Maria Izvestkina
Maria Izvestkina is a visionary multidisciplinary creative with a profound passion for art direction, graphic and textile design. Maria draws inspiration from working with mixed-media and symbolism, whether through fabric collages or mixing a variety of digital design mediums. Combining the power of design and aesthetics with her deeply rooted values and Eastern European descent, Maria aims to create thought-provoking pieces, through gentle activism in her work.
Hi Maria! Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are today and when did you first become interested in art and design?
Looking back now, I’ve always been interested in making things while growing up, although I couldn’t choose to express myself through one medium only. I’ve always wanted to be a multidisciplinary creative; I studied and worked within graphic design, clothing and textiles design and visual communication. It took several years into my career to realize that the variety of my interests is actually my strength. Since then I’ve been practicing mix-media and applying my skills from one medium to another.
Your work has spanned print and digital design and even photography and fashion. How do you find a balance between these creative pursuits and what are your favorite aspects of each?
I love switching between my crafts, for example, if I’m doing graphic design work I start to get inspiration and ideas for textile collages and vice versa. It gives me time to step away from one craft and have that critical distance to look at it from another perspective.
While I studied graphic design and always considered it my passion, I decided to challenge myself and try garment construction, so I spent some years practicing that. In the end graphic design made its way into my fashion and textiles practice. I spent several years working as a textiles & patterns designer, where I was able to design digital artworks as well as digitize hand-printed illustrative motives. However, my true passion for graphic design manifested itself in work for my upcycling clothing business Her Clo.Lab. where I treated fabrics as my very own collages. I love creating playful elements out of fabrics or even letters and using them as applique on garments.
How has your career led you to work with the Canva team and what have been your favorite projects at Canva?
I’ve always been interested in innovation and technology. I’d say I’m quite aspirational, which means I love to ponder on where the future lies and how technology will change our lives and where design fits within that. At one point I decided I want to do as much good as I can with my skills and talents and Canva was a perfect space to do so – I knew Canva was and is a force for good, as a few of my friends worked there. Because of my wide range of experiences, I’m able to pivot and adapt easily and also look at design cohesively and objectively.
Having a wide range of projects really suits my personality and multidisciplinary approach to craft. My role at Canva consists of providing creative guidance and creative problem-solving. My favorite project so far was creating design kits for professional branding designers. I also really enjoy Canva’s “Force For Good” initiative, where we are able to use our creative skills for a good cause – not long ago I had an opportunity to design and paint a mural in Foster House. That was super rewarding!
What’s your creative process like and how do you approach creative collaboration?
I love research and learning new things and observing, but I do believe it’s super important to step away from all the content we consume, while we’re in the creative process. This allows my mind to get very quiet and see through the noise of ideas. After doing that I also think I am most equipped to be a great collaborator.
Where do you find your creative inspiration?
Everywhere! Traveling brings ideas out of me, which makes so much sense as we’re very relaxed while we’re traveling, I think that’s the key - being relaxed. I also try to expose myself to as many creative things as I can, online but also galleries, events, creative people, music, hospitality.
What would be a dream project to work on for you?
I would really love to work on a series of record covers – it’s such a bucket list project! One day!
What has been one of the most challenging projects you’ve worked on and what did you learn from it?
Earlier this year I was working on proof-of-concept illustrations for this short film and that was so exciting and interesting but also such an unknown territory. It’s still in progress.
What advice would you give to artists and designers just starting out or looking to strengthen their practice?
Don’t limit yourself by thinking that something won’t work; always actually try. You’ll learn so much from the process of making, it will probably open another door for future opportunities!
Thank you for sharing with us Maria! To view more of Maria’s work, visit her website or Instagram, and check out her fashion label at herclolab.com.
Maria was nominated by Canva. All art courtesy of Maria Izvestkina.