Irina Graewe is an amazing German interior editor and stylist. I can’t describe the kind of work she does because it is quite diverse. She doesn’t stick to one kind out style for her interiors. She uses various elements to create a unique result in her work.
There is one of her series which I fell in love with. I found it while browsing on Out and About Africa. The editor of Out and About Africa, Brandie got in touch with Graewe to find out more about her series ‘Africa Meets Neon’. Here are her thoughts on the series…
“I’ve also been a huge fan of wax prints for a long time, but never really had the chance to produce a series with them until last year! I spent some months traveling in order to do some free work. I did some research for locations and found the location where we ended up shooting the story. Even though the location has more of a ‘Cuban’ feel to it, the colours, the light and the different rooms (and also the change of colour if you look from one room to another) of the location inspired me so much to do something there with the African Wax Prints. In order to give it a different twist, I was always confident that I don’t want to shoot these fabrics in a ‘typical’ African environment. In addition to that, I wanted to add a ‘modern’ touch and had the idea of combining the fabrics with neon colours, which I think worked out really well. I thought that that would be a nice ‘twist’ to the story and that those two themes (Africa and neon) would complement each other well.”
I am quite amazed bout the location of this series. The bright wall colours reminds me of my Grandfather’s house in Ghana and a few other houses I had visited in my family’s hometown. The concrete walls of the houses were painted with bright colours (probably years ago, could be decades) and were peeling just like the walls in the images!!!
Irina has utilized the fabrics well, by using it as an application for various objects rather than being limited to a fashion garment. I really like how she has used the fabric as a chair cover. I have always wondered how it would look when you cover a chair or couch with African print. I thought it might be overpowering. Now I have seen the result, I really like it. I might try it in my house one day. It would be an amazing art feature in the house.
The umbrellas would be so cool when you are walking down the street and it starts raining. People start opening their boring black umbrellas…… And then there is you with a beautiful wax printed umbrella!!!