I first saw the striking work of French illustrator Malika Favre in the form of a video that animates a series of her prints, telling the story of an enigmatic, sophisticated woman as she travels through a monochrome, patterned cityscape; sometimes she peeks out at us tantalisingly, other times she hides away, but always she journeys on towards a destination that is never revealed.
Malika’s work is very clever and extremely stylish, combining op-art effects with a pared-down, bold and sophisticated illustrative style. Credit must also go to the team behind the video; the animation takes the optical illusions of the original prints to a whole new level, and the music perfectly complements the spare, graphic images whilst creating an atmosphere of playful intrigue and suspense. Watch it below:
Malika grew up in Paris and studied graphic design there, graduating from Olivier de Serres in 2004. Moving to London to pursue illustration, she joined the multidisciplinary design studio Airside in 2006. During her time there she also developed her own portfolio of work which led to collaborations with high-profile clients such as Wallpaper*, The Sunday Times, Penguin Books and Gucci. In 2011 she left Airside to set up as an independent illustrator/Art director working on projects worldwide that span editorial, advertising, publishing, music and fashion.
The game of “Hide and Seek” that we see in the video was both subject and title of Malika’s first solo exhibition in London at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch in September 2012. Of the eight, limited edition screenprints, she commented “There is such beauty and intrigue in those repetitive concrete balconies, I felt like creating a series of abstract prints based on the architectural patterns that no one really notices”. Of her work in general, Malika says “My approach to illustration is about paring things down as much as possible. I try and get to the essence of my subject by using as few lines and colours as it needs to convey the core of the idea”.
Below Left: Peeking Below Right: Hands
Above: Curtains Below: Balconies
Remaining prints of these very limited editions are available to buy at Kemistry Gallery and Outline Editions.
You can see more of Malika’s work at www.malikafavre.com, including this gorgeous cover illustration for the 15th anniversary issue of Marie Claire Russia – see left.
Images: Kemistry Gallery, Outline Editions, Malika Favre
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