Alex de Bonis

Every series of Urban Walkabout Guides is unique and visualised by a local artist whose illustrations grace the covers. Their expressions work with ours to bring you Sydney precincts in all their colours. There’s always a story behind their practice and outputs, so here we give a little more on The Artists. Meet Alex de Bonis, her artwork is featured on our Urban Walkabout Sydney series in 2012.

1. Tell us a little about your artwork.
I like to describe myself as first and foremost a visual communicator, a graphic designer and a lover of all things. That ‘a-ha’ moment doesn’t come from a specific place, happen at a particular time and it doesn’t happen in solidarity. Inspiration comes in all forms and walks of life and happens when you least expect it. That’s why I like to keep an open mind and am a lover of all things.

2. How did your journey start?
Like most other children I was surrounded by story books. But I wasn't interested in reading them, instead I would spend hours redrawing over the characters and words in the book, recreating my own story. I found this so amusing — my mum on the other hand didn't find it so amusing and stopped buying me storybooks because of the endless destruction of them! When I got older this idea of story telling and communication continued to interest me, and when I thought how could I make a living doing this, design was the answer.

3. What have been your biggest challenges?
I approach everything as a challenge, if it isn't or if it's too easy, then it's not worth doing!

4. What keeps you motivated to continue creating?
I can't imagine being capable of doing anything else! It's really that constant challenge of trying to push myself to experiment with new ideas.

5. Who or what inspires you?
My dog Paco is my biggest inspiration. I know it sounds silly, but I think it's his attitude towards life— his simplicity, happiness and a care free attitude.

6. What is Sydney’s best-kept secret?
It would definitely be the western suburbs of Sydney — a completely underrated place. There are amazing restaurants and food from every corner of the world, untouched (and correctly priced) second hand shops and great galleries like Campbelltown Arts Centre and Parramatta Artists Studios.

7. What's the story behind the artwork that features on the cover of the Urban Walkabout guide?
I created the textures in the work through experimenting with classic illustration techniques (watercolour washes/acrylics) and merging it digital colouring. All the women represented from the different areas share one thing in common — their strong personas and presence created through bold profiles and bright colours.

8. Whose artwork have you collected or would you like to collect for your home?
I have pieces from Steve Powers and French who I adore and would love to collect even more of their works. What attracts me to Steve Powers work is his use of language and really strong simple bold graphics. While French's work is really dark and brutal, his minimal use of one colour and the amazing detail in his screen prints is inspiring.

9. Tell us about your latest project?
The latest project I've started up is being the co-founder (with Lou Helliwell) for a space called Oxford St Design. It's a store, workshop and forum for ideas. We source locally designed products, host artists-in-residence and organise public talks. A volunteer collective, Oxford St Design is a space where the community connects with creativity. We built the space from scratch with a very little funding and making use of disused objects and materials, which is an amazing (and wildly different) experience for me.

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