Last year the Italian brand Fornarina launched a collaboration with French artist Marie Blanco Hendrickx, better known with the nickname of Mijn Schatje (meaning in Dutch “little treasure”). The artist created a few digital images and while some of them were printed on tops and skirts, details from others were used to create patterns and motifs on different items of clothing and accessories. Marie is a pop-surrealist artist who describes her art
as “silent, bizarre, romantic and innocent”, most of her illustration represent ethereal digital dolls with big dreamy eyes, that she calls “paperdolls”.
I have recently received Fornarina’s Fall/Winter 2008-09 catalogue and I’m pleased to see that more Mijn Schatje’s illustrations will be used in the new collection.
Marie was born in 1983 in the north of France, in a very small city. She started attending the school of fine arts at the age of 14 because she was drawing all the time, both by hand and by computer. She later on enrolled in an art and design school for three years, but she felt very frustrated because all they used to learn was commercial graphic design. 
One day she decided to quit the school and moved to Paris to start her own thing. After a short time spent developing her personal work, her first “paperdolls” were born. Marie also designed flyers for a few French bands’ gigs and covers for electronica albums. In 2005 she joined the group of artists of the French gallery Art Factory and became a member of Hamsterclub, a well-known group of illustrators from Amsterdam.
So far 2008 has been a great year for Mijn Schatje: Marie took part in the Parcours Saint Germain, a famous contemporary art event in Paris in the chic area of Saint Germain des prés, commissioned by couture and luxury brands;
she had her work exhibited in Portland at the Compound Gallery for an “Alice in Wonderland” themed group art show and at the Strychnin Gallery‘s Fusion 5 Festival in Cannes. New and exciting projects await Marie next year: Mijn Schatje’s illustrations will indeed be featured on the Taschen ”Illustration Now” 2009 calendar and diary. Here’s a brief Q&A with this very fashionable artist:
What inspired you to start creating your “paperdolls”?
I’ve been into Takashi Murakami’s work and the Kaikai Kiki and Superflat movements for a long time. Murakami managed to use the computer to create art and I’ve always thought that this was a great revolution. I remember thinking that maybe I could have used my own background and culture to create my very own imaginary world as he does and that’s where it all started.
Can you tell us more about your collaboration with Fornarina?
Fornarina’s CEO and art directors are passionate art collectors, they love pop surrealism / Japanese / lowbrow art, and they often travel and attend the most interesting art shows in the world, that’s why they have such a particular relationship with contemporary artists. During the past years they collaborated with Miss Van, Tokidoki, Glenn Barr, Stina Persson, Dominique Donois, Junko Mizuno and Angelique Houtkamp. They saw my work on the cover of an international fashion and art magazine and called me to their headquarters in Italy. 
We also worked together on their fashion fairs booth and Fornarina Urban Beauty Show 5.0 Zootrope, that took place in Milan last September. I called my artwork for this show "Dreams are my reality". The main theme for this show was Alice in Wonderland so I created a modern and very confident Alice who walks across a chess game floor. A sculptor turned my Alice and my illustrations into 3D characters. I must admit that the whole installation was very dreamy and impressive. Paolo Bragaglia and Howie B worked on the original soundtrack for the installation, contributing to create a magical universe. 
Fornarina really helped me to push my creative abilities further since I never worked with installations or 3D sculptures before, it was a great experience and I would like to work more with 3D objects in the future. An animated video featuring my Alice is available on YouTube.com, while the 3D sculpture that was part of the Fornarina show was exhibited at Amsterdam’s KochXbos Gallery during my “The Day I Got Lost” event.
What’s the best thing that has ever been said about your art?
Trevor Brown is one of the artists I sincerely admire and he wrote something nice about me once on his blog, along with a kind email telling me he appreciated my work. It was a great surprise. Every time somebody tells me how much they like my artwork, my heart melts!
Has MySpace helped you promoting your art?
It helped a lot, particularly in the beginning because it was the perfect tool to promote my work and meet the gallerists around the world. The people on MySpace created a sort of “word of mouth” effect and I received support emails and offers everyday. Most of the people using MySpace as a promoting tool are still music bands but many visual artists and gallery owners joined in during the past years and I built a nice network of artists there, I even met my L.A. gallerist on MySpace.
Can you give us some tips about where to shop in Paris?
I love Artazart, it’s a design and art oriented bookshop in a nice area, as well as The Lazy Dog (which also sells designer toys) , BlackBlock in the Palais de Tokyo and the bookstore at the Centre Pompidou. The flea markets are also funny especially when it’s sunny.
Would you ever move to another town?
I don’t know yet, I’ve been travelling a lot for working purposes and I think it’s enough for me now. I love to travel but it’s also great to have a place you can call your “home” and mine is Paris for the time being, though there are many cities I like such as Amsterdam, London and Rome.
Is there a famous designer you would like to collaborate with?
Jeremy Scott, I love his clothes. I think he’s so imaginative and modern.
All images taken from Mijn Schatje’s MySpace page.
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