Art & Life with Saskia Kretzschmann

Today we’d like to introduce you to Saskia Kretzschmann.

Saskia, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Recently I stumbled over a folder of my early teenage art works – a huge collection of Johnny Depp portraits. Depp the pirate, Depp the musician or casual Depp from next door… I captured them all by my pencil. As geeky as this teenage gem appear today, as helpful they were to develop my drawing skills. Later I was lucky to turn my passion into my profession – drawing, not Mr. Depp 😉 Therefore I started to study integrated design at the Anhalt University of Dessau. Influenced by the memorable atmosphere of the Bauhaus, I entered the world of animation. A helpful step that led me to Sehsucht – a Berlin based design studio – where I am currently working as a designer. There I enjoy the combination of design and animation and get to explore many different styles. After I get home, I try to find time for personal projects – mostly illustrations that show my own imaginary universe, which I share under the name Sazou.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I guess most of my personal artworks seem like being part of some graphic novel – one panel full of detail showing adventurous characters, globetrotters or brave girl gangs – unsung heroes on their exciting journey.

The viewers have to complete the story on their own – but that’s the fun part – when everyone has to come up with their very own backstory and ending. I will only lay out some hints and a vague direction with the details I show.

Usually my characters find themselves thrown into a mystic scenery which is not necessarily bound to the common laws of physics. I try to avoid pure realism both in my style and in the storyline. In fact, I rather put a touch of magic and science fiction into my artworks. My stories take place in other dimensions or realities which provide much space for imagination and which I will enrich with a mystic and thrilling atmosphere.

Most of my private work started off without any real concept and grew organically within the design process. It could originate from a tiny sketch drawn just to gap some latency, to give me comfort in times when I feel blue or simply to have an accomplice while procrastinating. To put it in a nutshell, usually I start with a simple sketch on a piece of paper and continue to process it digitally.

Piece by piece I create a story while drawing.

Where and when do I want the story to take place? What’s the story behind my characters? What does their appearance and cloth tell us and what is the relationship between them?

The answers I usually find in my memories, form experiences I made and stuff that influenced me – things that I memorize as being exciting as well as the people and circumstances that surround me and therefore have an impact on my work. A friend once told me that she constantly keeps seeing motion in my artworks. I think that is a result of my animation background. Surely from time to time I am quite tempted to animate some details of my work like the mysterious organic matter, the heavy rain or a flashing urban illumination. It’s a feature I am currently working on but it’s still top secret 😉

I think it is one of the greatest opportunities that we are able to create things – our ability to express the vague shadows in our heads and translate them into a whole world of shapes, colors, sounds and stories. I guess that is the main motivation behind my drawings. It helps me to relax, to escape to my inner self and even to learn more about myself. Therefore, I am happy if people join me for this exploration and maybe even find some inspiration in it as well.

Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
Getting yourself organized and the whole-time management may be a major issue for creatives, I guess. For me personally it’s very challenging to balance the time between my full-time job and my private projects. Not being bound to clients or to selling products, I am free to create whatever I want – that’s my favorite part in my personal projects. The design process offers me space to withdraw and reflect even meditate, if you want to put it that way. Nevertheless, for me it is equally a curse and a blessing. As I draw a lot of energy out of it but it always takes a lot of effort to get to this point as well – being able to focus and disconnect from the real world. Sometimes in these moments I wish the day had 48 hours.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can follow me on Instagram @sazou.ink and I am always happy about your feedback and inspiration.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sazou.ink

Image Credit:
Saskia Kretzschmann

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