Illustration made analogue: Karolina Lubaszko

We visited Karolina Lubaszko in a space shared by many local artists in Warsaw’s Praga district. This is where most of her illustrations are created. Karolina took us on a tour around the space, telling us about her creative process and inspirations.
Monika Mróz
4.12.2023
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Monika Mróz
4.12.2023
Known for her abstract, geometric illustration style, Karolina tells us that what she loves most about illustration is the lack of set rules and the creative freedom it offers. “The more I drew, cut and played around, the more ideas would come to me. With time, my proces became easier and more intuitive. Illustration gives a lot of space for abstract, sometimes absurd things.”
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Illustration gives a lot of space for abstract, sometimes absurd things.
Karolina’s creative process is quite exceptional as most of it is crafted with her hands instead of her computer. We asked the illustrator to walk us through the stages of making an illustration.

”I begin with focusing on the topic and trying to get out of it as many elements connected to the theme. I make lots of notes and sketches. I look at how all these elements work together and if I can make something new out of different configurations. This part is the most important for me as it gives room for creative accidents. It’s also my favourite part as I can later use those accidents in my next projects — I save all of my sketches. The last stage is polishing the final project on my computer. This is also the part where I decide on how many of these analogue imperfections I want to save in my illustration.”

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The space where Karolina works is filled with creative energy. It’s shared between people work in different artistic practices: illustration, screen printing, photography, painting. Karolina admits that she doesn’t enjoy working in sterile, empty interiors. It is when she’s surrounded by art supply, sketches, and other people’s work that she thrives the most.

“Something that is definitely not helpful in my work is coming to an empty desk. I need to have some sort of starting point to think of ideas: my sketchbook, tools, some leftovers from my previous projects, colouring pens. I always aim at having these things around me when I create,” says Karolina. On top of that, one of her rituals is coming to work after another activity, like walking a dog.

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Why did Karolina decide to collaborate with ÅOOMI on the limited edition of plates? She says that applying her illustrations on functional objects gives her lots of satisfaction. She enjoys the fact the the object becomes part of someone’s everyday life. “I really admire the attention ÅOOMI products get when being made. While being very functional, these ceramics come also in beautiful, delicate colours, which I like.”

For Karolina, to care means to pay attention to small, sometimes trivial things in life. The abstract elements in her illustration symbolise small and ephemeral things.

Select for yourself:

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