Luna The Forest Girl

Inspired by my favourite princess and studio buddy Luna, the series revolves around the idea of imagining my cat's past lives, and whether we could have known each other. I am always astonished by how quickly her temperament turns from ridiculous to wise beyond our realms, and I wanted this series to reflect this humorous yet distinguished aspects of her. My first woodcut in the series imagines Luna as an unmarried woman in a small Romanian village (my roots are Romanian, so it seemed the best starting point for our journey). The story is inspired by a combination of a few Romanian folk stories and myths, and mainly The Girl of The Forest. She is surrounded by traditional symbolism such as poppies, wild ferns, The Sun, and the rooster, to create a story that while the village may have ostracised her for her lonely life, for her it was an entirely peaceful one. In Romanian mythology The Girl of the Forest exists in two versions, one in which she is looking for a husband, and appears to you as a beautiful woman, and another in which she has decided not to marry, and is therefore ugly and strange. In my print, both exist within her in harmony.

Woodcut print on 280 gsm Somerset Velvet Satin paper in oil based ink, with handfinished watercolour details.

Dimensions: 50 x 70 cm framed, 45 x 60 cm unframed cm.

Alexandra Motiu is a printmaker and illustrator with a fine art background. She works with original printmaking techniques – mainly relief, linocut and wood engraving. Her work has surreal qualities and humour, with an old masters' feel. She aims to make hauntingly beautiful work that will stay with the viewer for a long time. Enjoying busy compositions with complex stories which she builds up like a collage, her works are often rooted in myth and folklore. Alexandra creates detailed, decorative, and surreal prints that are entirely guided by the processes she works with, where mistakes are appreciated and oddities shine. She draws inspiration from people, specifically portraiture and it is from this sister art form that the stories encapsulated in her prints often develop. Alexandra’s very personal creative process allows her to directly connect to her work, its historical roots and techniques and, thereby, its finished form.