Mika Schalks

Mika Schalks is a final-year Graphic Design student at the Royal Academy of Art The Hague, and a self-proclaimed gaiety-enthusiast, encouraging the omission of narrative. In their work, focused largely on the light-hearted nature of aesthetic, Mika induces a feeling of vague tangibility to a narrative seemingly reduced to nonsense. “It is why gimmick and exaggeration hold such a firm place in my heart, as they so closely express what inspires and animates us, and do so in a gloriously unapologetic manner” says Mika.They comment; “I, too, aspire to be so gloriously unapologetic. I also aspire to be so celebratory of the playfulness that attracts us to design to begin with”. Mika works in bright colours and with an ever-open possibility for change and revision, fully embracing the reign of chance and in full approval of Murphy’s ill-famed law. Their preferred techniques include Riso and screen printing, with a special appreciation for analogue processes precisely because of their characteristic tendency towards playfulness.

Currently, Mika is an intern at Holymotion Studio in Arnhem, where they assist in set design and the subsequent fabrication of set pieces for the stop-motion film De Wraak van Knor; “Among other things, I much appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the film’s whimsicality with my complementing view on aesthetics and willingness to embrace creative thinking. I strongly believe the world benefits intensely from childish wonder and excitement, and as in my own work, I therefore am grateful for the opportunity to create with the encouragement of almost childish playfulness rather than its condoning”.

Mika’s work deeply values the discussion on the function of design without being bound by blatancy; “I try to rhyme meaning with aesthetics by not allowing myself or my work to be defined by exclusion, which is why camp or queer aesthetics are often at the heart of my projects”. Their inclusion and recent fortitude in modern media is also what Mika is building their thesis around. Mika states; “It inspires me to work around the notion of identity and gender issues enriching new spaces in society, and it interests me how they are perceived and managed in said society from different perspectives”.

In the future, Mika hopes to start their own studio with like-minded Royal Academy fellows, and to introduce their work to commissioners, such as newspapers or museums looking to bring a touch of whimsicality into their worlds.

www.mika.computer
@mikaschalks

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