While giving Indonesian children a chance at a better future is at the heart of our mission, we also get very excited when an artist comes back for a second collab. Luckily, that’s exactly the case this month! Swedish artist Petra Eriksson is back for another illustration. Just a quick recap, she has worked with big household names, like VICE, Buzzfeed, The New Yorker, and Oscar/The Academy Awards. For this merch drop, she joined forces with Anisa (12) from the SDN 001 Mentarang school in Indonesia.
From then to now
Even though it hasn’t been that long since the last time we had Petra on, a lot of things have changed for her. “The last time we worked together me and my partner had just moved from Spain to the Netherlands and we were just in the middle of trying to settle in and meet new people here. Now we have a beautiful network of people and we also welcomed our daughter Hilma a little over a year ago.”
The Petra Eriksson x Anisa collab is out now!
In terms of work, Petra has also been keeping busy. “I returned to doing more personal explorations on paper and challenging myself to work with more abstract shapes, which I’m happy about.”
“I also had the chance to take part in a beautiful art show in Madrid and have been working on a lot of new book covers and magazine projects that I'm excited about. I'm especially excited about a cover I did for the New York Times Sport section last year.”
As we already know, Petra is not only exceptionally talented, but also ambitious. During our last interview, she shared that she wanted to have a solo exhibition of her work and set up her art studio better. While the solo exhibition project is still a work in progress, she did manage to set up a proper art studio, which she is very happy with.
With her new life as a parent, Petra’s dreams have naturally taken a different approach. “I still want to make great art but I'm also trying to be patient with myself and accept that the time I have for creating is a lot more limited right now than what it used to be.”
While she spent the last 12 years living in lots of different places, what she looks forward to now is to settle down. “The idea of landing somewhere and creating a colourful home for us three where we can settle a bit feels very important right now.”
Coming back for round 2
We had such a fun time with Petra the last time she did an illustration for Face This that we wanted to see if she would be up for another collab as well. To our great excitement, she immediately said yes.
“I love being a part of these kinds of initiatives and I feel that it's especially important in the dark times we live in right now to give back a little bit. I haven't been as active as I would have liked to be this past year in using my art to shine the light on the people who need it the most. But by collaborating with you I get the chance to do something that has a positive change in the world.”
Just like with Petra’s life, the way that we do things at Face This have changed. For her first collab, Petra had several children’s drawings to choose from. This time, we gave her a specific design partner - Anisa from Pulau Sapi.
Petra reflects on this change: “It was a change in that last time I had so many amazing ideas to pick from, which in a way made it both easier and harder, because my task then became a lot more open. This time I had a much more defined brief which of course narrowed the options a bit but it also made it easier for me to find the visual direction quicker.”
The Petra Eriksson x Anisa collab is out now!
Friendship across borders
For her drawing, Anisa was given the theme of friendship. When we talked to her about the theme, Anisa emphasised the importance of connection. To her, friendships are rooted in mutual “love, care, help, and respect for each other”.
Petra also deeply connects to the theme of friendship. She explains: “I grew up just with my mum and we didn't live in the same city as my aunt, cousin and grandparents, so we didn't have a lot of family time.” Despite this, she goes on to say that her mum has always had a very wide group of friends, who came to be like family to them.
“Growing up with the mindset that our friends can become our chosen family has had a huge impact in my life,” she goes on, “especially as I have also lived many years away from Sweden and have had to build very strong friendships in these new countries.”
Anisa drew herself and her best friend. She explained to us that her best friend is now far away, but fondly remembered that they respected each other when they played and that her friend “never played rough”.
Petra adds that humour, trust, and openness are important qualities in friendships. “I really enjoy being around people where the conversations can quickly go from light-hearted jokes about something silly to deep emotional meaningful topics. I need to feel like I can be myself completely with my closest friends, and not be afraid to share both the beautiful and ugly.”
If anyone understands the concept of friendships across borders, it’s Petra! While it can be difficult to be physically apart, Petra adds: “I have learned over the years that it is possible to still keep these friendships very close even when you live far away from each other. You can also get the chance to learn different things about each other, even when you live in different settings.”
Petra also practically understands Anisa’s situation. While she grew up in Sweden, she has lived in Ireland, Malta, Spain, and now in the Netherlands. And it’s safe to say that she has left many friendships in those countries.
“I try my best to stay in contact with my friends and check in with them regularly. Of course that looks a little bit different from friendship to friendship. With some friends we do weekly calls, others we have a closed group chat, and with some who also live very busy lives, we mostly get the chance to connect when we're in the same place, but that is also okay.”
Making an illustration that encapsulates friendship
When it came to creating the final illustration, Petra says that she wanted to preserve the essence of Anisa’s friendship.
“It was important for me to get the shapes of the outfits and the hairstyles right. I also really liked the little hearts she made and wanted to bring them into the artwork, but in a little bit of a subtler way. I left the hearts a little bit more irregular and pointy.”
Of course, with this being a collab between two artists, Petra also had to add her own pizzazz to the piece.
The Petra Eriksson x Anisa collab is out now!
“To bring it into my own creative world, I added a lot of colours and additional abstract shapes that represent all the good things that come from and grow with a strong friendship. I also wanted it to feel like these shapes create a protective bubble around the girls, a kind of growing, organic, moving shield that shows how much more secure we are with good friends around.”
The result: a powerful image that visually illustrates the invisible bond between friends.
Setting differences aside
The bond of friendship seems to be all the more important nowadays. In a world that is increasingly polarising, we could do with a reminder of the things that bring us together.
Petra immediately agrees: “I think it's so important that we keep taking care of our friends and that we keep talking to each other and realise that we don't need to 100% agree on everything. Of course I think it's hard to build a friendship if you have completely different core values, but I also think there is a lot to learn from thinking somewhat differently about things and learning from each other’s perspectives.”
“I also think that most of us are really in need of more community and a friendship group can definitely be the start of that. On the darkest days when I feel the most pessimistic about the future of the world, one thing that can really change my mood and put my anxieties to rest is spending time with a group of friends, just talking and being in each other’s company. Having that feeling of connectedness removes the fear for the future, which I think is the root to a lot of the polarisation we see.”
Looking back on the collab through the lens of motherhood
With all the changes that have happened in Petra’s life, it’s unsurprising that she might view this collab differently than she did the last one. “Parenthood brings a time where you really have to focus on a few key things and you have to let a lot of other things go because there's simply no time to do and think about everything.”
Having a child of her own has also made her more connected to the cause: “Of course having Hilma and thinking about her future has made this collaboration even more important than the previous one. Being able to connect to Anisa through this artwork and to create something together with her that can help fund her school and the school of a lot of other children in Indonesia has an even deeper emotional meaning now.”
As always, we’re curious if she has any new takeaways from this collab.
Petra’s answer: “It's been a great process! I really enjoyed the theme and Anisa had created a really beautiful drawing that inspired me as soon as I saw it. I feel very grateful that I was given the chance to co-create this piece and add a little bit more colour to the world.”
The Petra Eriksson x Anisa collab is out now!