Happening in Romania – An interview with Radio Romania International

Olimpia, an inspiring name. Who wanted this name for you, your mother or your father? Do you think names given at birth influence people’s lives, their subsequent evolution and development?

My mother chose the name Olimpia. She told me a little about how she chose the name. She knew for sure that my twin sister would be called Iulia-Cezara, but, for me, she wasn’t sure if it would be Olivia or Olimpia. She later decided on Bianca-Olimpia, because she thought that putting these two names together would have a more harmonious musicality. 

Regarding the influence of the name during a person’s life, I don’t know if it has an influence on everyone, but, for me, I think it had and it still has. It’s a name that I like, and I feel it represents me. The name Olimpia makes you think of the ancient Greek city of Olympia and Mount Olympus, the Olympians. Hence my predilection for antiquity, for art and ancient history. I really like to travel to places charged with an archaic energy. I really like the simplicity and elegance of ancient art. It may also have something to do with the fact that I won an art Olympiad. During high school, I won the first prize at the National Visual Arts Olympiad, in the Monumental Art section and the second prize in Art History. Later, these prizes ensured my admission to the Faculty of Interior Architecture, where I no longer had to take the entrance exam, even though I didn’t know that, and I had prepared for this exam for 2 years.

Who discovered your artistic talent? When did you become aware of your abilities? Did you receive support from your parents when you chose the arts?

It’s still my mother who discovered my talent and my creativity. Since I was very little, playing with dolls, I loved to create various decorations for the doll’s house from the objects I found around the house and to create clothes for the dolls, I liked to build sandcastles, to color, to draw, unlike my sister who loved books and reading. My mother was attentive to what we were inclined to do and what activities we liked and later supported us a lot on our journey. Thus, even though I had a twin sister with whom I was always together, we chose different fields of study, I chose the arts and she chose the humanities.

I met you at a cafe in Bucharest which hosted some of your works. I saw at the entrance an illustration of an Aladdin and the magic lamp….Why have you chosen a cafe as the venue for your exhibition, what’s the theme of the exhibition and what inspired its name? I was wondering if there is any connection between brewing coffee or tea and brewing in ink?

I organized the ‘Brewed in ink’ exhibition in the space of a cafe at the invitation received from my colleague, Alice, from the architecture office where I work, which took care of the interior design of the cafe. This is how the opportunity to exhibit in this space was created. It is not my first exhibition in a cafe, it is already the third, and I can say that it is a very pleasant networking experience with the people who come here and enjoy not only visual art, but also the art of coffee. It is already a trend among cafes to create the possibility of organizing exhibitions through the way in which they relate to the arrangement of the space. I really like the idea, the space thus becomes more vibrant and multifunctional. If the works are well highlighted, I think the space of a café is something that can work very well for an art exhibition.

I chose the name of the exhibition starting from the venue, a cafe. Starting from the idea of ​​brewbar, brew coffee, I wanted to create an association with brewed in ink. Whether we are talking about coffee or illustration, in both creative processes there is a preparation stage until tasting the final result.

As to the illustration that made you think of Aladdin’s lamp, trying to choose an image for the exhibition poster, I was thinking of something that would take you to the idea of ​​a container, of preparation, of a cup, and so I chose this illustration. It is based on elements from oriental art which I like a lot and which inspires me.

What are the themes of your illustrations and what is the significance of the colours you have used?

I would define my works as a symbiosis of moods and thoughts, with symbols and elements derived from different visual, auditory or reading experiences that impact the imagination. The favorite theme of the illustrations is that of human creation and the connection between human, nature and the universe, between the divine and the terrestrial. The characters I create are monumental, with a hieratic aspect, who sometimes wear Romanian traditional clothes. The atmosphere of the illustrated stories is situated in a poetic setting, where the plant elements (flowers, vines) intertwine with the cosmic elements (the moon, the sun, the stars). The works are a visual transposition of my journey into the imaginary, in a timeless and spaceless universe where nature and the traditional intertwine with modernity and reverie.

The dominant colors are black and gold, symbolizing in this created universe the earth, i.e. the original matter and the light, the vital energy.

What do you hope people take away from their experience of your work?

Through what I create, I intend to offer the viewer a moment of silent meditation and introspection. I want them to detach from the concrete reality and enter an imagined, dreamlike universe. I want to offer a state of peace, of calmness, both through composition and color. As I mentioned earlier, the works are a visual transposition of some ideas, some own experiences that I pass on through this graphic way, with ink on paper. I hope that people become more aware of the potential of imagination, of how creative we can be if we allow ourselves to be creative.

How would you describe yourself as an artist and your art in the context of the Romanian contemporary art? What makes you different and original?

