OPIA Art and Design Magazine

OPIA.COM 

1

EDITOR’S LETTER 

Photocredit to Loe Sunshine miami design district psyho fashion 

Welcome to our first spring issue of OPIA. This issue will be 

dedicated to people who is related to the fashion industry 

that why we call it FASHION IS MY PROFESSON. I have 

been interveiwing and publishing stories on creatives for 

almost a year, but today I would like to share one of the biggest 

passions of mine, fashion. 

We want to share true and inpiring stories that young 

desiners are bringing to the big world today. One of my 

personal favourite story is about street fashion of older generation 

founded by my classmate Igor Gavar, who changed 

everyone perseption of beauty. His photograhs always made 

me happy and I am very pround to share them with you. 

One of our biggest chalanges in life is to stay true to 

yourself and enjoy what you love to do. All of the stories in 

this issue are based on true passion of proffecion related to 

fashion. 

I hope all together we will inspire you to make things 

happen keep your passion going to the right direction. 

I love people, conversations and beautiful things. 

Cheers to you, 

Editor-in-Chief 

As we prepare for the transition to our Spring 2017 issue. 

The weather is finally treating us with love and our issue is if 

full of color and fresh ideas from new artists and designers. 

We’d like to take this time to express our gratitude to the 

staff members who helped with this issue of OPIA 

Nicole Aizaga - photographer 

Bryan Berkowitz – entertainment editor 

Ashlee Bradbury - recruiter 

Beryl Ayn Young - photographer 

Allyson Heisler – entertainment editor 

Tad Kasiak – administrative news editor 

Malisa Tang – social media manager 

Stephanie Kraus – senior news reporter 

Michelle Trincia – multimedia editor 

Monica Trobagis – copy editor 

Ksenia Slavina 

Joy Wedge – copy editor 

Thank you for the time and effort you invested in OPIA 

Fashion is my profession issue of April 2017 

2 FASHION IS MY PROFESSION / ISSUE 12

CONTRIBUTERS 

Beryl Ayn Young 

Copy Editor 

Serves as chief photography muse over on her personal 

blog and serves as teacher of photography courses 

aimed at nourishing the mind, body, and soul. After 

her first daughter Bella Rose was stillborn at 20 weeks 

in September of 2009 she turned to her camera to fill 

the void in her heart. Out of her experiences the Illuminate 

e-course was born, a photography class exploring 

creative art, healing, and connection after miscarriage, 

stillbirth or infant loss. Beryl believes in feeding the spirit 

with lifelong learning, photographic healing, & a glass 

half full perspective. In addition to Illuminate, Beryl leads 

other photography classes and offers one one one photo 

coaching aimed at teaching you how to improve your 

camera skills and cherish life’s journey. 

Carrie Bat tan 

Writer 

She has contributed to the New York Times, 

Opia, New York magazine, GQ, Rolling Stone, 

and the Web site Pitchfork, where she worked 

as a staff writer from 2011 to 2014. She lives in 

Brooklyn. 

Nathan Heller 

Writer 

He began contributing to The New Yorker in 2011, and 

joined the magazine as a staff writer in 2013. He has written 

on a range of subjects, including online education and 

the TED Conference. He is also a film and television critic, 

and a contributing editor, at Vogue. Previously, he was a 

columnist for Slate, where he was a finalist for a National 

Magazine Award for essays and criticism. 

Allyson Hobbs 

Writer 

She is an associate professor of American 

history and the director of African and African-American 

studies at Stanford University. 

Her first book, “A Chosen Exile: A History of 

Racial Passing in American Life,” published 

by Harvard University Press in 2014, won two 

prizes from the Organization of American 

Historians: the Frederick Jackson Turner Award 

for the best first book in American history and 

the Lawrence W. Levine Award for the best 

book in American cultural history. The book 

was selected as a Times Book Review Editor’s 

Choice, a Best Book of 2014 by the San Francisco 

Chronicle, and a Book of the Week by the 

Times Higher Education in London. The Root 

named “A Chosen Exile” among its “Best 15 

Nonfiction Books by Black Authors in 2014.” 


