Today we’d like to introduce you to Lea Bagi.
Hi Lea, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Serbia in 2001, however, I grew up under the wings of my native Hungarian parents.
Even though they are people of science, the childhood they gave me was art itself. They patiently catered to our garden and showed me beetles with jewel-toned backs and wings, they resembled tiny little planets, and they taught my fingertips to dance through music, playing the piano. They cured my restless curiosity with ecological summer camps and workshops. When I was a child and people would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up and my answer to that was “I want to be an artist because artists don’t have bosses.
From a young age, I was mentored by one of the best aquarelle artists in the country, Butterer Kis Márta. Thanks to her diligence my work got to be exhibited at the World Biennial of children’s art in Kanagawa, Japan. That motivated me to pursue art, and later in life attended an Art and Design High School, studying graphic design. From being inspired by nature itself I grew to be more interested in human nature, designing, and creating my own worlds as a concept artist. My journey beyond the borders started in my sophomore year of high school in 2017-18 when I was selected for Future Leaders Exchange government-funded program to represent Serbia for a year in the United States. I was hosted by the Lalic family, who taught me patience, and diplomacy but also the wonders of sisterhood as I was their 4th daughter in the household. Throughout my exchange year, I got to meet people from all around the globe, competed with my work, volunteered, and discovered the value of philanthropy. In addition, I had the incredible opportunity to exhibit my work supported by the Roscon Foundation in Dallas. Lastly, my exchange year concluded with the honor of being a speaker on international relations at Capitol Hill, The White House on the 25th anniversary of Future Leaders Exchange. Funders and sponsors of the program Senator Chris Murphy, and Marie Royce received two copies of my painting, The Beauty Of Diversity as a symbol of gratitude from the program. Upon returning to my home country I was elected to be the city representative of Novi Sad, my hometown. In early 2019 I was the designer of the annual greeting card of 26 000 prints distributed. The last year of my high school studies, I pursued my interest in studying abroad and started my applications. Lastly I concluded my studies on top of the class, looking forward to the next chapter.
Today I am studying Illustration and Advertising at SCAD and am a Student Rrepresentative, pursuing a lead student role for Rising Star, SCAD’s summer program. Upon the completion of student representative responsibilities of the summer I will be a creator at an Art Colony TAKT in my home country. SCAD has enabled me to grow as person and as an artist, met incredible fellow artists and inspiring professors, such as professor Nick Reszetar, who helped me path my way as a creative.
CurrentlyI am working on a series of artworks “Red Me Out” and looking to pursue future opportunities in collaborative projects, exhibitions and artist residencies and see where my path takes me next.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Throughout my journey there were quite a few challenges, however, I thrive to transform obstacles into being parts of my life and work, rather than something to disregard. Throughout my high school years, I experienced heavy grief, which motivated me to incorporate heavier topics in my work including death and social commentary.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My inspiration derives from current events and my thought processes since the most precious and mysterious part of art to me is the motive. My choice of mediums varies, from recycling materials such as newspapers, and aluminum foil, to plastic, even though recently I have been focusing on watercolor and digital art. My work is a search for understanding the complexity of the world and people while capturing their flaws and the beauty of every chaos of a mind or an event, intriguing in its capacity for great peace and mercy, yet also great malevolence. I cherish delicate details and complexity in my work. My specialty is the use of mixed media materials and scale. As far as I am concerned art is one of those crafts that can never fully be mastered. Art is fluid and encompasses more than technical skill and imagination, but also general knowledge and understanding of different topics. Therefore, I look to incorporate easter eggs and symbols for the curious. While painting traditionally, I work large scale mostly on 5-6 feet large wooden constructions. On the other hand, working digitally, I thrive to achieve my rendering to appear as if it was done with traditional mediums such as oil. Lastly, I love working periodically on long passion projects that encompass either extreme surface sizes or high detail rendering. There is something magical about revisiting projects that are both “eternal” and monumental. I am looking to expand my skillset by incorporating more than just one of the senses and due to that reason I decided to pursue an advertising and branding degree in addition to illustration as I aspire to become an art director.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I am always open to working on collaborations, from murals, and carefully planned projects to photoshoots in addition to community building projects or any public speaking opportunities. I am always looking to broaden my network and connect.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leabagiart/
