Andrea D’Aquino’s creative process involves a healthy dose of experimentation. An illustrator and an author, she mixes different techniques and mediums, making her work both playful and approachable.
“I use a mix of medias and have a spontaneous approach,” she told Bibelot Magazine. With her illustration, it’s a kind of blend between drawing and collage making. “It’s often collage, but not necessarily photo-based,” she explains.
“I draw and paint, then I cut things up and see what happens – though being contrary by nature, I don’t like to stay inside any box that is too pre-defined,” says D’Aquino, adding that she doesn’t see herself as a collage artist per se. “Whenever someone calls me a ‘collage artist’, I never fail to be surprised – really? Is that what I am? I really don’t know, but maybe.”
Based in New York City, her illustrated books include a reinterpretation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, while her commercial work involves collaborating with clients as big as Anthropologie, Conde Nast Traveler, and Chronicle Books, as well as publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Financial Times.
“Some of the best things I’ve made are mistakes,” notes D’Aquino, “however – this does not imply sitting and waiting is any kind of effective choice. I think all art is work, it takes effort and doing things over or just organizing and experimenting without a clear cut goal or without seeing pleasing results.”
See some of those pleasing results in the gallery below.
