Interview with Nora Krug

Q)Something about you…what you want…

A)Difficult question...I want to be happy with what I do and find out who I am. That's why I draw.

Q) What are your main goals when you create?

A)To create something I couldn't have created before and to put all my thoughts and sincere feelings into it. My personal work should always express whoever I am in that particular moment.

Q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

A)Both. I often try to find out what I want my work to look like and then how I can achieve that. But at the same time I'm trying to be as free and intuitive as possible. It's like yoga: you have to be relaxed and concentrated at the same time.

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

A)The Internet is the main tool to spread my work. I got a lot of jobs from it. I think it's the best way to have your work seen by a broad audience.

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A)When someone asks I always tell them I can't describe it. I'm too close to it in order to be able to describe it. I also often change my 'style' whenever I feel like it's getting too easy for me. I have to struggle when I work, in order to find out new ways of expressing myself. Without constantly looking for that I would be bored. That's why I think it might be hard for me to describe what my 'style' looks like. I feel like I have too many different ways of working in order to pin it down to just one.

Q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

A)Sometimes colour pencil, sometimes collage, sometimes computer colouring, I like trying all kinds of materials. It also depends on the particular assignment and mood of the piece.

Q) What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

A)a) I love the taste of raw things: sashimi, tartar, egg yolk, oysters.
b) I love all kinds of music, especially the one where I feel that the interpreter expresses exactly what I want to express in my visual work. I like the sound of wind.
c) My favourite sight is probably the look of the faces of the people close to me. And my dog.
d) My partner!

Q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

A)I'm working on a book for a Belgian publisher and on a comic strip for an American magazine. Other than that I'm working on several commercial assignments and I'm a professor for illustration at a university in Germany.

Q) Do you listen to music while you’re creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

A)When I work on the conceptual side of a piece I listen to classical music, especially Bach. When I work on finishing the piece I often listen to audio plays on the BBC website.

Q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

A)Yes, from everything I experience like movies, music, books, people. I absorb them and express them in my work, but mostly unconsciously so.

Q)Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

A)My art materials, BBC audio plays, intriguing stories and people that I base some of my work on.

Q) Where have you show your art…?

A)In many different galleries mostly in the USA and Europe, but also Asia.

Q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

A)Publish a graphic novel. And a lot of things that have nothing to do with illustration and art.

Q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

A)Without it your work wouldn't be seen.

Q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

A)Only when I create a story on a particular person. Other than that I think my work is influenced by that only subconsciously.

Q) Favourite book?

A)Many. One recent one was 'What I loved' by Siri Hustved.

Q) Designers/Artists you admire?

A)Saul Steinberg, Alan Cober, Lorenzo Mattotti, Steven Guarnaccia, Henrik Drescher, Martin tom Dieck, Blair Drawson and many more.

Q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

A) www.nora-krug.com