It’s about time we started telling you more about the artists behind the designs you see on Drawdeck. So we’re super excited to launch our new "Getting to know" series, which will be a regular feature, giving you an insight into some of the incredible talent we have in our community.

With March all about promoting & supporting female creativity, we couldn’t think of a better person than Julia Hariri to kick off our artist interviews! Julia recently launched her new collection Ecstatic Nudes which centers around empowering the female body and self confidence.

We caught up with Julia to ask her all about the collection, COVID...& Netflix!

Q: Julia, for the readers that don’t know you yet, can you tell them a bit about yourself? Where are you currently based in the world & what are you doing?

A: My name is Julia Hariri, 27 years old and I am currently living in Berlin, Germany. I actually studied fashion and used to work in the fashion industry. At that time art was just as important as fashion for me and I was trying hard to find enough time for creating. So I was a fashion designer in daytime and an artist at night time. Two years ago I then quit fashion and fully concentrated on my art.

Q: You’ve recently released a new (fantastic) collection that we’re in love with, can you tell us about that? Where did the inspiration come from?

A: During my fashion studies, I was working on the female and male bodies, learning how to dress both types of shapes the best way. We were having many life drawing lessons, with different people and body types, helping to improve our fashion sketches. I think this is where my fascination for drawing bodies comes from.

The Ecstatic collection is especially focused on women and the female body. Growing up with media and getting confronted with the permanent presence of female discrimination and sexualization, gender equality became an important topic in my mind. Being half German/half Persian, I was recognising soon differences between men and women in both societies. Independent from culture, patriarchism is still a big deal in the 21st century and women are still seen as "the weak sex“.

Although this saying comes from a physical origin, it seems like women are seen as weak in general. A man being compared to a woman when showing "weakness" seems to be a big insult. By taking advantage of women's physical weakness, women are being suppressed physically as well as mentally. With this superiority of "male strength“ there are still big influences on a woman’s life. How the women are seen in society, how her body is seen, what she’s allowed to do with her body. It's decided by a men-leading society.

A lot more to say but to sum up the intention of the collection: The Ecstatic Nudes visualize the future woman, celebrating freedom and the full control of her mind, body, and soul.

Q: When did you realise you had an artistic talent? And how did it feel to sell your first ever piece?

A: I really don’t know, I just knew that drawing and painting means everything to me and it has always been my valve in life. It helped me go through every kind of difficult time.

Selling my first-ever pieces felt awesome. My first sales were via an online art platform, where I was selling prints. In the beginning, the earnings weren’t much but I thought “wow, I can pay my fuel bill this month with the artworks I sold”.

Q: It’s international women’s day this month, do you do anything in particular during this time? (How will you be celebrating)

A: I’m not celebrating or doing something in particular, but I'm appreciating and supporting this day.

Q: What other women inspire you & why?

A: I’m inspired by every kind of authentic woman, not being afraid of being herself.

Q: Other than your materials, what is the one thing you can’t do without? Is it music, movies, or a muse?

A: I really need a tidy working space, I just can’t work when there’s a mess around. Also, a big window to look out during creating is fundamental. For the right creative atmosphere, music is definitely something I can’t do without, too. It helps me to switch off my thoughts and to find the leisure to create.

Q: It’s no secret the last 12 months have been crazy & difficult for so many people. How have you dealt with it? What have been some of the struggles you’ve faced and have there been any positives come out of it?

A: I started a world trip at the beginning of last year, to work from abroad and get inspired by the different countries. Unfortunately, I had to come back after 3-month of the journey. I guess this is the only struggle I had to deal with (insignificant compared to people losing their jobs or dying!).

The positive is that I decided to move to Berlin and suddenly was able to fully concentrate on my art again. I recognized that it wasn’t that easy to find the time to create when traveling. So I had a lot of time and space for creating my new collection. It was the first time in years painting with acrylics.

Q: COVID has cleared and travel is back to normal, you’re given a plane ticket with the destination blank. You get to write the location… Where are you going & why?

A: One destination on my world trip would have been Mongolia. I once saw a documentary about nomads in Mongolia riding through the beautiful landscape. That is where I knew that one of my biggest dreams is to ride a horse through this country.

Q: Would you rather: Get stuck into a good novel, or an addictive netflix series?

A: I have to admit that reading books is not my strength. I just don’t have the patience and get distracted too fast. Also, it feels like wasting my time as I can’t do anything else besides reading. So I prefer watching a series, where I can do something besides, like drawing, editing, replying to emails…

Besides watching Vikings (really addictive), I’m watching a lot of real crime documentaries on Netflix. Currently, I was watching “Athlete A” which is a documentary about girls getting abused in the gymnastics industry.

Q: Favourite artist/album currently to listen to?

A: Delachute.

Q: What other artist(s) do you like on Drawdeck?

A: I really like the vibes that Ruben Ireland’s art is creating.