Latvian graphic designer and illustrator Ieva Ozola has made it her mission to sketch the location of every place she visits daily. As a current resident of Prague, Ozola began this project in July 2015. Without fail, she brings her small sketchbook, liquid pen, pencils and watercolors on the go. A romantic idea, she hopes to capture every space permanently on paper. She confesses that she’d like to remember every location she visits.
Currently on day 196, Ozola’s personal challenge has become an artistic expression of human memory and chronology. Often depicting watercolor illustration of Prague with the inclusion of Norway, France and Latvia, each passage holds a unique identity. Among the beautiful sceneries are some of the colonial city’s most recognizable architectural wonders, which include Prague’s Astronomical Clock and the Dancing House.
Although Ozola mainly creates cityscape pieces, she inserts silent wonders of European nature. The combination of mountainous images, seascapes, and flowers amongst the urban recollections composed of architectural wonders, which seemed plucked out of a page of a fairytale, provide a quixotic perspective of travel and daily life.
“It scares me; what words can do to people. They can tear people apart, yet with others build them up. They can condemn. And they can make people look idiotic all at the same time. They’ve made me look idiotic; well I made myself look idiotic; and I don’t know what to do about it.”