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CONTENTS 

63 OLDUSHKA 

FEATURES 

INTERVEIW 

78 

ITALIAN STYLE 

93 

REGULARS 

18 EDITORS NOTES 

Fashion is my profeccion 

12 COLOR OF HAPPINESS 

Editors picks 

36 AROUND THE WORLD 

Essentials for travelers. 

What should you always have 

with you while traveling 

42 DIY patterns 

Lilian Savay 

46 DESIGN FORUM 

Upcoming fashion stars 

48 MY INSPIRATION 

How do you get inspired? 

53 ARTISTS ESSENTIALS 

Essentials for a creative soul. 

What do you keep in your 

studio? 

58 Visual design 

Secrets from Anthropologie 

NO BAD HAIR DAYS 

Sasha Nesterchuk 

117 

DRESS ME UP 


81 

NEW ART MEDIUM 

Ingre Jahanson “What do you you in your magazine?” 


5

REVIEWS 

Philip Argent and Adam Ross 

“Stacks and Subdivisions” 

Galerie Richard 

Galerie Richard in New York will bring togeter 

two Californian artists, Adam Ross and Philip 

Argent, in the show “Stacks and Subdivisions”. 

This is Argent’s first show with Galerie Richard 

and Ross’ 8th, his first show in the new space 

in the Lower East Side. This show refers to 

space and colors specifics to the West Coast 

and to the interference of the digital world 

in it. The title refers to computer servers and 

rapily changing technology, as both artists were 

amongst the first painters who visualized how 

the experience of digitalized and manipulated 

images in our daily life was changing our relation 

to painting. 

Both artists seem to dip into the swift flow of 

digital information and balance that energy 

and stress by fixing one moment with care. 

The surgical precision of Philip Argent 

delimitations of spaces in acrylic, the variety 

of methods, from traditional painting methods 

to splatter painting and rubber-stamping are 

rich and time-consuming processes. 

The same with Adam Ross painwtings adding 

one layer of oil paint, letting it dry, then sanding 

it and adding another layer and so on In order 

to get this effect of light and darkness coming 

from inside the painting. 

Philip Argent paintings feel digital, composition 

is sharp and angular, and the colors Argent 

uses in his work range from a deep, almost 

blue-black, to a sickly radioactive orange. 

They seem to be various territories 

assembled together in one specific frame. 

Yellow, suggests spectral digital images. These 

works could represent an abstract representation 

of a future L.A., with rising sea levels, the 

artist hometown becoming tiny islands bursting 

with color in a rich sea of purple 

Philip Argent, Adam Ross 

Stacks and Subdivisions show 


WHAT’S 

NEW? 

Chris Johanson 

“Possibilities” 

Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery 

Mitchell-Innes & Nash presents Chris Johanson: 

Possibilities, an exhibition of new paintings and 

works on paper on view in an immersive installation 

at the gallery’s Chelsea space from April 

6 through May 13. Possibilities will be Jhanson’s 

second solo exhibition at Mitchell-Innes & Nash. 

Chris Johanson. Psiibilities 

Dona Nelson 

“Models stand 

close to the 

paintings” 

Thomas Erben Gallery presents 

models stand close to the paintings, 

an exhibition of new constructed 

paintings by Dona Nelson. Praised 

for her two-sided canvases that 

incorporate a wide range of techniques 

and materials, Nelson has 

established herself as an artist 

committed to thoroughly exploring 

the unfolding possibilities of her 

practice, wherever they may lead. 

The exhibition features a series of 

new freestanding works, in which 

Nelson has attached two paintings 

to a square base in parallel. These 

“boxes” are exhibited in front of a 

selection of works hanging on the 

walls, including older pieces from 

Nelson’s career that contextualize 

this culmination of her processes. 

Nelson is well-regarded for her radical 

originality with her double-sided 

paintings, in which she plays with 

the stains that bleed through the 

Thomas Erben Gallery 

canvas. In these works, Nelson’s 

process reveals the two picture 

plains as fundamentally and materially 

interdependent. For the new 

constructions, however, Nelson 

has doubled down on this process 

by assembling two double-sided 

paintings to face one another. In 

each of these canvases, figures 

appear enveloped by a variety of 

processes and materials. In By the 

Yard, for instance, a man is seated 

with arms outstretched, as if holding 

a book. The smooth surface 

of his black clothing is in contrast 

to both the rough untreated linen, 

as well as the colored thread and 

dotted paint that run through the 

surface. Due to the design of the 

base, the rear of the opposite 

painting is seen behind the person, 

where flat planes of colored 

paint produce a loosely articulated 

second figure. 

