Before we get into your work, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi! My name is Céline Schmit, I am 22 years old and I am a luxembourgish artist. I lived my whole life in a very small town in Luxembourg until I moved to Vienna to study philosophy. I would describe myself as a very positive, open-minded and happy person. I enjoy being around my friends and going to cafés and museums, doing yoga and reading. I love to connect with other creative people, that’s why I spend most of my free time in my small but beautiful atelier at the lautloshaus in Vienna. Furthermore, I think traveling and the people I meet on the journey is the most inspiring thing ever. I always take my sketchbook with me, to collect my thoughts and ideas. Writing is also a very important part of being creative for me.We are curious about your past and your style. When did you get started with art, what are your preferred topics and how would you describe your style?
I was already a very creative child, I spent a lot of time in my childhood being in my own world painting, drawing, crafting and sewing. My biggest dream as a child was to become a fashion designer. Later, I went to an art high school, where I also graduated. The focus in art school was mostly on academic art skills, realistic and perspective drawing. The thing is, I was quite bad when it came to drawing and I got very bad grades. I was so frustrated because my drawing teacher always told me that I would never make it and that I had no talent at all. I felt so blocked because of that and the lack of creative freedom, so I decided to study philosophy instead of art after high school. Then, I moved to Vienna and decided to start doing art only for myself. I think this changed a lot. It took a lot of pressure because I didn’t have to fulfill someone’s expectations. Over the past three years, I have been on a creative journey finding my style and place. I figured out what I’m good at and what I really enjoy doing and I think that is the most important thing to become a good artist.
This leads us to my preferred topics and my own style – I am fascinated by nude drawing because the female body is represented as a piece of art. I like the idea of the female body simply being a body. It should be normalized to see naked women, without sexualizing it: The desexualization of the female body. I like to play with that and provoke a bit. Also, I love drawing more attention to it by using bright, loud colors and setting the focus on the composition and the motif.
To be part of our project, we asked each artist to address certain topics in their designs that we should all think about more often. Can you briefly explain what your designs are about and what message you want to convey with your designs for maezen.
It’s all about“Take some time for yourself.”
I think that’s an important reminder, we should think about more often. I tried to visualize this idea and what it could mean. For me, it means for example taking some time on a busy day coming to my art studio and working on my art. The act of taking time for yourself means taking care of yourself. This is important, especially in this hectic and fast-moving time. Taking time for yourself can look very different as we can see in the five designs I created. It could mean reading your favorite book, drinking your favorite wine, going to a museum and appreciating being in the moment with yourself. Finding something beautiful in these small things and slowing life a bit down, is of value. Furthermore, I wanted to stick to my art style, which is defined by the bright colors and the naked women. Besides, the titles of the artworks are very significant for me as well.
The five designs are called: „Me-time “, „Don‘t play with me“, „My fav wine“, „Quality time“ and „I only see art“.
Last question, is there one thing which is important to you that you would like to share with our community?
This is for all creative people – The process of creating and being creative can be very hard and challenging. Standing still and having no inspiration for a while is a part of the process! It just means that you should “take time for yourself”!
