Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bojana Ilic – BOJITT. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Bojana, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Life by itself is a great challenge. And we all build some resilience just by living. To believe our approach to life gets more defined with experience. My resilience comes from the early age growing up in Serbia, Former Part of Yugoslavia, a country that was created based on communism beliefs. When it was approaching my teen years – our country was going through a big time falling apart with several war zones all over the ideal of communism called one country. We were fortunate not to be in the middle of it, but because of our former politics and what the president has done, Serbia was bombed by NATO when I was in college. Living through this all, and later pursuing my creative career in the country that is picking up the pieces after the war, was a booster shot of resilience to already preexisted confidence and pride. and to be clear, this applies to all of us- from former Yugoslavia, who decided sooner or later to pick up and go – to find a better future. I always say, I am so lucky I was born with an imagination that overpowers reason. And through life- it serves me as resilience.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am Serbian-born and raised, US based artist (Chicago, IL and Tampa FL)
When I was a child I had a passion to “color EVERYTHING”. Growing up in a creative entrepreneurial family, and knowing I am not like the other kids, I spent my time creating clothing for myself, and learning to draw and paint. I moved to Belgrade after High School to study clothing and textile design and marketing. I pursued a fashion design career right after finishing my studies.My unique style and drive to keep creating my own brand was well accepted in the fashion industry in Belgrade at that time, where I received support and sponsorship to show my collections with a group of best upcoming young designers during Belgrade Fashion Week and Fashion Selection. She opened her TIGIDI STUDIO in 2002.
Aside from creating and showing my brand collections I was also designing promotional clothing for Leo Burnett Serbia (clients as Chevy, Philip Morris, Maxim…). In 2005 I was invited as an honor guest to FAT (Fashion Alternative Toronto) supported by the Serbian Ambassador in Canada. On this same trip I visited Chicago, IL and fell in love with the city. Going back and forth, I decided to move to the US in April 2007. This move also inspired a change of medium in the need to make a living in the new country where no one cared what I did before. I needed to reinvent myself.
I started designing and painting murals, for residential and commercial clients, while working as a wardrobe stylist in various TV and theater productions in Chicago, while raising my newborn son.
In 2010 I started creating art programs for children, with the initial idea to create an affordable learning environment for my son and his little friends. I collaborated with public libraries and programs in Chicago supported by the government to empower youth through art. In 2016 I joined a roster of live performing artist-live painters (under Art Life International management) and helped raise funds for organizations as IF Charities, Children Museum Glenview, Lurie Children’s Hospital Chicago, st. Jude Children’s Hospital, The Art Center Highland Park, South Shore Art Center Indiana etc.
I was commissioned by many corporate organizations to create for their private and public collections, including Willis Tower Chicago, Kirk and Ellis, Convine., Uptown Art Festival. Also my art was featured on screen in TV productions as Dark Matter, Justified , FX+, Chicago Fire, Whitney Rynolds Talk Show
I was commissioned by many corporate organizations to create for their private and public collections, including Willis Tower Chicago, Kirk and Ellis, Convine. Also my art was featured on screen in TV productions as Dark Matter, Justified , FX+, Chicago Fire, Whitney Reynolds Talk Show |2021
I was honored to be included in the American Ambassadors Residency Exhibition in Belgrade, and featured among many celebrated artists in a beautiful traveling project DEMOCRACY, celebrating 60 years of Art in Embassies, a US government project.
My passion to uplift other women, especially artists came to fruition in March 2023 when I curated an art exhibition “woman to woman” featuring over 70 international women artists – and gained great recognition for all. I am looking forward to continuing this as a tradition for all of us.
One of my favorite highlights is 3 weeks of artist residency Graniti Murales in August last year. After finishing a 3 story tall mural in Graniti, Sicily. I came back home to Chicago and within a week moved to Tampa, FL with her family.
I find great inspiration in community empowerment, social justice and equality. This comes from my constant curiosity and passion for traveling the world and exploring different cultures and what they carry as traditions. I believe my life experience makes my work being collected internationally easier. The final product is just the straightforward shot from my heart, uncensored and BOLD way of spreading LOVE.
In my latest work,I draw inspiration from the remarkable women’s resilience. “All The Hats We Wear” series is my response to how we, as women, are wearing all the different hats throughout life situations without even pausing to question. It is in our nature, no matter of the momental state of mind-we are all resilient and stronger than we think. I use photography as a starting point in my creation where I capture face expressions of my subjects. Later, in my paintings I give them life and embrace their emotional intensity with color and abstract movement. And I am looking forward to experimenting with a diverse range of mediums into creating site specific installations that will inspire conversation. As I embark on this journey, my work fervent desire to pay homage to the multifaceted nature of womanhood.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Curiosity and eagerness to learn is the key to any success. Alongside the resilience and strong work ethic. I believe that dedication creates great results. All these attributes will not come to fruition if I haven’t dreamed big. So advice I can give is – Once you do have a big dream, you have to wake up quick, and create a real life plan for your dream to come true. Then get to work, and don’t stop. Keep learning, keep exploring and document all you do. Accept that you are different and say no to any distractions. Be resourceful, have 3 mentors and don’t listen to them all the time. Once your close ones notice you are checked out and super focused on your work, and you are hard to pull away – you will know you are on to something amazing. And be ok to be rejected, most of the time. Keep giving! And yes, for some people this sounds totally crazy. Remember – no one with a mediocre mind set made history.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am looking to partner with more national and International galleries, museums, art centers- to show my work to a wider audience. Not for anything else than to spread LOVE. I want to inspire younger generations to become fearless. I want people to see my work and feel an overwhelming amount of positivity and love – this will empower them to be stronger and make closer connections with echother.
And by partnering with designers, brands, celebrities and cultural institutions we can create something amazing together. We can spread more LOVE.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bojittart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bojanailic.bojitt.artist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bojitt/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bojanailicbojitt
Image Credits
Headshot – Adrienne Richgels
