The Interview: Get to Know Blanda

INTERVIEW BY: ZARNA SURTI

Hailing from Switzerland and landing in Los Angeles, Blanda is one of our favorite cross-continental contemporary artists to date. She celebrates the female form, uses a beautifully minimal approach to her art, and collaborates with brands like Topshop and Kiehl’s—all while remaining incredibly humble and authentic. We sat down with Blanda after her most recent trip to Switzerland to chat about everything from quitting her job at The New York Times to starting her entrepreneurial career to how Instagram has influenced art and artists.

You walked away from your corporate job to become an artist. Can you tell me about that leap and what inspired it?

I went to college in New York, and right after, I was offered a position as one of the art directors for The New York Times. I was so young and it was such a great opportunity right out of school, so I took it. I’m so glad I did it, but for me a corporate job wasn’t the kind of creative environment I could thrive in, and the experience really showed me that. I lasted two years before I quit and walked away to start my own thing and focus on art.

It was the scariest thing, because I went from having a steady income, insurance, and all these things that are given to you in a corporate job, but I felt at some point it would’ve sucked too much of my creativity away from me.

That’s a sentiment we’ve heard before. Although, it’s amazing that you went straight to The New York Times right out of college. Did you intern with them or did it just happen?

One of my professors just suggested me. I guess they were looking to hire someone younger, so I went in for an interview and got it—it was crazy. I didn’t think I would get it, but it somehow worked out.

When did you start painting? Was it when you were young or later in your life? 

My dad used to be a drawing teacher years and years ago, so I think that was a natural thing when I was little. Before I could even speak, he would sit down and draw with me, and it’s kind of how I learned to speak. I would say a word and he would draw it. At some point, the roles reversed, and he would say a word and I would draw it, and it was a way for me to get excited and it was also when I recognized it was something I really liked to do. My parents always supported me and tried to give me a creative, nurturing ground.

I went to an arts school in Switzerland when I was fifteen, and that was very fine arts heavy, and then I studied graphic design in New York, and all of that brought me back to painting. There was a good four-year stretch where I made a lot less of my own work, and when I walked away from my job, it made me want to paint and draw again.

Do you feel like the graphic design influenced your painting at all? 

Absolutely, I think they influence each other. It’s a back and forth, and there’s a good synergy between the two of them—they definitely impact each other.

Your art is focused around the female body. Is that something that you’re really inspired by? 

Yes, it’s a personal theme, and I find the female figure very aesthetically pleasing. It’s funny, because I dig boys, but when I’m making art I find it more inspiring to draw females. Also, I clearly personally relate to it because I’m a female, so it just happens naturally. With most of my work, I don’t overthink it too much—I just let it happen, so the female body is something that just naturally flows out of my hands.

Tell us a bit about collaborating with others through your art. 

The most important thing for me is that I always focus on art, and the collaboration follows. My priority is making work I actually like and am into, and then moving from there. All the collaborations I’m doing are from people reaching out because they’re interested in the work I’m doing already. I’m not thinking in terms of how to please the client or how to bend my work to adjust to a certain brand. It’s really my work, and if there are people who click with it, those are the people I work with.

I love that you put so much of your art up on social media—how do you feel about the way Instagram is pushing art and helping more people digest it?

It’s actually a really good opportunity to put your work out there and you don’t necessarily need a gallery to show your work because it’s accessible to a vast audience. For me it’s interesting to put stuff up because I get feedback and people will inquire. I get a lot of jobs through Instagram and I sell pieces through Instagram, so for me it’s a really good platform to share and also to connect with other artists. I can be in LA and someone in New York can make really amazing work and I can just shoot them a direct message and connect. That to me is a really interesting aspect.

How do you feel about the art scene in Los Angeles and how it’s blossoming here? 

I actually think there’s so much happening, and there’s a huge renaissance going on, especially with the mass exodus from New York that’s been rolling through for the past few years. I think it’s turning into a very big art city, and there’s a lot of really great creatives that are able to work and live here, and it’s not as rough as New York—so it’s a good space, especially for young creatives.

What’s a typical day in Los Angeles like for you? Do you love not having a rigid schedule?

The funny thing is that the best way to treat a non-9 to 5 is as if it were a 9 to 5. I get up and work out first thing in the morning, it just makes me feel good and gives me an energy boost, and then I work for a few hours and take a lunch break in the middle of the day. Then I work for a few hours more and usually have a coffee by myself in the afternoon. Then I read a book and keep my nights open. I try not to work late nights—I used to do that a lot, but I realized in recent years that I’m actually more of a morning person, which I never knew.

Sounds like a good day to me. 

Getting up early and having the whole day is something that feels good to me. Right now, it all just feels right.