Campazine
#Inspire & Be Inspired
Abigail Asrina: " I realised that sometimes being myself is not so bad."
Name: Abigail Asrina
Age: 20
Nationality: Malaysian
Occupation: Student
Instagram: @kecik_art
This young lady has impressed me not only with her talent, but also her kindness, sincerity, and attitude towards art-- something I could easily feel during the conversation with her.
Every art begins with a story, with a spark, with a thought, this is what I'd like to know and share it with you. Each and every piece of art is named after a terminology from either one of the three languages she likes the most-- English, Japanese and French to describe the feelings she had when she first saw the person who she was going to draw, and she would like to leave the rest for you to imagine.
I've always believe a Chinese saying of 相由心生, meaning the physiognomy from the heart. You'd look like who you really are, people can feel it, your action would prove it, and your face can show it. I guess this is how I would conclude from her drawings. They are arts that leave a lot of imagination for you, yet it feels so genuine, from the emotions shown on their face, their feelings, their stories, as if the people are truly being honest to themselves. In today's society, honesty seems like a luxury, but at least, you can be honest towards your feelings, can't you?
I hope you enjoy.
Epoch
(language: English) (n.)
a particular period of time in a history or a person’s life.
Aventurière
(language: French; feminine word) (n.)
a person who seeks adventure, a soldier of fortune.
When did you start drawing and how did you get started?
I've been drawing since I was small, but it was mostly doodling and scribbling random things.
I picked up the hyperrealistic portrait style when I was in Form 4, which is back in 2011, because my Sejarah teacher asked if I could draw his face. Turns out I could draw portraits well and I have been working on it ever since.
So how has it actually evovled into 'kecik art' (small drawings) and what inspired you on that?
I like working on tiny sizes because of the challenges I get in order to create something so small yet so realistic on paper (besides the fact that I am obsessed with tiny things). Normally we'd see artists working on a really huge portrait scale, so I opted for the opposite. it also became more convenient for me as I don't need to search for huge canvases or drawing blocks. All I need to do is to draw miniature portraits on whatever sketchbooks I have with me.
Note: Follow her on Instagram, you'd see how small the painting is.
Is that the reason you like to design cursor as well? As you like something that is tiny!
Yes, exactly! I even collect ear studs, to add to my obsession. (laughs)
Solitude
(language: English) (n.)
a state of seclusion or isolation, emphasizing the quality of feeling or being lonely.
Sonder
(language: English) (n.)
the realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own.
What do you think is the best reward for an artist?
It would be seeing people saying they feel inspired by you, and their efforts to do the same. It just lets you know that your ideas and originality are worth sharing and expressing, and that some people can actually relate to it.
A few of my instagram followers even started to follow my style of mini portraits, and whenever they were done they would tag me in their posts. And just to see those drawings are so cool because it means there are people who actually love what I am doing. So for once, it doesn't make me feel ostracised or lonely. Because through my art, I'm accepted by others. That is my best reward.
There are often people who love art but are reluctant to pay for it. Does this demotivate you? What's your opinion on people who often take art as granted?
I personally think they are just not properly exposed to the artistic world and its contents. I don't feel demotivated, and I don't blame them because perhaps they simply don't know the value of the art itself, and the hard work poured passionately into it by the artist.
Devinette
(language: French; feminine word) (n.)
riddle, a question or statement so framed as to exercise one's ingenuity in answering it or discovering its meaning; conundrum.
Boketto
(language: Japanese) (n.)
the act of gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking.
Are you looking yourself making art as a living in the future?
Why not? I always imagine myself as a non-fiction book illustrator and writer.
Something like author Haruki Murakami and illustrator Junji Ito when put together. It is actually one of my life goals. #lifegoals (laughs)
Taking from a realistic perspective, do you agree with Pierre-Auguste Renoir's saying that 'the greatest award one should give an artist is to buy his work'?
No, I don't agree. For some artists, the greatest award would be to buy their works but for me, the greatest award would be to respect my artistic works. Because behind each artwork there is a story-- it could be done when I was feeling sad, or feeling extremely happy and highly motivated, or it could have been done when I couldn't sleep at 2a.m. and decided to draw it on paper instead. That's why I believe each work should be treated with respect but not just by its price tag.
So is this the way you choose which people to draw because their movies or songs make you feel something?
Yes, or sometimes it is their facial expressions or features. I choose people based on what society might call flaws, or differences that they usually find weird or odd. Because there is just a diverse spectrum of people's faces that I see everywhere on the Internet or on Tumblr.
And there is this saying by C.S. Lewis that goes "You don't own a coul, you are the soul. You own a body". This led me to see people more than just their outer features, but also what they actually carry in their image, which is something I like to show in my art.
Modesty
(language: English) (n.)
freedom from vanity and arrogance, of pure simplicity and moderation.
Yugen
(language: Japanese) (n.)
an awareness of the universe that triggers emotional awareness too deep and mysterious for words.
What do you think is your biggest achievement as an artist so far?
Uh biggest achievement... It is tough for me to decide because chasing my passions has earned me numerous support and opportunities I will never forget.
There were magical moments of achievements like being acknowledged by singer Yuna, Zee Avi, actress Zoe Saldana and even former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir. But the most recent achievement, which was collaborating with Suria KLCC to draw a portrait for this year's International Women's Day is my personal favourite and what I would call my biggest achievement. This is because it was my first proper art exhibition, and I was able to work with empowering women whose background stories were all equally inspiring.
I remember being worried that my interpretation of the portrait would not be well-received by the public, but I was told how they liked it even more in person-- the smooth strokes and the hand of the artist, things I don't bother to notice because I was the one sitting in front of the drawing day and night until the day of the submission.
So feedbacks like that taught me never to take small details for granted, and it was an eye-opening and amazing experience for me.
Épuisée
(language: French; feminine word) (n.)
Exhausted.
Kyouka Suigetsu
(language: Japanese) (n.)
lit. “flower in the mirror, moon on the water”, something that is visible but cannot be touched; the subtle and profound beauty of poems and such that cannot be described in words.
How the failures you have faced along the way make you come this far?
I was once a loser in high school. I was (and still am) the type of person who finds it hard to fit in easily in social circles, so I tend to withdraw to my own world. Even if I did try to fit in back then, I was still very insecured and I was not being myself. I mostly copied others and I even plagiarised an artwork at one time. It was a horrible phase for me. But as I discover myself more and more through art, I realised that sometimes being myself is not so bad.
Plus I was really naive back then, and artworks then were mostly the doodle kinds and cute itsy-bitsy types. I did not possess that kind of imagination required for doodling. I thought drawing portraits was uncool and really subjective, so that was why I kept that skill hidden inside me until I discovered that it can actually turn out to be mega-amazing. You know, different people are just cut out to do different and unique things.