We catch up with the amazingly talented artist, whose epic oil paintings combine traditional styles with contemporary concepts and subjects. Check out Iva’s work here and her Creative Giants project here.
Q: How does the flexibility of working in multimedia formats help
addressing working with a tight brief?
A: This kind of environment is the new normal. I am often surprised at how many artists brag about being "purist" [as in avoiding anything unconventional, digital, etc]. Open-mindedness is the one thing all great artists have in common. I can't imagine how miserable I would feel if I wasn't able to cross freely from one discipline to another.
Having to stick to one medium, a specific tool, a singular style, or form of expression would drive me crazy. I am the opposite of a "purist", the more multi-disciplinary the better. The busier I am, the harder it gets to find time to explore new software or add a 9th language to my vocabulary, but working with partners like Creative Giants makes it all worthwhile.
The infamous Infinite Master Piece we worked on together would have been impossible to realise if it wasn't for multidisciplinary skill sets.
Q: What one thing would you advise to someone to help them become a
top creative in their field?
A: Honestly? Just keep learning and don't listen to anyone who is trying to define you! Nobody knows what's inside you and what you are capable of. Nobody else can have your experiences, it's a scientific fact.
If in doubt, turn to history and science. And, above all, embrace failure as much as you can. It's the greatest thing in the world. The fear of failure everyone feels in the beginning of their career has nothing to do with the creative mind. Artistic failure doesn't exist in the art world, it was replaced with personal failure to make exploitation possible.
Anything a famed artist produces, however bad, must be marketable. The creative industry is addicted to the majority of creatives not being paid, just because it's easier and more lucrative to maintain an elite of diluted brands. It has nothing to do with you.
Fail, learn from failing, and fail again. It's the nature of the long game. Trust me! I am a world expert in artistic failure. it says so in my PhD diploma!
"There are two things that need to intertwine in the emergence of true art: Skill and Ideology, or Philosophy if you wish. Philosophy without skill is like a dancer without limbs, and skill without philosophy is empty. The day you figure out how to make these two work in tandem to tell your story is the day you become an artist. The rest is
education."