Dona Nelson. Models stand close to paintings 


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FEATURE 



9

Old 

ush 

THE FIRST MODELING 

AGENCY FOR ELDERLY 

ka 

IGOR GAVAR 

photograph, founder of Oldushka 

My grandmother gave me a lot, 

taught me a lot: to instil a love 

of order and all living things. 

She gave me a lot of love and 

I love her very much

Photograph by Igor Gavar CEO Modeling Agency OLDUSHKA 


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FEATURE 

how 

it all 

began 

THE STORY OF OLDUSHKA 

by Aleksandra Volosova 

Oldushka-started as a photo project, exploring the image of 

modern seniors in the context of street fashion teling about 

the stylistic and taste preferences, features the multiple 

colors of the older generation. Participants of the project are 

random people walking down the street selected for their 

style. The brightness of their style attracted the attention 

of the photographer. 

It’s no secret that we’re youth-obsessed. Take a trip to your 

local drugstore’s beauty aisle and, passing shelf upon shelf 

of wrinkle creams and age-defying serums, you’ll get an idea 

of what society expects from a person, usually a woman, as 

they age: It’s their duty to diminish, conceal, firm and lift all 

tell-tale signs of the passage of time and, when all that fails, 

it’s their duty to become invisible. 

Fortunately for fashion and society, not all older generations 

are willing to go gently into that good night. In fact, 

there’s an entire modelling agency in Russia dedicated to 

celebrating the beauty and vitality of individuals over the 

age of fifty-five. 

Oldushka is the passion project and personal mission of 

29-year-old photographer Igor Gavar. After graduating 

college, Gavar returned to his hometown of Omsk, Siberia, 

and created a street-style blog. While he initially thought 

he’d mainly feature local students, he found himself increasingly 

attracted to the sartorial choices and tastes of the 

city’s older generations. Gavar decided to follow his instinct 

and relaunched his site as a showcase of senior style. The 

new direction for the site required an entirely new word. 

Oldushka a portmanteau of “old” and “babushka,” fit the 

bill. On their own, those words would probably sting — for 

example, “babushka,” the Russian word for grandmother, 

doesn’t elicit associations of haute couture centrefolds and 

Paris fashion week — but when combined, the result is 

cheeky, playful and even slightly enigmatic, much like the 

women and men Gavar photographs. 

In March, six years after he started his style blog and 

caught the attention of major brands like Sony and Russian 

culture magazines like Bosco, Gavar opened Oldushka 

Modeling Agency. Now, instead of just seeking out and 

photographing Russia’s unique seniors, he’s trying to 


Photography by Alexandr Shevrin 


13

FEATURE 

14 FASHION IS MY PROFESSION / ISSUE 12 

Photography by Igor Gavar

“Not everybody can 

stay fit at 60, keep 

their natural 

eyebrows and 

gray hair” 


15

FEATURE 

convince others in the fashion industry to photograph them 

as well. 

The agency currently represents seven models: five 

women and two men between the ages of 60 and 78, all of 

whom were handpicked by Gavar and entirely inexperienced. 

But Oldushka’s models didn’t stay green for long. 

Many have already booked work, including the agecy’s 

oldest talent, 78-year-old Valeriya, who appeared in a 

campaign for Russia’s 2x2 television channel. The fashion 

industry is also taking notice: Oldushka model Olga was 

recently named the face of Cyrille Gassiline’s spring/summer 

2016 collection. 

Oldushka isn’t an absolute outlier, though. In just the 

past year, designers and fashion insiders have been making 

strides expanding their representations of beauty and cool. 

Perpetual rule-breaker Marc Jacobs has taken to 

populating his ad campaigns with bold icons of a certain 

age, naming 70-year-old Bette Midler as one of the stars 

of his spring/summer 2016 campaign and rounding out his 

fall/winter 2016 roster with a pink-haired Sissy Spacek, 66, 

and the utterly seductive Susan Sarandon, 69. 

