Meet celebrated Australian creative art studio, Inaluxe

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Inaluxe Contemporary Graphic & Illustration

Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd first became friends in art school. Today they both live and work in a small, sleepy town close to the Grampians National Park in Victoria, Australia. Combining their creative talents to establish Inaluxe art studio, their eclectic array of designs includes laser beam cats, abstract geometrics, and eye-popping illustrations.

Q: Hi, how did you both meet?

A: The story of how we got here goes back to 1992 when we met in art school in Ballarat, Victoria. Jason was a year above me, majoring in drawing, and my major was painting. Being part of the art school crowd, we would bump into one another at different social events until we finally became friends almost a year later.

We found we both had a passion for information, whether it was art history, music, or film, we’d spend hours talking about everything but the kitchen sink. I think this need for learning was the foundation of our friendship and is true today more than ever.

Our interests quite often sit on opposing sides, and rather than this being a hindrance, it inspires our work. We have the best talks and, of course, sometimes we have fiery debates!

Fine art prints by Inaluxe

Green and Yellow by Inaluxe

Q: Where do you call home?

A: We live and work in the Grampians in Victoria, Australia. We’ve been here for six years now. It’s lush, full of native vegetation, and with the Grampians National Park being so close, we are spoilt for scenery.

The landscape is dotted with gum trees, and native wildlife including a plethora of birds, Kangaroos, and Wallabies, amongst many others – too many to mention by name. Prior to this, we lived in Melbourne for fifteen years.

Q: Where do you escape to?

A: We love to explore the local area. Daylesford is one of our favourite places, as well as Dunkeld, and any place with the ocean is perfect, but only during the cooler months.

The beach in summer is way too busy, and there’s nothing quite like the sea on a stormy day.

Q: What are you currently reading, listening to or looking at to inspire you?

A: (Jason) I’m currently reading ‘The Man In The High Castle’ by Philip K Dick, listening to Miles Davis, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and reading several rock music biographies.

A: (Kristina) I’ve been pouring over a range of books all about gardening. ‘Gardening Australia’ magazine, ‘Dry Gardening Australia’ by Jonathan Garner, and ‘The Gardenist’ by Michael McCoy. Listening to David Bowie, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, and John Coltrane.

Q: What artists influence your style?

A: There are many, but none in a specifically literal sense. It’s the process and artist as a person that inspires, and not necessarily their work, or a particular style.

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Hootenanny Owl

£155, framed art print

Inaluxe Owls Birds Animals Contemporary Graphic & Illustration Kids

Q: How important is it that your work tells a story?

A: There is no particular message, stories are a personal experience, and one of the realities about making art is that everyone’s reaction will be different, depending on their perspective. It’s wonderful because it makes the whole thing a personal adventure.

‘There’s no plan or agenda other than to make art. We keep pushing shapes until they take us somewhere.’

Inaluxe

A fine art print by Inaluxe

Q: Can you tell us more about your collaborative creative process?

A: There’s really two ways of looking at this. One, is that we have an idea of what we’re going to do, we might feel that we need a series of new birds, and then we might actually talk about what we’d like to represent. Then we start painting, each with their own idea, and then we see how we’re going. The more literal creations, like the birds, are often reviewed and revised, quite often by both of us.

On the other hand, the abstracts are true to form, there’s no plan or agenda other than to make art. We keep pushing shapes until they take us somewhere.

So there you have it, some of our work is more structured, at least by our standards, while other pieces are far more free form.

Q: Which are your favourite prints from your collection and why?

A: Ha ha ha! Being asked about which of our works is our favourite is kind of like asking people whether they have favourite children, they might, but they won’t admit it. Besides, each piece we’ve created has its own undeniably special qualities. In other words: we love all our babies.

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Meet celebrated Australian creative art studio, Inaluxe

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