Isis Maakestad
Isis Maakestad is a visual artist and illustrator based in Gothenburg. Maakestad's artwork takes several forms; painting, illustration, collage, ceramic.
Isis Maakestad, born 1986, is a visual artist and illustrator based in Gothenburg, Sweden. She took her bachelor’s exam in fine arts at The Art Academy in Bergen Norway 2016. Subsequently she has been working with different projects such as exhibitions and illustrations in Sweden and Norway.
Maakestad’s artwork takes several forms; painting, illustration, collage, ceramic. She often works with a muted color palette and a decorative sparseness which feels pleasantly instinctual. The cropping in the compositions in Isis paintings increases the dynamics of her subjects and gives space for an unknown narrative. Significantly she never let perfection ruin her art.
For Fine Little Day Isis have created two patterns for textiles. The first, Bouquet (previously on a poster) is available in three colorways – green, yellow and blue. The second collection we call Randig and comes in a fresh springy yellow-brown color scheme. The textile collections consists of kitchen linen, curtains and fabric by the meter. You may also find her work on posters, cushions and trays in FSC-marked laminated birch.
Creative Director Elisabeth Dunker of Fine Little Day had a talk with Isis about her inspiring work. Scroll down to read the interview.
Q: Tell us a bit how your interest in art develop?
A: I had the luck to grow up with a mum who always was very creative. She worked in theater and did paintings in oil. So painting and drawing have been around me as part of my natural environment. When I was around 20 I decided that paint and drawing is something I wanted to develop more with real focus.
Q: What are some of the highlights of your life as an artist so far?
A: I must say that the highlight so far has been meeting some of my best friends and while exploring ceramics!
Q: If you could spend the day with any artist, past or present, who would it be?
A: Louise Bourgeois for sure! I Love her work and the energy she did put into her work. How she made the personal universal and the way she explored different materials. Her work never leaves me untouched.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your creative process?
A: My process often starts very intuitive. Maybe I want to try a new material and take it from there. But while in the process I often think in series and that is where a narrative is born. I try to stay open to the process as long as I can until I feel a balance and rythm.
Q: Do you think there were other roads you could have taken, other than art? If so, what are they?
A: Yes! Before my art studies I really thought (and sometimes still do) that I wanted to be a psychologist or anthropologist. I think its very fascinating exploring behaviors, languages and the ways we communicate.
Photo by
Studio and portrait: Johan Stahre
Product images: Elisabeth Dunker
