Hara Katsiki was born in 1977 in Athens, Greece. She is a multi award winner illustrator and artist (2010 Swatch Young Illustrator’s Award, Artist Of The Year 2011 by Artists&Illustrators Magazine, and the 2012 /// Motion + Sound Category Award by Art Takes Miami / Scope Art Show and See.Me.) and music lover. She lives in Berlin. What I see in her work is that Hara is beyond boundaries, she keeps opposites inside herself in perfect balance: dark and light, Greece and Germany, drama and lightness, aurora and twilight… I feel guarded when I meet artists like her, her art keeps this world in equilibrium. Enjoy the interview.
You moved from Greece to Berlin, what do you remember of that travel?
Oh my … I was full of overwhelming emotions of excitement, anxiety,
melancholie and happiness at the same time. I think I was going crazy!
You switch from a media to another, the feeling I have is that you are similar to an alchemist, struggling to find the perfect balance of the elements.. is it right?
Yes, you could say that. The only difference is that I don’t struggle. I
have so much fun. I feel like a butterfly tasting different nectars in a
huge colorful field in blossom.
Black is the main color of your art, is it because you like to bring light where darkness reigns?
Yes that’s really my mission!
And what is the color of your everyday life?
A brilliant, golden white light.
You often re-difine the bounders of people in your artworks (with lines, objects..), did you ever asked yourself why or is it unconscious?
I like to express my inner world by setting my mind into a sleep mode and letting the subconscious unfold it’s beauty. This illussionistic
“symbolism” in my work is a result of this spontaneous improvisation. The technique is usually reffered as Surrealist automatism with pioneer André Masson. and other Artists like Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Jean Arp and André Breton.
I’ve recently discovered that most of the symbols I’m unconsciously using
are “eye floaters” often seen in the Entoptic phenomena. So these symbols are a reaction in favour of spirituality, imagination, and dreams.
Do you think your greekness has influence on what you do? and Germany/Berlin does? do you feel right in the center of a culture crash?
I’m not sure about that even though I admire greek and german art.
But i think i was always in the midst of a cultural blend.
My inspiration doesn’t have boundaries or restrictions of any kind (time
or place), in fact it’s a melting pot of the whole universe. A fruit of the
connection with the source of all life everywhere.
Who was your fav greek deity? Why?
Hermes, the Messenger of the gods. He was wearing winged sandals and was bringing the dead to the Underworld in his role of “Psychopompos”(Herdsman of the dead or guider of the souls). He was a patron of travelers and bringer of sleep and dreams, astronomer and astrologer.
He it is whom the Egyptians call Thoth. One of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon.God of Knowledge, Hieroglyphs and Wisdom. He has left remarkable information for us to learn and discover our true essence and nature. One of his main roles was maintaining the universe. The Egyptians credited him as the author of all works of science, religion, philosophy, and magic. The Greeks claimed he was the true author of every work of every branch of knowledge, human and divine.
How do you imagine life after death?
Relieving, floating, peaceful and serene. An exhilarating journey back to
the source. I think it must be such an amazing feeling, that can not
really be described by human words and also hasn’t been experienced from our human consciousness.
How do you imagine your look (outfit, hair, make up etc) this same day but in year 2023?
I guess i will be around 4m high, with long arms and legs, extremely long
light pink hair, a Glow-in-the-dark pearl skin color, a Flame Aura quartz
crystal cluster bodysuit, and huge sparking eyes with feathered eyelashes.