I think that my art is sincere, more than a message, I want to convey to the viewer a state of calm, tranquility, and introspection. In the context of contemporary art in Romania, I would define my art as a deep exploration of the relationship between interior and exterior, between spirit and matter, between tradition and modernity. My art is closely related to emotions, memories, perceptions and it is not limited to a purely decorative aesthetic, but is oriented towards a symbolic and metaphysical area, thus inviting the viewer to an introspective dialogue. It is also a reflection on identity, both personal and collective, in which I seek to combine cultural and spiritual influences, through a graphic, abstract language of art.

So, what makes my art different and original, I think, is both the illustrated theme and the representation technique. All that I explored during my studies I interpreted in a personal way. Thus, my art finds its place in the contemporary landscape through an interpretation that gives voice to an artistic identity that is, at the same time, local and universal.

Is this your first solo exhibition? Please tell me more about you other exhibitions and the themes you approached.

No, it is not the first solo exhibition, it’s the third. This year I organized another exhibition in the spring, also in the space of a cafe in Bucharest. And my first solo exhibition that I organized was last year, in July, right before my birthday, which was called ‘Warm sunlight from inside me’. It was an exhibition with a solar, summer theme, where I also created decorations from dried plants, I also had an instrumental concert of Persian music, which I like very much and inspires me in my creative journey. This first exhibition was also arranged in the space of a cafe in Bucharest. Besides these solo exhibitions, I have participated over the years in various group exhibitions both in the country and abroad.

How do you balance personal aesthetic with the requests and needs of clients?

In general, the clients I collaborate with come to me precisely because they like and appreciate what I create. Even if they tell me how they see and what they want the project to look like, in the end I manage to create an image that I like and that I am satisfied with.

Are you active in both of your artistic sides? Interior architect and graphic artist/illustrator?

Yes, I am currently active in both creative areas. I divide my time between interior design projects with the team of the architecture office where I work and my personal art projects.

Can you think of an artwork that you regard as a turning point in your career, and why?

I think that, until now, I have not had such a situation or work, which would be a major change for me. Things were quite linear but with certain successes or more special projects. 



What has been the most rewarding feedback you’ve received from a client or audience?

In general, I receive feedback from people, feedback of thanks and appreciation, and this gives me a pleasant and encouraging feeling. I receive messages even from people who simply appreciate what I do and that have not collaborated with me in any way until now. Even on the street or at an event, it so happened that people came to me and said: ‘Hi, you’re Olimpia who does illustrations, I really like what you do’. And this is a very pleasant interaction.:)

In general, the exhibitions I organize or the design fairs I participate in are a means of exchanging ideas and impressions with people and receiving direct feedback.

Can you live on your art? Because I have met artists who had to take a job to make ends meet and be able to support their families.

At the moment I divide my time between the job of an interior architect and that of an artist. I don’t support myself only from art. I can say that I would like to be able to do this, or at least try for a while, but I have not yet created this opportunity for myself. I know that there are artists who live only on their art, others who don’t.  I still don’t know what the recipe is to be able to live exclusively on your art, if that depends only on you, on the context you are in or if there are other things that determine your path. I think it would be interesting to have a dialogue between the artists who live only on their art and those who have not yet reached there, to have an exchange of ideas and experiences.

What is ‘your’ definition of the artist? Is an artist who studied art in school different from a talented creator of art that did not study art and in what way?

I believe that an artist is more than a creator, artists don’t just create something beautiful, they are explorers of the human being, they interpret reality and make us see it from a different perspective, they make us think, they challenge us, make us curious. An artist sees beyond the surface, beyond the tangible, and can transform something common into something special, creating new meanings.

Studying the history of art, you find out that all the great artists had a period of development, either in the schools they graduated from or in the workshops where they learned from the masters. Their talent was a start in their artistic training. I think that an art school helps you find a direction, acquire knowledge about styles and trends, working techniques, themes, symbols, about chromatics, composition. There’s a lot of knowledge to acquire.

I think this is the difference between an educated artist from a talented creator, the way he or she manages to essentialize what they studied and use it as a means of expressing their own imagination.

For many people art is a hobby, while, for you, art is a profession, a passion, a job, if I can say that. What are the hobbies of artist Bianca Olimpia Abacioaei?

Indeed, art for me is a profession and a passion that occupies mostly all my time. My hobbies are equally related to art and creation. I like instrumental music and going to instrumental music concerts. I bought an instrument some time ago from a trip, and I wanted to learn to play it, but I haven’t managed to do that yet. I like to travel, and as I said in the beginning, about my name Olimpia and its influence on my development, I like to go to areas with ancient vestiges, to places of old empires, where you can still feel an ancestral energy. I find travelling inspirational. Creative people always need something new to challenge their imagination. Hence the influence of the story of Alladin that you mentioned. I like to travel to different cultural areas and observe this diversity of human creation in its various forms.

My other hobbies are reading and poetry, I often write down in a notebook sentences, passages from the books I read or lines from poems that later inspire me to create visual compositions. I have several sketches and works in this sense, including those inspired by travel experiences or music.