Undiscovered : Ana Kraš

Born in war torn Yugoslavia, Serbian based designer and photographer Ana Kraš is as excited about design as she is about life. Her approach is practical, unpretentious, and delightfully inventive. Her designs are cleverly modern, and with names like “noodle” and “bonbons”  it’s obvious that this talented designer is eagerly forward thinking.

Ana, whom if I may, is a blond bohemian beauty, is also a humble and energetic designer whom I recommend you all keep an eye out for. Currently Ana travels between Belgrade Serbia and LA where she now lives and works. For more on her photography work click here.

The following interview between myself and Ana was done via email.

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How would you best describe your style?
Archetype classic, with a tiny twist, maybe. I think my taste is very wide and I have no strict style. I like very different things.

If given a choice, would you rather be known as a designer or as a photographer?
I am happy if someone gets a good feeling from my work no matter if it’s a chair, a photograph or a drawing. I don’t think it makes any difference to me. Maybe that’s why I kept doing all those things together.

Like your cleverly named “noodle” side table, I notice that your pieces have an underlying sense of humor. Is that reflective of anything?
Ooh I always have trouble naming furniture since I really think furniture pieces don’t need names. We never call the table or chair. I would always go for a letter or a number, but since it’s something that gives no reference to remember something visual, I have to invent the word to kind of describe it. But I always feel each name is stupid and pretentious and then I get used to it and don’t pay attention anymore.

I guess noodles were noodles because they look like spaghetti in the cooking pot before they get softer, bonbon lamps really look like silk-bonbons from my childhood. I always work that way – very first associations and impulses.

Does your photography work inspire your design work?
With photography it’s all about the moment and what’s going around, so easy and with no plan, at least for me. Then there is a surprising and instant result, that brings out nice memories of the time, or some sad, but, very personal and still very well known. With furniture it’s the opposite. It’s something that one will use so it’s about the need. The idea is a quick glimpse, but all the rest is a very precise slow process that includes so many phases and so many people. I do love both because they move me and excite me in very different ways.

When I’m taking a photograph I am not excited during the process because I find it too easy. But then the result is very exiting and means a lot, because it’s very personal (since I shoot my dear people and situations I went through). With furniture I find all the process very intriguing and challenging and I enjoy it so much, it puts me in some sweet rush that gives the huge satisfaction, because it’s a problem solving process. But then once the piece is made, and it’s there, I don’t feel for it anymore, because it’s then there, existing itself, for other people to use. It has it’s own purpose.

I think those two things make a good balance for me, and if the balance is a way or a form of inspiration, then my answer is yes.

What is the most misunderstood fact about your photography work?
It might be that some people think I direct my photos, but actually it’s just what’s around me. I like to call it family photography, all the faces repeating, just places changing, and light and colors. 🙂

Do you think your parents had any influence on your interest in the arts? If yes why?
My parents have nothing to do with art, but I do think they both have a very fine talent, that they never had chance to try or develop.

I remember when I was a little girl, asking my mother to draw profile faces of girls, and then I would draw different hairs to them, pony tails, braids and stuff. The faces she drew were incredible. Such a pretty, precise line. But she never drew and never painted before or after.

My father is an engineer and he has a lovely technical style of drawing, like old architects did and a hand writing that I was always so impressed with. But he just illustrates his thoughts in his notebook and no one has ever seen any of those pretty sketches.

My parents never pushed me into anything, they just let me do whatever I felt like doing. I loved to draw and make things, so I was doing it, alone. They had trust in me, and they gave me a lot of love, but they never suggested anything and so I had to find out what I want on my own. That put a lot of responsibility in all that I do, sometimes too much. I think it’s healthy and makes you be very connected with what you do, and very honest about how you feel while doing it.

I sometimes wish they pushed me a bit more, make me do things. I think I might have been better in certain things, or maybe I would play piano now, or something.

Because of the many choices no one ever like to answer this question, but which single living person do you think is currently your greatest inspiration? And why?
It’s actually very easy to answer this question. I am very very much in love and my man is my giant inspiration. His name is Devendra Banhart. You might have heard his music, or saw his drawings.

Everything he is and he does moves me so much and makes me so happy. So many talents in one person, I am still beautifully shocked. Since I met him, he made me grow each day so much.

Do the materials you use for your designs have any special meaning to you (example native wood) or are they just a secondary part of your original design?
I always think only about the materials that I feel familiar with. It’s important that I have all the crafting process in my head so I can know how it can be done and so I know how to think of it and then draw it, and how to approach the material. Usually it’s wood, it’s familiar and also beautiful. I love wood, then metal, and textiles. I also love marble, and I want to include it in my new projects.

Having lived through war in Yugoslavia, do you think that has somehow influenced your work in any way? If yes how so?
Yes, it influenced my life and all the lives around me. I think war was a very interesting experience. When something hard and bad becomes a collective reality, somehow it’s not a tragedy anymore, it becomes life, and life is life, you accept it and it’s fine. I think circumstances in my country maybe made me learn how to do more with less, because there was never much support, and not a lot of choices. But I don’t think that the influence is very visible in the final product, rather more in the approach, or the sensibility.

What are five things that you can’t live without?
Hmm here are some things I really enjoy, and would be very sad if someone had to take them away from me, but I think I am very easy with my needs.

– my love
– my daily little portion of being alone
– shower
– a house I love to live in
– music
– my dear people