“Art is always around us”, is an old fashioned saying that is aptly demonstrated by the work of hers

In Shira Barzilay's (KOKETIT) soulful universe, she depicts the cascading faces of the night sky merging with thunder and lightning, ceramic teacups with abstract facial expressions, the depths of pools, tennis grounds, icons from famous paintings, the vast ocean and even architecture and clothing to become part of her canvas whenever she pleases. When Barzilay was a child, she loved the smell of oil and turpentine in her aunt's studio. The notebook became an outlet for all her creative expression, and paved her road to success. Her aesthetic is now favoured by strong brands such as Chanel, Anthropologie, Facebook and Amazon for innovative collaborations. 

When did your creative journey begin? What factors triggered your determination to become an illustrator?

I’ve always loved to draw as a child and my notebooks were always filled with doodles. I fell in love with fashion illustration through a book on Versace, and got my college degree in fashion design. After college, I became a freelance fashion illustrator, while working in a fashion magazine as a graphic editor. I built my brand KOKETIT over the years, slowly but steadily, first as a fashion blog, then as a temporary tattoos online store.  As my Instagram feed started to gain traction, I shifted my focus towards art. All the pieces fell into place when I left my day job and demanded for myself to have the luxury of being a full-time artist. It is an ever growing process but I needed to accurate my path in order to explore it freely. 

How would you describe your approach?

My work is intuitive. I work fast like the whiff of wind. There needs to be flow and I never linger. My approach is minimalistic and I strive to eliminate the unnecessary. Originating  from a more figurative place of fashion illustration, I broke away from that by reducing elements in the drawing in order to find accuracy within the freedom, which feels more elegant, grown up.

Since I draw digitally, I feel like there are no limits to what I can express, and that the world is literally my canvas. The only limitation is my mind and I’m striving to break my barriers, whether physical, intellectual or emotional. 

Who has been the main influence on your way of thinking and your view on the world? 

It’s pretty obvious to see that my work is inspired by the art and philosophy of one  Pablo Picasso. His work to me is so profound and monumental – not just for me but for modern art as a whole and I am very much his student and advocate. 

Picasso famously said we are all artists as children but we lose that artist in us when we grow up. That sums up my philosophy in a nutshell – that art is expressive and free of judgment and thought. Like a child drawing, there is no fear, only freedom. 

How do you develop your personal take on art? 

One must find out what their inner voice speaks. At first it sounds like a whisper but with time it amplifies higher and louder. The way it happens is by practicing frequently on the craft. Like anything in life, practice makes perfect. The way to develop anything is by focusing on it and exploring its entirety with courage and conviction.  

What fascinates you and how is that feeding into your work? 
Being able to see beyond the obvious and explore the unseen always fascinates me. I spot faces on sidewalks, I see a feminine body shape in a lake. Being able to see beyond what’s there, moves me in a way that I feel like I just exposed a secret – which I must now share with the world.  

What does “feminist art” mean to you? 
My core message in art is that sense of freedom. I use feminine nude figures to express a whimsical and open attitude, not in a sexual way necessarily – rather to convey a feeling of limitless. I basically draw myself and what I am feeling in this moment in time without having restraint - to me, that is the essence of feminism. 

What messages do you want to convey through your work? 
I love to share my wild imagination with the world. I seek subjectivity in an objective world with a single line. It’s an infinite journey of exploration, seeking stories in the shadows of stories untold.  

Your drawings look exceptional on sculptures / architecture - how did you source materials as your canvas? 

People often don’t realize that I am just drawing on a picture of a building and not actually painting the building. I find it quite amusing but also it’s kind of the point of how the world is my canvas and that nothing is out of reach. Conceptually and physically. The line between what is real and what is virtual has faded so much so maybe it doesn’t even matter. 

What’s a typical workday for you? 

I work from home, and my schedule is wonderfully loose. Whatever project waits for me on that  day is what I will do. I take mid- day naps and try to just lounge about, knowing perfectly that high intensity work is not good for inspiration. I enjoy and love my work so much, it doesn’t feel like work at all. In that regard I feel really lucky.