This month we’re turning problems into creative and inspiring solutions. Lisbon based German artist Danii Pollehn collabed with Chloe (10) from the SDN 001 Mentarang school in Pulau Sapi, Indonesia. Their artwork centers a beautiful dialogue, a question and answer, on a topic that affects us all: pollution.
The Danii Pollehn x Chloe (10) collab is out now
Starting out her career on the staircase walls
Danii’s earliest memory of making art is one that perhaps most of us can relate to: with a set of pencils and a wall.
“I remember drawing at all the family celebrations. Everyone would eat and drink, and I would be in the corner. And the thing that I remember I loved was drawing all over the staircase on the wall.”
However, Danii didn’t make a career out of her art until the age of 34, after a number of detours along the way.
Danii explains that she wasn’t encouraged to pursue art as a career in school, because it wasn’t seen as a viable career option. So, she tried everything else she could.
She recounts: “I think I applied for 3000 jobs and never got anything. I ended up getting a higher education because nobody ever wanted me. Eventually I studied fashion design because I thought then I could at least do something with my hands, be a tailor and develop in this kind of direction, even if I couldn’t get into the design industry.”
But in the end, the pull towards art won over. Danii finally plucked up the courage to give a career as an artist a go after moving to Canada for a year. There, she found a group of people that encouraged her and gave her the confidence she needed to take the plunge.
Branding, packaging, and open-ended briefs
Nowadays, Danii is a successful artist, having collabed with brands like Dopper, Lavazza, and Adobe. From brand campaigns and editorials, to packaging and exhibitions, she has done it all.
When discussing her favourite types of projects to work on, it’s challenging to get just one answer out of her. “I think it's the mix that makes everything exciting and interesting,” she concludes. “All work inspires each other, the mix of things, being open to doing this and then afterwards doing that.”
Not only does Danii enjoy the variety of different kinds of projects, but also the freedom and potential in self-initiated work. This is usually the time when she gets to create art that she wouldn’t otherwise be commissioned for by clients.
“What I really like is using abstract acrylic marker canvases,” she adds. “They are very intuitive and when I work with them, I'm not thinking about what the lines are. I just think about transporting lots of energy to people, so that they can see themselves in it to some degree.”
The Danii Pollehn x Chloe (10) collab is out now
Children’s art as “emotionally direct”
Lucky for us, this Face This collab was new and exciting for Danii because it was her first time making art with children. Even so, she has plenty to say about children’s creativity.
“I think they create from a place where they don't worry so much yet, where they don't think about if their art is good enough. They really trust their intuition and curiosity, and they aren't afraid to make mistakes. It's very honest, playful, and usually it's quite emotionally direct.”
She also acknowledges that this approach is something that artists can learn from. “This kind of freedom is something that we as professional artists spend years trying to get back to. So it’s always very inspiring seeing children's illustration and their art.”
Of course, with Danii’s amazing artistic background and appreciation for children’s art, we were thrilled to have her do a collab with Face This. Luckily, the feeling was mutual.
“I was quite happy and super excited because, from what I've seen from other artists, I thought it was going to be super nice. I think the project was quite unusual. And usually when it's something new, I'm definitely up for it.”
From an artistic point of view, the opportunity to work with another artist was also enticing: “I hoped for it to push me creatively as well, to create something inspired from somebody else. Usually the spark has to come from me, but now it came from Chloe and this is even better.”
Transforming problems into actions
For this collab, Danii worked with 10 year-old Chloe, who made a drawing based on the theme ‘problem’. With this theme, we wanted to get an idea of what problems look like from her perspective: are they always something negative? Or do they present an opportunity for change?
For her drawing, Chloe depicted a very striking scene: the effects of environmental pollution. We were surprised to see how mature her outlook on this topic was already.
Danii agrees with our sentiment: “I think it's valid and it's interesting, and quite important that she already feels this and sees this.”
Danii goes on: “I'm a bit sad for her because she's still so young and she worries about that. But on the other hand, she genuinely cares about the environment. She’s very empathetic. She notices these things happen in her environment and she wants people to pay attention.”
For her collab, Danii wanted to turn this illustration into a conversation between her and Chloe.
“I wanted to take what she did and make it into a conversation instead of just highlighting the problem. I wanted to transform the problem into something that people understand better. Instead of seeing just the negatives, I wanted to transform that into action.”
And why is that? Because Danii doesn’t see problems as entirely negative: “They’re an opportunity and also a challenge to create something better.”
A conversation between two artists
When it was time to get down to business, Danii let her creativity flow freely. “I had full creative freedom. I think I did 5 sketches because it got me going. I used elements from Chloe's illustration and put them into my paper cut outs. I ended up creating a message that says ‘save the seas’ with elements from her drawing that ended up in the design.”
Of course, she didn’t forget to add a splash of the pinks, yellows, and greens she’s so well-known for.
The result couldn’t be more exciting: a question and an answer, a problem and an action, a merging of one artist’s vision with another’s style.
This collab was not only an opportunity for Danii to open up a conversation with her partner, but also a way for her to push herself creatively.
“It simplified my way of thinking about things and made me trust my intuition,” she explains. “It was a very playful process and kind of surprising because I didn't know what I would get. I just said yes and got the drawing. And then it was basically a matter of mixing Chloe’s perspective with mine.”
This collab ended up being a wonderful mix of playfulness and deep topics. At the end of it all, the only thing we wanted to know was if Danii would ever do it again. Her enthusiastic response: “Yeah, absolutely.”
The Danii Pollehn x Chloe (10) collab is out now
