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Ida Lissner, a Danish artist and sculptor, draws inspiration from mythology and folklore to delve into the philosophy and creative process behind her world-building endeavors. Residing in Copenhagen, she intertwines nature and nonhuman elements to construct new worlds that explore the complex relationship between humans and the natural world through the lens of technology.
Hi Ida! It’s a pleasure to sit down with you! First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in Copenhagen?
I don’t think I can describe a regular day, most of the time I have no clue if it’s Tuesday or Sunday, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Depending on if it’s a computer day or a workshop day, I have different workflows. If it’s warm and sunny outside I try to work in the morning and evening, and take a long break in the sun, and if possible, go for a little swim to clear my mind.
I’m curious. Growing up, what kind of kid were you, what did you enjoy doing and how did you spend your time?
I was a nerdy but restless daydreamer that talked a lot and very fast. I was obsessed with insects and especially moths and butterflies, and used to collect caterpillars and study them, feed them, and experience their transformations. I had many hobbies and they were changing all the time. I remember being torn between wanting to be very good at one thing, but also wanting to learn everything (and lacking the patience to stay in the same for too long).
I loved fantasy and all things related to magic and nature, and I was always searching for precious things in nature or dreaming about something supernatural to happen. I invented many imaginary tools and skills to make life a bit more exciting, for example a special vision that would make washed ashore amber glow up with green light in the North Sea beaches, making the little chunks easier to find, or a common language that could enable humans and birds to communicate and share mutual interests.
Do you remember how old you were and how you got introduced to the different graphic design programs and technology in general?
When I was 14 I got a CD with a pirated copy of Photoshop and started manipulating photos and making digital collages on my very heavy brick of a Packard Bell laptop.
My Photoshop brush collection was brimming with grunge, splatters, decorative borders, mystical symbols, scientific drawings etc. I would go to secondhand shops and buy old objects, fossils and postcards from strangers and scan them and mix them with photographs I took. It was all very magical at the time, now it is super cringey and fun to look back at (I still have a secret deviant art account).
What made you gravitate towards 3D, CGI and animation, and not something more traditional like painting for example?
I always loved to paint and draw and work with analogue tools, but for a while I just couldn’t be satisfied with the results. No matter how much I practised, for example drawing, it just never looked like what I imagined in my mind. It was really frustrating having all these ideas that seemed impossible to realise, like some of the magic was lost in the translation from idea to paper. I remember a classmate in design school telling me he admired my quirky picasso style (I was trying to draw photorealism).
I was randomly introduced to 3D software in the last year of my BA and I felt that I finally found a way to make the visions in my head come to life ‒ I was ecstatic about it. I soon realised that my macbook laptop wasn’t going to do it, and in 2019, with a lot of help from friends, I managed to build my own stationary pc.
Ironically, today I gravitate more towards analogue media. I’m drawing more and more, and recently I got very obsessed with oil pastels, and now I enjoy the imperfections of my drawing skills. I think I needed the “digital years” to understand and develop my style and somehow find confidence in my visual universe, that once was a challenging language to “speak” but now feels like a natural extension of me.
I know that you’re in the process of transitioning your work from being solely digital to also include physical works. Can you tell me about that process? And what made you want to start creating physical works?
After some years of working mainly from a computer, I was suddenly so overwhelmed with the overabundance of (beautiful) digital imagery everywhere on the internet, and as AI imagery became more and more mainstream, everything began to feel kind of meaningless. I was suddenly bored with the digital tools, I saw my work being copied with AI tools almost 1:1, my images were everywhere on pinterest and some turned up as backdrops for random esoteric wellness campaigns on instagram.
When creating my digital works, I always enjoyed 3D sculpting; imagining intricate shapes and impossible materials rendered hyper-realistically and existing in ways only digital matter can. For some time these sculptures remained renders, but in November 2022 I was invited to an artist residency in Luxembourg where I had access to a resin 3D printer. I had never heard of this machine before, and even though I was told my sculptures were too “eccentric” to print, it worked out in the end and a new obsession was born. This winter I bought my own resin printer and finally, a few weeks ago, I printed my first sculptures!
