or reading a great book. When I see great work I think, I want to be that person too.

What turns you off when you see it in a work? What are your creative pet peeves?
Being fashionable. We are all children of our times and we influence each other. But if I feel that work lacks any personal twist and is just following a trend, I cringe a little inside. And I move on.

What are your 3-5 favorite and 3-5 least favorite words and why?
Favorite:
- Readee - a word we invented together with a friend, to indicate a person who not only writes, but is actually read. Handy in the times when everyone is producing "content".
- Nebulous - it is so onomatopoeic, you can instinctively grasp its meaning.
- Overzichtelijk (Dutch for "overviewable") - allows me to describe why I prefer a difficult project that I can manage myself to something seemingly easier, but requiring mental energy to coordinate the moving parts.

Less favorite:
- Natural - the word itself is okay, but it's like a good song that you've heard too many times at the supermarket. It has lost all charm and meaning.
- Overtone and undertone - why do they have opposite literal meanings, but the same figurative meaning? Preposterous.