Industrial designer Isabella Smolarski dras inspiration from her Swedish and Filipino roots. Her artworks hold a beautiful aesthetic and we appreciate them even more when learning how they honour her cultural heritage. Isabella Smolarski's work is a testament to that art is more than what meets the eye.
Isabella Smolarski
What do you call your series of artworks?
– The name of this series is Baybayin, which is the name of the beautiful, curvy, pre-colonial script in the Philippines where my mom is from.
What technique have you used?
– The name of this series is Baybayin, which is the name of the beautiful, curvy, pre-colonial script in the Philippines where my mom is from.
What inspired you to create the artworks you have made for The Ode To?
– I've spent the last few years reconnecting with my Filipino roots after growing up thinking that the Swedish or American way of doing something, feeling, thinking and simply being was the only correct way.
Baybayin is an ode to all the progress I've made on this journey.
When I was little, there weren't a lot of artists or designers who looked like me, but I'm happy to see that's finally changing. The more I learn about what it means to be a 'Third Culture Kid' and learn from other creatives with similar experience, the bigger my sense of community grows.
Can you tell us about your background and how you came to be an artist?
– My grandfather was a patent sketch illustrator and artist who taught me how to draw and always encouraged me to find new perspectives on everyday objects and stay curious about why things are the way they are. After growing up in both Sweden and the US, I ended up back in Sweden and studied industrial design at university.
I love combining Swedish and Filipino design traditions and often inspiration from the way light interacts with various materials because of my life-long love of photography.
How would you describe your art and aesthetics in three words?
– Impatient, curious, and warm.
