Featured Artist: M. Lewandowski
A Bic pen and paper is all artist Moni Lewandowski needs to create a masterpiece. Her drawings are whimsical, detailed, and revealing — yet incredibly minimal in style. Paintings hang in museums that might use more mediums than Lewandowski’s illustrations, but her drawings are on par with the best of them. The New Mexico-based artist has a strong connection with the natural world that comes through in her art. A girl lies among flowers, a dog sits in a field — these are representations of her immense imagination.
At just 24-years-old, Lewandowski has garnered attention for her fascinating drawings. BANGSTYLE interviewed the woman behind the pen to find out what inspires her. Read the full interview below.
BANGSTYLE: Your art is incredibly detailed. What is the artistic process behind your illustrations?
Moni Lewandowski: It usually starts simply — an idea, a thought, a dream, a memory — and it grows from there. I don’t really plan these things; they just sort of happen. Some of my pieces are simple; they come and they go out quick. Others take their time — sometimes hours, or days, even weeks and rarely (but it happens) months. It is an organic process. I start with a line and go from there. Slowly at first — like mapping out an unknown landscape, the coastline, or the boundaries — but soon I get lost in the detail of the terrain, and I must admit I get a kick out of it — being lost in there — lost in the lines and the ink and the flora. I try to follow the natural course of the thing, and build and build and build until something emerges from the woodwork that I feel I can bring back.
BANGSTYLE: You often draw images of girls in nature. Do you feel a strong connection with the natural world?
ML: Very much so. I love this earth. It was my first love, everlasting; all my childhood was spent playing in the woods and the fields with my sister and my dog. I truly love and am in awe of the natural world, always. I love the plants, the animals, the people, and almost all the things that reside there. The world never tires of inspiring me and showing me new wondrous, beautiful things. Whether it be some flower or the pattern in an animal”s fur, or the arrangement of clouds in the sky, or the way the sun reflects to color them — all these things, seemingly endless and bountiful, gather and conspire to teach and to breathe life and to show pattern and connect all the things. I can see that we are all a part of it, and it is all a part of us.
BANGSTYLE: Some of your art is monochrome and in other pieces you use color. How do you choose whether or not to use color?
ML: I have usually drawn in strict black and white style with a Bic pen, but I do venture into watercolor/acrylic washes every now and then. I like watercolors because they are more delicate and compliment ink very well. More often than not, though, my painted works are an experiment to teach myself how. I do wish to do more painted pieces, but often with the size and amount of detail I put into my work, the color tends to overwhelm the underlying drawings.
BANGSTYLE: There is a nostalgic quality about your work. What is your favorite era and why?
ML: I love the 60s and the 70s. I feel the culture and the nation were really stirring and moving then. Not to mention, most of my favorite music comes from that era. However, my favorite era is the current one. It is the one I’m in after all, and I do find it fascinating. We live in incredible times. The amount of history, knowledge, and information out there is astounding, and our potential to do great things is enormous. Yet, the world is filled with such strife and despair and inequality. I am captivated, and I cannot wait to see what our future holds. This is a very interesting time indeed. We are lucky to be here!
BANGSTYLE: How does your environment influence your art?
ML: I currently live in Taos, New Mexico. I love New Mexico. It is the most beautiful and inspiring place I have ever been. I am originally from Chicago and spent a good amount of time traveling the states — namely the Midwest and the East Coast — but New Mexico has stolen my heart. It really is enchanting. Everyday I wake and walk out into this beautiful landscape. The mountains stir me and the skies breathe hope, and everything about this rugged mysterious southwest beckons me with inspiration. It is raw, untamed, and wild — the land, the people, and the culture — it is beautiful, and I am so grateful to be surround by this. It inspires me everyday.
BANGSTYLE: Besides art, what are some of your interests?
ML: I love plants and gardening. I am teaching myself about permaculture and sustainable living practices and building. I love reading and sometimes writing little poems. I am fascinated by and love learning more and more about religion and myth, art, history, and current sociopolitical issues. I am always looking at art and finding new and inspiring artists. I spend way more time looking at art than making it. There are so many amazing and talented people out there it really blows me away.
BANGSTYLE: Do you have any exhibitions coming up that you want BANGSTYLE readers to know about?
ML: I don’t have any exhibitions, but I am having a winter art sale! You can view it on my Flickr by clicking here.
BANGSTYLE: What are your future aspirations in the art world?
ML: I only hope to be able to keep doing what I’m doing and learn and practice and grow. I am interested in doing some woodwork in the future!
M. Lewandowski’s Tumblr | Blogspot
