Meet Sandra Mazgiejko – illustrator and graphic designer

For our next drop, we invited a very talented young artist to collaborate, whose work and style we really liked. Meet Sandra Mazgiejko, the creator of the Femmes Autonomes graphic, which is part of our spring mini collection, as a print on one of our t-shirts. This illustration totally captured our hearts. It is bold, feminine and modern, well, just like us :) That's why it resonates so much with our brand and we hope it will play with you too.

Here is Sandra and a few words about herself:

" The question 'who am I?' has always left me feeling unsatisfied and I haven't found a satisfactory answer. Simple facts automatically come to mind: I am a woman, Polish, 24 years old, and I am sensitive - at least that's how I described myself. Although art has not always been an understandable field for me, I felt freedom in it. It was one of the first forms of expressing emotions, mainly positive ones. I created for pleasure, while spending time with my grandmother (she still keeps a folder full of my childhood drawings), or simply for myself. I often caused chaos at home by destroying curtains or drawing on the walls, and sometimes I limited myself to a decorative calendar, on which I counted down the days until my father's return. I can certainly say that drawing was and is a way for me to escape from reality and a safe haven. 

For a long time, I didn’t consider this hobby as a possible career path. I quickly made a decision about my future, announcing to my mother at the age of eight that I would study architecture. Through sweat and tears, I managed to achieve what I wanted. However, I quickly realized that something was wrong. With each project, I was looking primarily for an opportunity to express myself aesthetically, I cared about opinions about style. Although some teachers appreciated this aspect, I much more often encountered suggestions that I should focus more on technical details, which was understandable, considering the specifics of the course. After two years, I decided to take a dean’s leave, which gave me a chance to rediscover my love of creating. 

Then the idea for posters was born. I felt great freedom in designing them, it helped me relieve stress, and returning to a childhood habit, I brought a lot of joy to my loved ones with personalized gifts. Feeling great satisfaction from what I was doing, for the first time the thought occurred to me to try to develop professionally in this direction. It was an incredible feeling of fulfillment and belonging to a place that I had been looking for so much during my studies. "

"I currently feel more complete, more clear. Despite considering a career in this direction, I didn't attach myself too much to this vision. I have learned how unpredictable and unexpected life can be. In addition, self-confidence is also a skill that must be acquired. I still don't understand how people comment on "my artistic style" because I can't define it myself. Hence the positive surprise and great opportunity when I was given the opportunity to work with the brand The Love Love Life . It's wonderful to feel that my works attract attention and are appreciated. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and the possibility of fulfilling my dreams. 

Finding your passion doesn't always go hand in hand with the direct career path that we set out for ourselves at the beginning. Sometimes, to achieve full fulfillment, we need the courage to find what we are truly passionate about. For me, this meant moving away from the traditional approach to career and following my own heart. It is a demanding process, full of uncertainty and difficulties, but also brings great satisfaction and joy from the fact that I am fulfilling myself in what I love the most. "

Femme Autonomes Graphic T-shirt: