Pop-up illustrazione

My participation in the exhibition “Pop-up Illustration!”

A fantastic opportunity to exhibit my art and interact with other artists and illustrators: every time I step out of my comfort zone, I have a chance to learn something new and grow... 

I am not quite sure how to describe the Ticino Illustrators Collective, other than simply saying that it is a group of people who love to illustrate and tell stories with their drawings (many of whom, moreover, do it as their primary job: chapeau!). This group organizes activities that have a twofold purpose:

1. on the one hand to support Ticino's illustrators, giving them an opportunity to show themselves to the public and make themselves known
2. on the other to create moments of interaction and exchange between illustrators, so they can have the opportunity to help each other and grow together.

La mostra: pop-up illustrazione! 

During the opening day of the exhibition, I talked a bit with Lisa, part of the event's organization, and discovered that this exhibition came about perhaps a bit by chance: the venue that is hosting us, in the center of Lugano, is in a transitional situation. In fact, the owner of the building has decided to invest in particularly invasive renovations, so much so that almost a year passed between application to approval - “it's not easy to gather the approval of all the neighbors when you're staying in the center of a city like Lugano,” I'm told. 

While they are waiting to vacate all the premises for work to begin, they are being granted to small emerging local businesses that want to offer their products, as is recounted in this article from laRegione. In particular, Piazza Cioc is run by Giulia, of Capsule301, a project born in Mendrisio in November 2023 that proposes minimal and versatile clothing lines, with the highest quality raw materials. Giulia offers to host us in the space made available to her. And said, done: a temporary group exhibition is organized. 

Exhibit one work, and one only-which one to choose?

Each illustrator in the Collective had the opportunity to exhibit one work, and only one. The subject and technique could be of your choice, but the size could not exceed A3. 

Given these stakes, I was faced with the difficult job of choosing: which work could I exhibit? I told myself that I had to choose a work that was beautiful, striking, and would intrigue the visitor to want to see other works of mine as well. So it was quite easy for me to choose “Spring” as the original work to exhibit. This one is detailed, very pleasing to the eye, and quite impressive given the amount of small details I drew. 

Since I have never exhibited it, or even hung it in my home, I had to create a custom-made passe-partou so that it could be contained in an A3 frame, and stand out the best. 

TIP - we often have a tendency to eliminate empty space, thinking we are removing something unnecessary... instead, an object stands out more if it is surrounded by empty space! That's what the passe-partou is for: to make the artwork stand out. 

My artistic style and reception 

One thing struck me when I arrived at the venue to bring my work, “Ah, but it's you Debora from iCosini!!! We finally meet!”

This simple phrase, addressed to me several times during that day of preparation, made me think about a few things:

• people know my brand, iCosini, but they don't know my face because I always hide it.  

• people know each other on social media, but rarely get to know each other in person, especially with someone as shy and “not very social” as I am. Yet, from the surprise and pleasure expressed, the live personal relationship is something you want and appreciate. 

The impromptu workshop

Overcoming the initial awkwardness and shyness, and after getting to know a bit about the people present-illustrators like me, with the same insecurities and difficulties I face-we found ourselves inventing a kind of workshop. We took an iPad, and under the guise of trying it out because “digital drawing I just haven't tried because I don't know if I like it,” a drawing created by three hands spontaneously came into being. A sharing, a game almost, that really created something unique beyond the drawing. 

It was with this drawing that I learned other things:

• sharing, being contaminated by others' styles, interacting artistically with people, creates a sparkling energy of creativity. I really felt like doing a thousand things, a thousand ideas. My hands were tingling from the frenzy and I didn't want to stop anymore.
• After publishing the work, created precisely by three hands, there are those among my followers who recognized exactly the elements I had added to the drawing. “I bet you made the bubbles.” Oh yes, I added them. But so does that mean I have a recognizable style? I honestly didn't think so, because my drawings all look different to me (except for the ninja element). That's a realization I was glad to hear.

Conclusion

Is it scary to put yourself out there and step out of your comfort zone?
Yes, it is scary.
Is it worth it?
Absolutely. 

The growth you experience through these exchanges is a truly powerful source of energy and inspiration. It gives away lessons and tricks from those who have traveled different, but similar paths to yours. It also gives satisfactions when, for example, I have seen people, whom I don't know at all, who have decided to buy some of my greeting cards-this means they like them, and that I need to stop listening to that Imposter in my head (I will find time to do a post on Imposter Syndrome sometime...promise!).

I look forward to the next opportunity to seize!