The colourful world of Natalia Oskiera

The works of illustrator Natalia Oskiera makes us think of pleasant things: joy, play, curiosity and friendship. Hence, inviting her to a project about caring was a natural move for us. We visited her home in a small town near Warsaw to find out, where does this creative force come from.
Monika Mróz
4.12.2023
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Monika Mróz
4.12.2023
When I enter Natalia’s studio, I immediately get feelings of excitement: the room is filled with colours, shapes and textures. Her works are on the walls along with the illustrations of her other favourite illustrators. On the floor there are huge papier mâché colouring pencils, and on her desk, I notice a pair of funny ceramic dog silhouettes. You can instantly see that for Natalia, creative work is a huge part of her life.

“Art has always been very important to me. It was the only thing I truly loved to practice as a child: I would draw on the walls in my home and I always watched beautiful illustrated books,” Natalia tells me. “I think that it was a natural, continuous process of creation. I eventually chose illustration, because it gives me a huge freedom, doesn’t put any rules on me and it makes me always search for new solutions. I find it very inspiring.”

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I love this phrase that my pupils often say: I don’t know what I’m doing yet, I just follow my hands. I want to keep this alive in my work as an illustrator, too.
I quickly learn in our conversation that Natalia, apart from being an illustrator, works as an art teacher with kids from local school. She says that working with children is unpredictable, creative and often surprising. As a teacher, she is very often the one to learn the most from her pupils: “My work motivates me to always develop as an artist by creating the space for discovering the world and keeping that primal curiosity that we are born with. I love this phrase that my pupils often say: I don’t know what I’m doing yet, I just follow my hands. I want to keep this alive in my work as an illustrator, too.”
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For Natalia, the collaboration with ÅOOMI was interesting for a few reasons. “I was truly touched to explore the themes of caring, being close to each other and expressing love. I enjoyed translating these beautiful emotions into visual language,” the illustrator says. “On top of that, there are amazing people behind the brand who make incredible products. I love that!”

Natalia uses plant motifs quite often in her illustrations, and this project was no exception. “To me, caring means closeness and understanding, and for some reason these qualities are linked in my mind to nature. A lot of my inspiration comes from observing plants and animals, so I followed these ideas in this project, too.”

I was truly touched to explore the themes of caring, being close to each other and expressing love.
I was truly touched to explore the themes of caring, being close to each other and expressing love.

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