With that in mind, what have been some of the biggest obstacles so far?
Coming from the digital world, I have been so used to that everything is possible, it’s like a supernatural playground where anything can happen as long as it stays within the screen, so dealing with physical restraints like temperature, mechanical issues, expensive materials etc has been a challenge. It has been a steep learning curve, I was very confused in the beginning, but suddenly one day I was like “I understand it now!!!!” and then I printed a sculpture, and another, and another.
Can you tell me about your creative process from beginning to end result, for the resin printed sculptures?
It is very much a ping pong between analogue and digital processes, drawing a sketch or silhouette on paper – modelling in 3D on the computer – back to the paper – back to the computer – then slicing (preparing a 3D object for print) – mixing resin colour – mechanical preparations – printing (large sculptures take 2-3 days) – post processing – taking photos – editing photos.
There’s of course something that comes before this, that is much more about inspiration, stories and aesthetics, something more abstract. At the moment I would describe my ideation process as 3D collages where I assemble roots, fungi, synapses, creatures — both dead and alive — in compact microcosms that become my sculptures.
When did you start having an interest in world-building? And where do you think your fascination with worlds other than your own comes from?
I have been interested in world-building since I was a child. I used to read these young adult mystery books by a Swedish author called Maria Gripe, and the covers were always very simple and realistic but with very few supernatural or mysterious elements, a sort of magic realism. The book covers were openings to imagine infinite stories and made me realise how much storytelling can happen visually, through compositions, symbols, colours, shapes etc, without using a single word. By drawing on references from folklore, fantasy, mythology, science fiction, natural science etc mixed with personal memories, I try to access the endless stories told through worlds that already exist within our imagination.
So with everything mentioned above, what are you hoping to convey through your work?
I’m trying to invite people to reconnect with something they might have forgotten, muted or deemphasised in their daily lives, something supernatural or more-than-human, that can invoke imagining, dreaming or remembering, like finding a little precious piece of amber on the shore just before sunrise.
In 2020 you founded SOFTER, together with your friend Nicole Jonasson. Can you tell me about that? What made you start SOFTER? And what is your vision for the project?
We started SOFTER because we wanted to give people an easier, more exciting and “softer” way into digital art and design. SOFTER is now a community and network that works towards shaping the directions of the digital sphere, its tools and images, that influence so much of our lives. We work towards motivating a more diverse group of people to learn and practise within digital design and art, and to make sure that the future of technology will be based on softer values such as empathy, care and community. We want to change the narrative that tech is “hard”!
So with that in mind, in your opinion, what do you think can be done better, to get females and gender minorities more interested or involved in the future of technology?
Speaking from a perspective of SOFTER, we are trying to create spaces and communities for learning, discussing and practising digital art and design where females and gender minorities can feel welcome – and not intimidated, where they see their values and aesthetics reflected and can make new friends and collaborations.
What inspires and motivates you?
Beauty and details. It’s very simple, I like beautiful things with lots of detail.
How do you deal with creative blocks?
When I feel like I have no creative output, I try to find input – going to museums, walking in nature, listening to music, reading, watching movies, discussing my work/their work with a friend and so on.
How would you describe a perfect day?
A perfect day for me is when I have nothing planned or anything I have to do, so I can just go with the flow and not look at the time.
Any future projects coming up?
I am working on my first solo exhibition after going into physical objects, it will be something bridging my digital and new physical works, which I am very excited about.
Alright Ida. I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?
I always go back to Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and if I need a quick fix of visual inspiration, I just watch the first 10 mins on repeat. It’s an abundance of the most beautiful world-building.
The second is. What song(s) are you currently listening to the most right now?
I just re-discovered Blue Foundation’s 2007 album Life of A Ghost (my teenage obsession) and I have been listening to it non-stop for the past few days.
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