An Interview with Cecillia Hidayat

Please visit Cecillia's Blog!

___________________________
Your full name: Cecillia Hidayat

Your age: 26

Your location: Jakarta, Indonesia

Can you describe what you do?

-I'm a freelance illustrator and art director. I'm currently working on illustrations for children's book, and do some art directing for advertising agency. I'm also doing some t shirt designs :D

When did you first become interested in art? Was there anything specific that prompted this interest?

-I love to draw since I was a kid. I often get reprimanded for doodling on walls and during classes :p and um, i'm not sure what prompted this interest...it was kinda i was born with this love for art :)

Do you have formal training in art?

-I attend visual communication design for college :)

What inspires you to create?

-Everything! :D sometimes I see a fallen leaf and get inspired to draw something from that. Or sun rays that shine through the curtains, pile of stones, random things everywhere :) Oh and music also inspires me a lot :)

When did you become interested in advertising?

-Since I attend college.

Have advertising and designing been rewarding for you?

-For me, Working in advertising/ design field lets you create and learn something different everyday :) You could pour your mind into different kinds of media, and talking visually to other people. 

I found that interesting :)

You have created some t-shirt designs! Was designing these any different from your normal design work?

-Not really :) But this is because I usually only did the designs, I have a third party to do the production. I think the only thing that differentiate designing t-shirts from others is that you have to think about the production, you have to make sure that the person wear your design is still comfortable :)

Do you have a favorite type of project to work on?

-So far I enjoyed illustrating for children's books most. But i'm always willing to try something new :D

What is it like working on projects with multiple people?

-It's fun! :) you met all kinds of people and you learn a lot from them. Sometimes I admit it's not easy working with people with different mindsets, but all the arguments and the difficulties, in the end is a new lesson for you.

How is your personal art different from your professional art?

-I think my personal art is saying more about who I am :)). I  express my feelings more through my personal artworks :)

What message do you hope your art will convey?

-mmm...to tell you the truth i never take this seriously :)) lol

I usually do art for fun, in my humble opinion, some artists are too focused on telling people "messages" on their work, they forgot the fun :D But this doesn't mean that i'm against conceptual artists, it's just me that never taken these kind of things seriously :p Most of my artworks don't have any specific messages, they're just like a mirror that reflects my feelings and my thoughts. How people interpret them, it's up to each person :)

How does art affect your work life? Your personal life?

-It's killing me! l'm always lack of sleep because inspirations always visit me at night-time, mostly. LOL no I'm kidding :p How does art affect my life...I think it made my whole life fun :) I dunno what i will be doing if I don't do art for my living :p

What has been the most rewarding aspect of your art career so far?

-My team was rewarded with several awards when I still worked full-time in advertising agency, and I'm not going to be a hypocrite, it did felt good! :D

But the most rewarding aspect for me personally is to see my artwork could "touch" other people.

Comments and critiques from the society means they're interested in my works, and that feels great :)

What is the ultimate goal for your art?

-wow, this is hard :)) lol like I said before, I never think of this seriously, but I do wish someday I could put a "mark" in the art world for my specific style. I don't think I have a very unique style until now and it's kinda frustrating sometimes. I'm a very random person I couldn't stick for a style so far :(