Guest Takeover #3 - Lois Majek

Lois reflects on what being an artist means to her

Lois Majek is a multidisciplinary maker whose work takes many forms including textile design, illustration and tattooing. Bold colours and a graphic stylised drawing style convey a variety of conceptual themes in relation to blackness, joy and comfort.

To be completely honest, I think I’m still adjusting to the title of being an ‘artist’. I’m capable of making things with these hands of mine and the response to the outcomes being called ‘art’, is something I’m only recently being able to sit in. I’m taking it as as a massive compliment. The imposter syndrome is SCREAMING. 

My Mum has always been my first reference point to art. Her hands have made me baked goods, fancy dress costumes, birthday banners, Christmas decorations, roast dinners and knitted scarves since I was young. I guess her approach to making things has informed my artistry as I tend to work with what’s in front of me. Scraps of cheap fabric and acrylic paint excite me. I gravitate towards comfort, familiarity and naivety and that’s been heavily influenced by her. I have fond memories of having to customise everything from my school exercise books to my baby pink Nintendo DS - drawing directly on to the cover of my DS with a black sharpie. PVA fabric glitter and embroidery thread were also my best friends when I wanted to reinvent my creased Dr Martens for school. I have always had a need to make things my own and decorate things with my handwriting. I view my artwork as an extension of that and of me. 

My practice has taken many forms over the past couple of years and it’s been fun watching my brain unravel. My work is centred around black joy, familiarity, comfort and softness in all its forms. This involves illustrative prints featuring afro hair products, combs, familiar foods, bodies embracing and prints that explore my own identity as a queer woman. I’ve screen printed Jorja Smith lyrics on to linen to make a wall hanging, spray painted my old Air Max 95s red like Dorothy’s shoes, stitched felt badges, illustrated articles for a number of magazines, worked in a tattoo studio and designed a tea towel for TikTok. A recurring visual theme of mine is distinctive faces of black women/people that I tend to incorporate in to varying calm and peaceful scenarios. I also like abstract repeat prints - part of my identity always seems to resonate.

One of my favourite pieces of work is my graduate collection. It’s a selection of screen printed fabric samples designed for baby clothing. Each print is inspired by the agriculture of Nigeria, with reference to a particular produce commonly sold in a variety of markets in central Nigeria. This produce includes yams, cassava, plantain, cashew nuts, millet and kola nuts - and they all influence the shape and design of each print. The textile industry, like many, is completely white washed and I guess I’m still trying to forge a space for myself in the industry

As cheesy as it is to say, I think I’m learning to lean into the title of ‘artist’ slowly but surely. Reminders that people want to buy/commission/exhibit my work still gets me gassed and I’m manifesting being gassed for the whole of 2024 and beyond. This year I want to secure my own art studio, have my first solo exhibition, get back to screen printing and everything else tactile that brings me joy. All in the name of being an artist. 

Follow Lois on instagram here.