Alisa Hellstrom is a published writer in Russia. Her stories and poems had been awarded with literary awards. She visited art-residencies and art-festivals in Ireland, Hungary and Azores Islands where she presented her poems, drawings and outside installations. Currently, she lives in Estonia and works on her PhD thesis in psychology. She is interested in topics of ecology, anthropology and their interaction with each other.
Kate is a designer, and she has a vocational education in fine art. She uses traditional materials, like pencil and watercolours, and combines it with lively and active shape and lines. This technique helps character portraits and mythological images find a unique and intense vibe. Kate is interested in mythology and emerge of different myths and languages.
Both Kate and Alisa are fond of Japanese culture, history and mythology. Alisa has been to Japan before and spent three weeks of travelling around Honshu island. For Kate, it is the first journey so far and so long from home. They want to immerse themselves into Japanese culture for a month to understand it better.
They are coming to Takeo to observe everyday life of rural Japan. They want to see how people live there, what do they think, what stories they have to share. From these stories, Kate and Alisa will weave their own story about Japanese lifestyle. Their project is an artist book dedicated to the magic of everyday life. They want to show how mundane gives birth to something special, how routine begets sacred.
Alisa is a writer and a bit of an artist. Kate is the opposite. Their project is meant to become a whole visual novel consisting of stories, photos and pictures. They want to show the beauty of the moment, the glory of imperfection, deepness of ordinary life.