Skulls with a heart

After Nicola de Jager completes one of her Calavera skulls, it has to ‘live’ with her for a while, until she’s completely satisfied with it. These beautiful designs have proved to us that dealing with the dead can be a lot of fun.

One cannot help but smile at her colourful, somehow hypnotic representation of a ‘Calavera’, which is the Spanish word for a skull. Inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead (Dios los Muertos), the pieces are beautifully bright and loaded with symbolism. Once Nicola has created the eyes as focus point, she adorns the piece with beads and stitchwork.

Her design style is defined by organic lines, bold colours and a love for experimenting. “My style keeps evolving and now I’m again at the stage where I would like to take it to another level,” says Nicola.

Calavera is only part of her first series as she is planning to do a Polynesian or tribal-inspired series in the future. The Calaveras follows a feminine aesthetic, as the repetition of hearts (she refers to as the “sacred heart”), butterflies and flower motifs portray a sense of life and joyfulness. “I would like to think that the difference between my designs and the mainly dark an negative skull designs out there is shown by the positive response I get from the public,” Nicola says.

A single piece can take up to a month to complete. Nicola works from her garden studio in Cape Town, but enjoys taking her embroidery work wherever she goes. She loves creating pieces on commission, and incorporating her clients’ personality traits into the design.

As far as materials are concerned, Nicola uses mainly hand dyed pure merino wool blend felt, as well as felt made from recycled plastic. She favours DMC Embroidery floss and recently started embroidering onto card stock. “I also make use of heat transfer vinyl to transfer my designs onto the felt to mix it up a bit,” says Nicola.

Nicola frames the pieces herself and has also started laser etching her designs onto found wood for a slightly different, more natural effect. Having a graphic design background, she is able to experiment with various media and design approaches.

Her love for tattoos remain the most interesting influence on her work and life. “Our entire lifestyle is centered around the art of tattoos. My husband has a complete body suit and I have been working on a full body suit and have only my lower legs to complete,” says Nicola. “Tattoos are fascinating. They have enormous cultural significance in so many countries, and makes you feel apart of a tribe.”

Within design circles, Nicola has definately proven herself a worthy creative. Her works come in various sizes ranging from A5 to A2 and are available at the Kalk Bay Modern Gallery, Haas, Salon 91, Grande Provence, the Art South Africa Magazine Shop and Hadeda. We are looking forward to see Nicola join other creatives at the 2012 Design Indaba.

More information: www.calavera.co.za