Alexandra Kehayoglou interviewed by TETRAKTYSMAG

14:23:00 Alexandra Kehayoglou , Argentine , carpets , design , interview 0 Comments

Alexandra Kehayoglou is an artist specialized in carpet making. Her goal is to tranfer us to another world by bringing nature itself to our personal spaces by recreating landscapes such as lakes, forests and fields. The legacy from her grandparents, who migrated to Argentina from Minor Asia carrying with them the traditional art of making rugs and carpets, inspired her to continue and give another substance to the art she inherited or choosed to love. Except from her unique landscapes that relax and make you dream, what is also remarkable is that the products she creates are made of pure wool strengthening even more the physical character of her work.

Let's get know her a little better through her own words and thoughts.

P+A: Can you tell us a few things about yourself to get you know better?

A.K.: I am an Argentine artist, I’m 32 years old. I grew up surrounded by rugs. My Greek grandparents migrated to Argentina carrying with them this textile tradition of rug and carpet making.

P+A: How did you start making carpets?

A.K.: Trying to find myself as an artist, I found that these resources had always surrounded me and that it was my challenge to use them, to potentiate and re-signify them. So I started to develop my work using technologies that were available in the textile industry that my family owns. I realized then, that this was a knowledge that I owned, a media that was natural in me, that flowed through my genes, and to use it became inevitable for me.

P+A: Do you believe that the influences you got from your family roots played an important role to your working development?

A.K.: Definetely. The knowledge of weaving is something that I carry in my genes, the folk and tradition of carpet making has always surrounded me.

P+A: What are the materials you use?

A.K.: I work with retrieved material form the factory of my family. 100% natural wool from sheeps fed in pastizales (grasslands).

P+A: How much time do you usually spend to finish a carpet?

A.K.: That depends on the format and specifications of the piece, I normally work very carefully and dedicating as much time as I can to every creation I produce.

P+A: Can you describe your creative process when starting a project?

A.K.: When I’m about to produce a piece I normally have an idea of what I want to achieve but it always vary through the process as I sketch directly on the canvas and I apply tones and create textures inspired on landscapes I’ve seen.

P+A: What is your inspiration when you work? You know the full concept from the beginning or during the process of making?

A.K.: The things that inspire me are the factory on weekends, walks through my childhood garden with my son, road trips, when the day turns into night, calma chicha, aerial views, textile machinery, the sea, the beach, my family, my grandmother, natural textures. My inspiration is bounded to contemplation of the landscape that I cherish, a lot of my work is a reference to the Argentine geography, I work recreating sceneries of the old pampa of Buenos Aires to immortalize it in a carpet.

P+A: Each child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist when you grow up. Do you agree with Picasso's statement?

A.K.: That’s a difficult one!!

P+A: What do you know today that you wish you had known when you were getting started?

A.K.: I don’t personally regret my choices from the past, I have the belief that things happen in a special course and we flow with our decissions. To me the process of doing art and getting involved in the factory of my family by resignifying the tradition has been very fruitful in the timing it was.

P+A: What is the most important task you have accomplished until now?

A.K.: Creating a platform to develop and share my art and building a family. Those two things have given me the biggest joy so far.

P+A: As a person are you ambitional? How would you see the future of your work and what could be your ideal standard?

A.K.: I believe that every artist has to be a bit ambitious and obsessive for the detail, artists have the capacity of letting people see what normally goes unnoticed. I see myself growing in technique and concept, I’m working hard to achieve my aims, but I don’t look too much in the future, I tend to focus in the present moment.

P+A: Have you ever visited Greece? Are you fond of the idea of corporating with greek market?

A.K.: I have been in Greece many times I find it a very inspiring place that connects me with my roots and the tradition I resignify in my work. I am always open to hearing possibilities. [She gives us a smile!!!]

P+A:Thank you for your time and we hope all the best for you and your family.

A.K.: Thank you Peris and Angie.