For his most recent “Undercover” show at Paris Fashion 

Week, Japanese designer Jun Takahashi focused on age as 

a theme, sending out senior models in ornate headpieces 

and oversized coats. 

With as much progress as there’s been, it simply isn’t 

enough. For every one Kate Spade ad starring 94-year-old 

fashion horse Iris Apfel, there are a thousand other campaigns 

exalting and fetishising near-adolescent bodies. 

What began as a visual catalog of older women’s street 

fashion, confidence and flamboyance quickly spiralled into 

a phenomenon, spawning two photo books, editorial shoots, 

an adult coloring book and a documentary. This proves 

there is a clear public demand for people who look great, not 

necessarily young. Oldushka proves the world is full of men 

and women who reject the notion that ageing comes with 

fear and shame – men and women like Olga, Galina, Boris 

and Valeriya, who refuse to hide or fade away. We just need 

to choose to see them. 

My grandmother gave me a lot, she taught me many 

things, instilled the love of order and all living things. 

She gave me a lot of love and I love her very much”. 

In Russia, elderly women are usually expected to forget 

about fashion and watch their grandchildren. Not 71 year 

old Olga Kondrasheva, who is fighting stereotypes by 

modelling for a glossy magazine. 

“I’m over 70 now but my life is just beginning and it’s so 

interesting,” says Kondrasheva, slim and sporting wavy 

white hair, a few minutes before a studio photoshoot for 

the Russian edition of Cosmopolitan magazine in central 

Moscow. With a lifelong zest for adventure, she used to take 

part in zoological expeditions to study wildlife across Russia 

and has worked as an extra in films. 

She admits she “never trained as a model”, but says she has 

“always been fascinated by this line of work”. “I’m discovering 

a totally new side to myself. When I’ve had my hair and 

make-up done and I’ve got a nice outfit on and there’s some 

lovely music playing, it’s wonderful,” she enthuses. 

Kondrasheva found herself posing for the cameras thanks 

to an agency Oldushka launched by photographer Igor 

Gavar. “I wanted to show that older people can work in the 

fashion industry and they can be beautiful, even with wrinkles 

and white hair,” he says. 

The site serves as an informal modelling agency by 

showcasing studio shots of Gavar’s elderly subjects, who like 

catwalk queens a quarter of their age have been spotted in 

all kinds of places, on the street, in a supermarket, and even 

a dance floor. Gavar has managed to organise numerous 

photoshoots for his dozen or so “muses”such as a 80-year- 

old former air stewardess Irina Denisova and 64-year-old 

Lyudmila Brazhkina, a retired engineer. 

Several striking silver-haired men are also on Oldushka’s 

books, though of those who have scored shoots in Russian 

fashion catalogues, magazines and advertisements so far, 

all but one have been women. 

Like a little holiday 

The retirement age in Russia is 55 for women and 60 

for men. Many continue working long afterwards out of 

economic necessity-and few look forward to retirement, 

knowing that years of money worries likely lie ahead. 

The average pension in Russia is only around $200 per 

month, but Oldushka allows its models to “earn a little bit 

extra,” Gavar says. He and the model split the fees for any 

shoots secured through the website, which have so far 

ranged from $40 to $300. 

They say the work gives women a new lease of life and a 

confidence boost at a time when their main role in Russian 

society as “babushkas” or grandmas is to provide large 

amounts of free childcare. “It brightens up my life. Doing 

this is always so joyful, so positive,” says Brazhkina. “And 

I enjoy being viewed in a different way during the photoshoots, 

not the way I see myself in the mirror. It’s like a 

little holiday!” she says, smiling. 

Oldushka modeling agency 

photography by Igor Gavar 

makeup Olga Moon 




makeup Anastasia Selezneva 

Enormous potential 

Old age has been enjoying something of a moment in global 

fashion as feminists challenge traditional beauty standards 

and as the West comes to grips with an ageing population. 

Last year French label Celine chose 82-year-old author Joan 

Didion as its new face, while Dolce & Gabbana, American 

Apparel and Saint Laurent have all featured 

elderly models in recent campaigns. 

Russia faces a similar demographic trend as developed 

Western countries, with nearly a quarter of the population 

currently over retirement age, a figure expected to rise to 

27 percent by 2025 - 9.9 million people, according to the 

health ministry. 

