While South African artist Julia Anastasopoulos is currently gaining
fame for her viral Suzelle DIY videos, she is actually a multi-disciplined
artist, actress and designer who has worked in many fields, including
theatre design, children’s book illustration and mural making.
Can you give us a short background
on yourself?
I grew up in Johannesburg and moved to
Cape Town in 2001 to study Theatre and
Performance at UCT. After I graduated I
was involved in quite a lot of theatre design
work and exploring all sorts of other design
fields. I studied graphic design and started
developing my own design brand.
Did you always want to be an artist?
How did your journey to be becoming an
artist begin?
I grew up in a very
artistic household and
was always encouraged to
explore my creative side. I
have been drawing for as
long as I can remember.
After I graduated from
UCT Drama School I
started getting involved
in more
illustrationtype work
and it has just
developed
from there.
I now work
as both an
actress and an
Illustrator.
What artists, African and abroad,
have inspired your work?
I have always loved the work of Saul
Steinberg and Raymond Peynet – my
illustrative style definitely sprung from a
love of the picture books and illustrators
I was exposed to as a child; the What-amess books, all the activity in Richard
Scarey’s illustrations, the delicate Joan
Walsh Anglund characters and the work
of Graeme Base.
How would you describe
the style of your
work?
Detailed, sometimes
architectural line
work, whimsical
and filled with
characters, activity
and hidden
surprises.
What is
the general
inspiration
when you
sit down to
create?
Music inspires
me, and the