Hello dear Katarina, we are so happy to welcome you in our virtual space, SoulHints, where beautiful souls meet to exchange energy and ideas, and to unconditionally inspire each other. Tell us a little more about yourself - when and how did you start doing this business and in what direction is your “career” moving now? Is being a designer simply a job for you or a lifestyle? Is there a difference between Katarina as a designer and Katarina outside of her creations?
Katarina Zlajic is a designer, vegan, lover of nature, plants, animals, life in general, creative in daily life. My first experiments and trials happened in the last year of my studies. I’d simply learnt through my own experience. Many failed attempts, and then even more of those amazingly unique ones. Although I had no idea where exactly it would take me, today I certainly enjoy what I’m doing and the path I’m on. At the moment, I am working on a creation of my long-awaited studio and several more self-initiated projects. It is always important to me that I enjoy whatever I do. Katarina is always Katarina wherever she is and whatever she does.
I know that nature is the absolute and ultimate inspiration for you. What is your contact with nature? What are the emotions, inspirations, feelings that the nature awakens in you and in yours creations? How the nature of Montenegro, a country of strong natural contrasts, shaped your character and your art?
When I am in the natural environment, I feel an incredibly great connection and unity with everything that exists. It brings me back to the present moment and to the fact that only here and now is all that matters. And then, when I let myself observe, I realize how beautifully balanced everything is, how everything works perfectly and that everything is exactly as it should be. I surrender to the feeling of wind, rain, touch, feel under my fingers the texture of a tree, the sound of birds, the color of the sky or the smell of a flower, for me it is everyday life that gives me an indescribable feeling of inner peace and happiness. With that feeling of joy, ideas and creativity come completely spontaneously, so much that sometimes I don’t know what should I start creating the first. My character and my art are one and the same, what I make with my hands fully reflects my character - everything that I am, there is no hiding, the way I feel is how I express myself.
For me, your products (I would rather call them artworks) are really small packaged moments of your aura, which, when worn become a part not only of someone’s style, but also attitude, as well as cultural and social identity. How do you experience your creations? For who are you creating (is there an ideal image of your “target” for you?)? And is it hard to separate from some of your pieces sometimes (considering that there are a lot of them that are unique and you don’t repeat them at all)?
I could not imagine life without creativity. In fact, we are all born creative and use our innovation and creativity to negotiate life. Life is energy, everything is energy, and the energy of my design pieces attracts new experiences, transformations, freedom, knowledge. When you wear them, you feel beautiful and loved, you can feel the energy of freedom and know that you are unique and amazing. For me, the creative process itself is the greatest pleasure and the highlight of everything. Everyone who decides to wear something I make is aware that they are carrying a part of me woven into that piece - because that’s how we communicate on various levels, share knowledge, experiences, love and in the end. It makes me happy that people recognize the subtle energies and want to be a part of them.
What is the most important aspect of your creations? Is it a material, a specific technique with which do you process the same, or inevitably both? What does your creative process look like - what are the stages from an idea / concept to the realization of one of your creations?
It is absolutely a combination of both. The material itself is specific because it cannot be manipulated, more precisely I have to adapt to it and I really liked that. At first, when you look at the solution, as a ready-made product with its own purpose, it seems quite limiting. And yet, from the very beginning until today, I discovered so many techniques of making it as my style. I always draw ideas in my head, never on paper, and that turned out to be the best for me in all cases. By that, I mean that when I have an idea in my head and I want to and I start the creative process, there is a lot of unpredictability, and I adore it, as in life, I let myself go. Maybe in the end it is not an identical sketch from my head, but it is certainly authentic and completely ME.