Eduard Karyukhin, head of the Dobroye Delo (“Good Deed”) 

an organisation that works with elderly people, 

says that the stereotype of a retired woman who stays at 

home and looks after the grandchildren is changing. 

Elderly people have enormous potential, they just need 

help with organising their leisure activities. 

The women involved in Oldushka said family members 

sometimes find it hard to understand their new pastime.”My 

husband was very angry at first. He kept asking me: what are 

you doing this for?” said Kondrasheva. “But then he saw this 

was making my life interesting with lots of activity and it was 

keeping me fit. And now he is supportive.” 



makeup Anastasia Selezneva 


17

FEATURE 



19

INTERVIEW 


New York Fashion Week 

hair Alexandra Nesterchuk 

makeup Victor Suvnik

HAIR 

meet with fashion hairstylist 

no bad 

ALEXANDRA SASHA 

NESTERCHUK 

DAYS 

by Carrie Battan 


21

INTERVIEW 

Now looking back since 5, 

my grandma shaved my head and I 

was discovered as a house hair model 


How did you get started? 

It is the only career I have ever done or 

wanted to do. 

Tell me about your life changing after became 

a celebrity beauty expert & hair stylist. 

I definitely have more airline miles! Things have 

gotten much bigger and busier for me, I call it 

“grateful busy.” I have gotten the opportunity 

to attend events and parties that I only used 

to dream about, and through drive and intent 

I have manifested this life. My life has changed 

for the better. 

Which celebrities have you personally 

worked with? 

Some of the celebrities that I am allowed to 

mention are Giada DeLaurentiis, Jackie Warner, 

Jeana Keough, Jessica Meraz, and 

Richard Kind. 

Who is your style icon? 

Sarah Jessica Parker. 

What is your number one beauty tip? 

Number one hair care tip? 

Beauty tip: Spray the hair under your headband 

with hairspray, texturizing spray, or dry shampoo 

before putting it on your head and it will never 

slip off again in yoga, pilates, or at the gym. Hair 

care tip: To save your blowout for the next day, 

put your hair in a pineapple (flip upside down, 

rake your hair into a top knot on top of your 

head and secure with a soft hair tie) and if you 

are going to use a blow dryer the next day for 

styling any little flaws, DO NOT use warm or hot 

heat, only cool. The heat will break down the 

bonds and straighten or flatten any bounce you 

were trying to save! 


23

INTERVIEW 

2 

FASHION IS MY PROFESSION 

previous page 

hair Alexandra Nesterchuk 

photography by Leonard Twon 

makeup Nikky Mnray

What are the trendiest styles in Hollywood today? 

Lived-in hair. I call it “air hair.” Apply a styling product to 

your hair, dry your hair 80% (your hair will feel dry but cold 

to the touch), then finish with a texturizing spray or dry 

shampoo and let it air dry the rest of the way. This will give 

you that cool-and-I-know-it look! 

Alexandra Nesterchuk at work 

How can we do ‘Messy Bun’ at home? 

First, tie your hair in a ponytail at the desired height; hold it 

at the tip with one hand and gently back brush it with the 

other hand starting at the base of the pony working your way 

to the end (back brushing is just back combing but with… 

you guessed it, a brush). You should now have sexy, runaway 

strands sticking out all along the tail. Now, loosely twist the 

hair and wrap around the base and secure with a few bobby 

pins. Mess is more! 

How did you come up with 

‘Unbridled Braid’ look? 

And how can we do that? 

My client Jessica Meraz from ABC 

Family’s hit television show Chasing 

Life wanted a sexy and fresh look for 

her red carpet event, so we came up 

with this funky and chic version of the 

braid. To achieve this ultra cool look, 

use a texturizing spray on already 

flat hair (Jessica has a beautiful wavy 

texture naturally so I wanted to bring 

that texture out), now tease the crown 

for lift and then section the hair 

horizontally from the top of one ear to 

the top of the other ear. Take the top portion of the hair and 

sweep to one side and start a fishbone braid right behind 

the bottom of the ear. Now take the bottom section of the 

hair you left out and sweep to the side with the braid. Start 

incorporating a few sections of the that hair into the braid 

(this will keep the loose hair under the braid in place). To 

finish the look, I used a piece of leather to tie the end which 

gave it a total glam feel. To keep this unfussy look hot, make 

sure to leave out several strands around your face. You’ll 

have no problem finding a reason to braid this look into your 

spring season! 

