Artist Collaboration: An Interview with Anindya Anugrah / @_phantasien

Often, the real world can be too mundane so we look for temporary escapes to rejuvenate ourselves.

To daydream, let our mind wander, and explore an imaginary world, we ask for you to look for magic in your everyday lives and let creativity come to you.

For the next collaboration of 2021, we step into the world of the artist, Anindya Anugrah and added two new covers to our collection: Reverie and Nocturne.

Read on to learn more about her art style of blending modern and medieval elements, her transition to the art industry from the fintech industry, and more—

Lovely to have you here, Anindya! Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, thank you so much for having me! I'm a 27-year-old illustrator from Jakarta, Indonesia. My illustrations mainly depict the vibrant, whimsical life in the Medieval and Renaissance era.

We love your whimsical covers! They seem to contain worlds of their own that draw us in with wonder. What was your inspiration and thought process behind creating them?

Thank you for making this project happen! The influence for this series is the aesthetics and occult meaning behind the Tarot deck cards.

As we all know, Tarot is invented in the middle ages as a card game and used for divinatory purposes in the late 18th century. I love the pictures in every single card and am fascinated by their mysterious meanings.

For this series, I tried to incorporate figures from my favorite cards and develop a story that connects each card to another.

Folktale elements seem particularly striking in your cover designs. What are the stories you wanted to tell with each piece?

Glad you noticed that! Working on this series to me feels almost like creating a folktale out of Tarot symbolism.

In the first cover, 'The Magician' and 'The Fool' appear to be affecting one another. It depicts a Magician who brews a mysterious potion in the middle of the night.

A piece of strange music magically emerges from beneath the cauldron, bewitching the flowers to dance and accompany the singing cauldron's melodies on cromorne pipes.

Together they create a beautiful symphony that entrances the stars above them. Meanwhile, in the distance, a man (resembling 'The Fool') walking half-asleep, searching for this mysterious yet enchanting music he hears.

The second cover portrays a man unwinding in a magic liquid with quartz crystals as his fancy bath salt beside him. A curious kitten is silently observing him as he dozed off. It's a peaceful day by the sea. This design depicts the Suit of Cups' imageries that strongly represent the element of water.

Reminiscent of Medieval and Renaissance art, your artworks depict fantastical scenarios vibrantly. How did you come to develop such a distinctive style?

As a child, I truly believe that magic exists in the past. Most fairy tales I've ever known seemed to come from the same era (particularly the medieval and the renaissance era).

Then, in early 2017, I first visited Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne to see medieval art with my own eyes, and I learned that the medieval era is much darker than what I used to believe as a child. It seems to me that life during this time was all about plagues, wars, evil tyrants, and witch hunts.

Upon discovering this fact, I intend to create a fantasy world for the little figures I found from manuscripts -- a completely different world where doom and gloom don't exist, a world full of magical encounters.

In my early days of creating with this 'vision', my approach is more like making a digital collage, using scanned digital imageries from Medieval manuscripts that are public domain.

Over a couple of years, I've learned to paint digitally and combined the collages I make with my drawings so that the finished artwork would look more painting-esque.

Could you share with us some of your recent artistic breakthroughs? We're so interested to hear about your experiences.

Growing up, I've played quite a lot of classical music on piano and occasionally on flute, so music has been somewhat an essential part of my life.

In the last couple of months, I've finally found a way to pour my passion for music into my works by animating each element from my favorite classical music scores (clef, keys, and notes) as objects. I'm currently exploring a way to anthropomorphize them as well.

In that case, as a full-time artist and illustrator, how would you describe your day-to-day life?

Most days, I start the day by writing every detail about my dream the night before. Then I make myself some coffee, do some house-cleaning and jump straight to my desk. I usually feel super energized when I'm working on a personal project.

On days where I don't feel motivated, I usually spend an hour or two playing scales or learning something new on the piano or cook myself my favorite meal (and that is any meal with eggs).

We've read that you are a law graduate who previously worked at a fintech company. What led you to transition into pursuing an art career?

Since I was a little kid, I've always been keen on arts. As a shy and introverted person, art has always been my outlet for self-expression. I've fantasized a lot about pursuing a career as an artist, but somehow my insecurity has led me to study law instead.

When I graduated from law school, I still felt the same urge to follow that dream, so I worked well-paying legal jobs for over a year to save some money and decided to go for it.

Could you share with us your sources of inspiration that might surprise us?

I've recently discovered 'The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby' by jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby. This album is dedicated to the writings of Persian poet Omar Khayam, and I find this beautiful album speaks to my soul.

Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring artists out there?

I'd say be confident with whatever you're creating without overanalyzing your work; let go of the need to get it right or wrong. Perfectionism kills our creativity.

Trivia question! Of all the fairy tales out there, which world would you pick to live in, and who would you be?

One Thousand and One Nights, of course, and I'd be Sinbad the Sailor. He is restless and often chased by bad luck, but his courage always leads him to embark on exciting magical adventures.

-

Anindya Anugrah is an artist based in Jakarta, Indonesia and you can find her on Instagram @_phantasien and her website here.

Our new covers, Reverie and Nocturne are now avaiable for Planners, Notebooks, and Sketchbooks so pre-order yours today! Check out the entire collection here.

Create a whimsical world for your boundless imagination to roam free.

We hope you enjoy these covers as much as we do! Remember to tag us with your unboxing clip @mosseryco on Instagram so we can share it!