FAMILY BUSINESS

In her collections, Slovenian fashion designer Lucija Kejzar turns to her roots in a retort to contemporary fast fashion: opting for traditional tailoring techniques, textiles and details, she actualizes garments now only found in museums for the 21st century.

Plody Erlanu, the new Czech ceramic design studio led by David Střeleček, blurs the line between utility and aesthetics. Having established themselves with their cutting-edge vision brought to reality and now reaping the first fruits of their labor, this is one brand to certainly keep your eye on. Dive into today’s interview to learn about Plody Erlanu’s mission, approach and plans for the future.

Through paintings inhabited by enigmatic fluttering creatures, rippling with pleasant waveforms and a masterful play of surfaces, Czech painter Jakub Tytykalo teases the viewers' minds with subconscious imagery that materilizes a diferrent inner vision for each perceptive pair of eyes.

Having shifted from a comics book format to a more traditional approach to painting, Niklas Asker has taken to express with his art the mysterious elements of human existence. His masterful pieces touch on religion, spirituality and a sense of longing, and in today’s interview Niklas divulges his method and background that led to his current style.

SWARM Mag is a family with roots deep down some rich, dark, fertile places. We like to sift through the hidden, shiny onyx sands of up-and-coming creativity to dig out whatever is thriving down there and bring it to you. But how did this peculiar chemistry happen? In our newest editorial, you finally get to meet the SWARM family face to corpse paint.

The Czech designer Cindy Kutíková combines different crafts in expanding the conception of fashion design. Her thesis project, an outfit from 90.000 beads and 2.5km of thread, served as proof of concept for the interdisciplinary artist’s subsequent founding of a design brand. Today’s interview provides Cindy’s insight into the industry, her creative process and why she chose the traditional Czech format of glass beads.

The Iraqi-Slovak artist Karíma Al-Mukhtarová uses the techniques of embroidery and ceramics to explore a wide spectrum of topics. Be it the myriad masks everyone wears in a single day, questions of truth coded into body language, or even her complex heritage, the internationally acclaimed creator in today’s feature discusses the motivations behind her pieces.

Jude Macasinag is an emerging Filipino fashion designer making waves on the French scene and soon, no doubt, across the globe. The article highlights his extensive MANIFESTO collection, which delves into themes of self, family, longing, uncertainty, grief, joy, and grief by “tapping into the 'human' side of why we wear clothes.”

Focusing on the subtle nuance in depicting a seemingly banal human experience, the Armenian artist Annemari Vardanyan covertly reveals the contact lines of clashing cultures. Using her signature eclectic style and drawing on her personal history, she explores the reality of living as a migrant who escaped a troubled homeland only to encounter the more abstract forms of global conflict.

Brussels-based painter Louise De Buck currently focuses on portraying strength and mystique through the naked female form. Her heroines, who she claims bear fragments of her own character, express solitude, the fragile states of reciprocated intimacy, and hints of animistic tendencies.

In seeking to infuse the jewellery industry with eco-friendly values, Movement – Arts – Mission (MAM) lead the way by example in their collections. Having received their sustainability certification earlier this year, they now spread their mission further through their cutting-edge and futuristic craftsmanship from 100% recycled metals. In today’s interview you will get to explore the brand’s design philosophy and adornments.

The fairytale-hued world of Slovak painter and visual artist Anna Štefanovičová is occupied by peculiar denizens – marionettes in endless variations. Inspired by the deep-rooted tradition of Bohemian puppet makers and her earliest terrifying childhood memory, Anna aims to work through discomfort, which she perceives as cathartic.

“Without flowers, treaties would not be signed, oaths would not be kept, the spirit of mutual cooperation would just... disappear”. In exploring the societal dimensions of plants, Jakub Jansa’s short film, created to mark the occasion of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council, plays on the tropes of today’s political activity to underscore the inherent absurdities in its discourse.

Enjoy Zuzana Trachtová's slightly NSFW, candid and eye-opening collection of couples' direct observations of the minute or significant shifts in the romantic and sexual layers of their relationships after one of the partners gave birth. Accompanied by illustrations by Kim Zemene.

Working with the rich resources of family and folklore, Silvia Leitmannová’s collection traces several generations of women in her family to explore not only the history of fashion, but also her familial roots in western Slovakia. In today’s interview, you will get to explore the author’s delicate narrative for the project, her plans for the future, and the meaning of Schena Maaro in the Kľačno dialect.

Erica Eyres explores in her artworks the vulnerability of nudity and uncomfortable familiarity. Drawing from inspirations spanning old magazines and grocery store objects, the Glasgow-based Canadian artist then creates open-ended pieces that invite the spectator to create their own narrative. Read today’s interview to learn about Erica’s creative approach and her recent turn to ceramics.

The approach of Czech fashion designer Barbora Procházková has its roots firmly planted in the fertile soil of meaningful co-creation. By creating made-to-measure packages of customizable cut patterns with instructions, her Project SAPIENCE strives to encourage a hands-on and intimate relationship with our garments.

István Hutter, the Netherlands-based Hungarian visual artist captures in his works the underlying inhospitability of supposedly friendly environments. Channeling his history with an anxiety disorder, he presents the Recreation series to express the gnawing sensation of crowded spaces – including in 360° VR. Among other things, in today’s interview he discusses his inspirations, narratives and the absence of arms of his characters.

French painter Théo Viardin’s works imagine a world where the only certainty is physical proximity between human bodies. Such a liminal space enables a reflection of the narratives and discourses that led there, and perhaps even how our contemporary life requires radically new imaginations and the questioning of certainties.

“A kiss still feels different from the inside of an oyster.” Robert Brambora's multidisciplinary works aim to infiltrate our minds with disembodied sensory experiences, questioning of the nature of relationships, and squishy feelings of titillating unease, as he uncovers in the interview below.