“ I love 

everything 

about being 

a stylist 

“ 

Which hair/beauty products and tools 

are always in your kit? 

I always have Bumble and Bumble 

Prep, Redken Pillow Proof dry shampoo—it’s 

a must for any styling, I 

even use it on straight looks to give 

sexy lift at the base of the hair. Oribé 

Dry Texturizing spray, L’Oreal Elnett 

Satin Hairspray, Davines Oil Absolute 

Beautifying Potion for finishing and 

it smells delicious. Must-have tools: 

Bobby pins (every girl should have a 

plethora of these little essentials and 

they should match YOUR hair color), 

a 1-1.5 inch curling iron/wand, and a 

mason pearson brush. 

What’s a celebrity hair secret we might not know 

about, but should? 

To get that red carpet or runway shiny hair that you 

see every celebrity and model with even after all 

the stress they put on their locks, just mix a silicone 

based shine serum with a deep conditioner 

and apply to your hair, leave it on for about 10-15 

minutes, then rinse out thoroughly with cool water 

to lock in the moisture and shine. Do this little 

secret the night before any big party! 


25

FEATURE 



27

FEATURE 


Self-portait 

Inge Jacobsen

contemporary 

stiTch 

by Nathan Heller 

Inge Jacobsen 

contemporary artist 

Traditionally, textile designers have been tucked 

away in studios like busy worker bees, producing 

library-loads of mostly anonymous designs, 

for which recognition is rare. 

But that’s not the case at the moment. There’s 

a new crop of textile artists creating vibrant and distinctive 

prints for homes. Their work is not going unnoticed–every 

retailer from Ikea to Fortnum & Mason is currently piling 

interiors sections high with print. 

The new breed of designers are tech and marketing 

savvy as well and, as a result, their work–and their names 

are becoming known to a much wider audience. 

Most of them run their own businesses, heavily driven 

by social media. And the process of digital printing has 

enabled them to produce small batches of experimental 

work so that they can collaborate with young furniture 

designers on reputation-making projects. 

Textile and furniture production has come on a long 

way and these designers are doing it for themselves I like 

to work in my home. It’s the sort of work that traditionally 

was done in the home and that is something I like. I usually 

work with music or in silence. It is important to stay focused 

and patient with embroidery. It is not something that is 

created in a fast paced frenzy. Also, because I work on 

paper it is too delicate for it to be rushed. I have done two 

major commissions that I am very proud of. In 2011/2012 

I worked with the Danish brand Georg Jensen and reenergised 

their 2012 campaign. I created 4 relatively small 

pieces for their display and 4 very large pieces for their 

windows. It was non-stop cross-stitching for 3 months. 


29

X 

FEATURE 

X 


X 

Inge Jacobsen. Vouge 

X 


31

X 

FEATURE 

Get your work out 

there as much as 

possible. Don’t be shy 

and believe in your 

work and your talent. 

I 

was lucky enough to have the Royal School of 

Needlework at Hampton Court Palace help me for 

2 weeks. I asked if their degree students would be 

interested in helping and we worked together to 

finish it. Recently I did a commission for American Express. 

I created my own interpretations of three of their cards; the 

Green, Gold and Platinum card. These were used on their 

social media platforms. 

Get your work out there as much as possible. Don’t be shy 

and believe in your work and your talent. I’m always surprised 

when I speak to artists that are trying to get noticed but do 

not have a website—it is so important to make it as easy as 

possible for the right people to see your work. 

Apply for group shows and competitions and utilise the 

internet as much as you can. Post your work/links to your 

work on communities that you think might be interested and 

don’t be afraid to email galleries/magazines and make some 

noise about yourself and your work. The worst thing that can 

happen is that they say “No”, then move on to the next. 

Magazines are my favourite resourcnge Jacobsen was 

born in Galway, Ireland. She attended Kingston University, 

London, where she studied Photography. She has worked 

as a professional artist since graduating in 2011. 

Jacobsen’s work has been exhibited in multiple shows 

around the world, from London to New York. In 2012 she 

was invited to exhibit alongside legendary YBA Sarah Lucas 

at Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio Shop as part of the ‘Selling 

Sex’ show. 

