Interview with Ildiko and Flavia of Harem6

All images this post belong to Harem6 and are used by permission.

This week I'm very happy to be interviewing Ildiko and Flavia of Harem6. They create in a variety of mediums: art dolls, jewelry, sculptures, drawing and photography. They have an Etsy shop, a blog, a website and a Flickrstream. 

You went to art school together and have been creating art together since 2003, but when I first saw your work, I didn’t even realize that it was the product of a partnership. Do you both work on the same pieces or do you each have a specialty? 

We both went to art school but we only met three months before I (Ildiko) finished the studies of Art University and Flavia still had one year to study.  Flavia's specialties are photography, painting and drawing and mine was and will be for ever drawing, we only later discovered molding and sculpture.

We usually discuss everything we make, we love working together, there are always amazing surprises to discover in the other one's mind. There are collections proposed by one of us but we create together, each of us has a part to make on the art object.


Flavia usually creates the bodies of the dolls and I create the animals. I am the one who draws the faces and little stories that appear on the objects, but there are a few animals and doll faces that Flavia drew, she makes their dresses too. It's a long process but it's such a tremendous joy that we cannot describe it in words. People who create, artists, can better understand this "travel to an other universe".

Did you always have such a similar aesthetic or have your respective styles merged over the years?

Yes, we have similar aesthetic, but we reached being on the same line regarding style and preferences by working a lot together, it's a sort of fusion of two minds having the same goal. Each one looking for the same thing but having also different keys of searching and also different personalities. These differencies somehow united our work thanks to the similar aesthetic we had.

At first we made digital works combining drawing with photography and then we realized we'd love to make something else. As artists we like exploring a lot, taking chances in trying different medias.

What do you think is the secret of successful creative partnership?


We think that the most important thing is to know to listen to the other one, to know that you are not alone, to be aware of the fact that in order to have something better than before, to evolve with the person you're creating with you must be ONE, when you already have the ingredients we've just told you about.

I really admire your art dolls. Can you tell us a little about how they are made?

It's a mixed media. A combination of fabric with different ingredients, our own formula.

Can you tell us a little about the images and ideas that inspire your work?

Inspiration could come from anywhere, from a sound, a situation we saw, a color, a story told by someone, a book we read. There are also artists we admire: Helnwein, Saudek, Walton Ford,  Durer, Bacon, Chagall. We also watch many, many movies and there are directors who inpire us, Lynch, Haneke or Almodovar.

What projects are you currently working on? Do you have upcoming shows you are preparing for?

We are working on a really exciting series of works, different from what we've been making till now, so we don't want to uncover anything yet in order to keep the surprise for later. It's been going a bit slow due to Flavia's work on her PhD about dolls. All we can say is that they still involve dolls, as they are and shall ALWAYS be the favorites for us. We'll have upcoming shows: one in Bucharest and the other one in Austria this year.

You are both from Romania (which I have never visited). Can you tell us a little about your favorite places in Romania and uniquely Romanian things you miss when living or traveling away from home?

Our country has an amazing variety of places to go to : the Danube Delta which is a unique place in Europe due to the fauna and plants existing in that area, there are also castles you shouldn't miss: Peles, Bran, Castelul Huniazilor, Cetatea Brasovului and the villages and monasteries in Moldova, the wood churches in Maramures.

We miss the most when we are away from home, our friends and dogs. : )

You both love animals and have adopted street dogs. Can you tell us a little more about them?

Yeees ! We are great animal lovers! We had three street dogs, unfortunately Bilet died so have only two now.They are both girls and their names are Leska and Veracruz. We'd love to have many more if we lived in a house with a yard, but when living in an apartment it would be really crowdy to have more than two. Unfortuantely, in Romania street dogs are a big issue and we'd love to offer all of them a shelter. Maybe somewhere in the future we'll have a huge yard full of dogs.: )

Thank you Ildiko and Flavia!