"Find inspiration by staying put. That's a whole journey/lesson in itself"

Tell us a little bit about yourself :)

I'm Miriam / MIRRO, a multidisciplinary artist/designer, lecturer and entrepreneur. I studied Fashion, Marketing & Business and Textiles in Raffles Design KL & SG and UAL's London College of Fashion and Chelsea College of Arts. I started off working in the startup world and creative agencies as a Business Developer/ Marketer, but I found my real calling in Art & Design.

When I’m not painting murals or working on art installations, I design furniture, textiles and art prints for my brand @projectmirro or for other brands. I really like the colour pink :)

Every artist has their own creative process, how would you describe yours?

Miriam: A MIRRO artwork is all about colour, texture, nature and fashion. Usually, I start by deciding the theme and colour palette. I put a lot of focus on experimenting with new colours and testing out colour combinations. Then I do a lot of mark-making to choose the right textures for those colours. I don't have a linear process, I work intuitively. I go back and forth in my process and do what feels and looks right until I'm happy with the artwork.

Who or what inspires you right now?

Miriam: I'm inspired by books, ideas, music, the people I meet and read about, fashion, fabric and nature. Right now I’m inspired by a book called "Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse" by Royal Academy of Art- it's about stories of artists and their gardens. I've been imagining my own garden and painting what I see in my mind. The Whimsigirl puzzle artwork is an extension of that.

What's an important lesson you learned recently?

Miriam: My ability to create is highly dependent on my ability to go out and see the world in real life. Due to the lockdown, I was forced to find different ways to get inspired so I could create. I've had to learn to adapt. Find inspiration by staying put. That's a whole journey/lesson in itself.