Inge’s other achievements include winning the Director’s 

choice award at the final Cork Street Exhibition in 2013 and 

being featured on countless websites, blogs and in over 40 

publications worldwide. These publications include mainstream 

art, design, fashion magazines and websites such as 

Vogue, Juxtapoz Magazine, Frankie Magazine and FAD. In 

2012 she was included in a list of the top 20 rising talents 

by a prominent Danish lifestyle magazine. 

In 2011 the world renowned luxury brand Georg Jensen, 

invited Jacobsen to re-energies their Spring/Summer 2012 

campaign. Her images were subsequently used in every 

Georg Jensen store and concession stand worldwide and 

represented the brand for 6 months. In Sydney, Australia 

the campaign was launched in association with Vogue, who 

included her work in their June 2012 issue. 

Recent commissions include American Express, who 

approached Jacobsen for her unique signature style and 

to offer a fresh perspective of three of their iconic cards, 

as part of an exciting new advertising campaign. These 

launched on all of their social media platforms in April 2014 

Jacobsen mainly uses found advertising imagery in her 

practice and uses thread as a way of physically intervening 

and appropriate their meaning. She calls this ‘hijacking’ the 

image and its intended message. 

I 

Inge Jacobsen Vogue Magazine, Passion 2015 



33

FEATURE 

Artist Inge Jacobsen combines found advertising imagery 

and thread to ‘hijack’ the image and its intended message. 

Originally from Galway, Inge’s family moved to Denmark 

when she was a child. She returned to the British Isles to 

study Photography at Kingston University, London and has 

worked as a professional artist since her graduation in 2011. 

Now based in Sussex, Inge has had several high profile 

commissions including work for renowned luxury brand 

Georg Jensen and more recently American Express. 

In this interview with Inge she tells us why her work isn’t 

decorative and reflects on the importance of staying 

focused and being patient. 

It was a way of working 

through the language 

barrier and a good 

way to make friends 

On top to bottom 

work by Inge Jacobsen 

Dazed Beyonce Back Cover 

New Look On Fashion 

Vouge Cover 

M 

y Danish Grandmother was very good at 

knitting and cross-stitching and taught me. 

Her sister, who I never had the opportunity 

to meet, created some very intricate and beautiful 

cross-stitched piece that would later influence my work. 

I was always interested in drawing and painting as a child 

but when my family and I moved from Ireland to Denmark 

I became much more focused on it. It was a way of working 

through the language barrier and a good way to make 

friends. 

I was able to draw from these experiences and influences 

once I started university in the UK where concepts meant 

a lot more than aesthetics.I studied art at college and then 

went on to do it at a degree level. I did one year in Fine Art 

and two years in Photography at Kingston University in 

the UK. You use a traditional technique to create very 

contemporary work. I started using it when I was in my first 

year at university. Before then I was very much a painter but 

at university I came across, and shared a studio, with some 

amazing painters and knew I didn’t want to be in competition 

with them. Also, university taught me that ideas were 

just as valuable as skill and thread was the best way for me 

to explore my ideas. 

The inspiration came from a cross-stitch piece a friend 

had made me many years ago when I was at school. 

e. I love flicking through magazines looking for an image to 

jump out at me that makes me want to rework it in some 

way. I’ve been lucky in that I have been approached by some 

fantastic people and galleries who have offered to show my 

work. I have turned shows down once or twice just because 

I didn’t feel that being part of those shows who send that 

right message of what my work is about. It’s important for 

me to have my work seen in the right context otherwise it 

can be mistaken for something decorative. There is not 

anything wrong with decorative art or craft but it’s not what 

my work is about and because embroidery is traditionally 

viewed as a hobbyist craft, it is important for me that my 

work isn’t labelled as such. I just finished a group show in 

Victoria, Australia at the Town Hall Gallery in Hawthorn. It 

was one of their most successful exhibitions and was really 

well received—I am very proud to have been a part of it. 

At the moment I am in talks with other galleries both 

nationally and internationally so for updates on where you 

can see my work next please visit my website. 


XX 

X 

Inge Jacobsen. Chanel 


35

OPIA Art and Design Magazine

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