The Perseid meteor shower

Introducing Monika Jurczyk (Monsie)

Monika Jurczyk A.K.A Monsie is a self-taught creative that through traveling, photography and graphic design rediscovered the biggest love – illustration. When she was a kid Jurczyk could draw for hours as it was her most favorite thing to do. But one day, for some unknown reason, she stopped. It took her some years and moves in and out to get back to it.

We are in this together

KALTBLUT: How will you describe your work with your own words?
Monika: Colorful, flat, geometric, playful, minimal, a bit tomboyish femininity

KALTBLUT: What medium/tools do you feel most comfortable with when creating your work?
Monika: Paper and black drawing pen. However, I’ve recently shifted to my iPad and treat it as my sketchbook.

Watermelon girls

KALTBLUT: Are your illustrations inspired by personal experiences or of friends/scenarios you know of?
Monika: Either my personal experience or something that triggers an idea, but it can be anything. I’m astigmatic and refuses to wear glasses (I know it’s silly…) so my good friend always laughs that my illustrations come from blurred vision as I don’t see the world in HD.

Dreamy
Vibrations

KALTBLUT: Where do you get most of your inspirations?
Monika: From everywhere, there are still so many ideas out there waiting to be drawn.

KALTBLUT:  You were born and raised in Poland, you lived in Spain, Japan, Vietnam and in the U.S. Now you are based in Edinburg, Scotland. How did all these different cultures influence your work?
Monika: Traveling just like creativity is a never-ending process of learning. About the world and yourself. When I lived in Spain and Japan I was really into photography and the theory of the decisive moment. Street photography made me very observant and sensible to human dynamics, and relations between people, place, and time. Quite quickly (second day in Tokyo) I found subjects that helped me explore and understand the city. I went back to drawing around that time to keep my “travel” diary, to make visual notes. I guess it was a moment when that seven or maybe ten years old me was like I’m not going to give the crayons back. In Vietnam, there was so much going on that I’ve put the camera down and turned inward to digest the everyday madness by drawing. And by drawing even more I realized that this was what I was searching for, something that, ironically, I had found ages ago.

Pretty Party 01

KALTBLUT: What’s your favorite thing about the job you do?
Monika: The creative part of every project

KALTBLUT: What message do you want to get out of your art?
Monika: Can I quote Allen Ginsberg? Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.

Pretty Party 02

KALTBLUT: Have you found any other work/artists to be inspiring currently?
Monika: My most favorite contemporary illustrator is Owen Davey. His color choices, the way how he conveys the story, the ability to turn a geometric quite flat illustration into a fluid, living image. Just brilliant. I also love and admire Petra Eriksson – again color, wit and the unbearable lightness of everything she does. And of course Lisk Feng. There is something really beautiful in her illustration, some sort of magic or perhaps a feeling of looking at your childhood dream, recollection.

Contact:
iammonsie.com
Instagram: @iammonsie