Meet Maria Farré | Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Farré and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I always try to keep an element of risk in my daily life, and if I feel I am not taking any risks, it means I should go out and take some! Risk is what helps me learn and have fun at the same time in both my professional and personal life. I could even say that dealing with risk through creativity is one of the things I enjoy the most. Even though this process consists of going through emotions we normally try to avoid: doubt, vulnerability, and fear. I believe that going through these emotions in a moderate amount can have positive effects. As difficult as it is at times, risk gives me a way of creating stories, and so, it becomes a source of inspiration.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was born and raised in Barcelona, where I also completed my studies in Arts and Design. Some years after graduating, I moved to Ghent, Belgium to do a master’s in Illustration. The fact of moving to a new country had a significant impact on my path as an artist as well as my personal views. Before moving there, I had been able to find a voice as an illustrator, but I had difficulties in articulating it without the conceptual support provided by an assignment. In Belgium, I developed a different working process through my sketchbook based on observation and research. It requires more time to experiment, improvise and fail while drawing, but it also leads to more unexpected and interesting images, without the pressure of having a deadline. This process was also influenced by my experience of living in a different environment, and it became a way to slowly learn how to construct my own ideas and develop stories out of them. At the moment, I am excited working on how this new way of approaching drawing meets the more restricted illustration commissions.

Something I have been learning through the years and gradually became more relevant ever since I moved to a different country: the importance of having a close community of friends (both artists and non-artists) around me. I think that, especially during the creative process, being aware of and connected to your surroundings is essential to render a work valuable, engaging, and honest.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When friends come to visit me in Ghent, I first take them for a walk around the beautiful rivers and canals passing through the city. Ghent has a magical water layout as well as stunning nature and architecture. If the weather is good, it is quite possible to find free activities around the streets or in the parks. I do really appreciate the strong presence of neighborhood communities here, and everything they organize in the city. Some of my favorite activities are going to the farmers’ market every Saturday, and finding hidden live music shows.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First shoutout will go to the work of one of my friends back home in Barcelona, Clàudia Torrents. She has a very unique jewelry project named Arkivia where she combines the creation of jewelry pieces with the traditional techniques of printmaking. Her second collection is coming out this June, and it’s inspired by the sea and sirens. She created a series of pieces that convey mythology with contemporary reflections around femininity.

Here in Belgium, there are diverse initiatives which I closely follow. To name one: Vroom Space, a place in Brussels dedicated to experimental comics and contemporary drawing. It is run by a group of artists who, among other things, organize all kinds of activities to engage artists and jointly explore the different possibilities regarding the practice of drawing.

Website: https://www.mariafarre.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mariafarre