Welcome to WunderLocke, our second location in Munich. As we prepare to fully open in the summer, we have been meeting some incredible people from the local community in Sendling along the way.
We found Monika through Instagram and instantly fell in love with her work. Her inspiring spirit and bubbly personality caught our attention and we knew she would be the perfect person for our first official Creative in Residence for the property.
Monika spent three days creating her art work on site at WunderLocke and her creations are now on display in the co-working space and lobby on the ground floor.
We sat down with Monika to talk about the inspiration behind her work, what pushed her to go full time as an artist and what Sendling and the city of Munich means to her.
When did you decide that you wanted to be an artist?
I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an artist. In between, when I was growing up, I think I strayed a bit from that because I didn't believe in it. But last summer I gathered all my courage and decided to quit my permanent job as a designer to become a full-time artist.
How has Munich and it's community inspired your work?
The inspiring thing about Munich is that this city, which has some prejudices, is full of young, talented and cool creative minds that make the city not seem monotonous. Getting to know these people and working with some of them is very inspiring and makes you want to make a cultural contribution to the city of Munich.
Who are some fellow artists that inspire you?
Johanna Dumet, Camilla Engström, Monja Gentschow, Tyler Guinn, Maja Dlugolecki and Ammon Rost.
What are the inspirations behind your work?
Having grown up in the Philippines, I would like to awaken in my viewers both their longing and an inner calm through my connection to the sea and the sun. For me it´s truly inspiring being able to do what I love the most and finding calm in my creative process and if I can additionally reach people with my art, then that´s what I want.
What's next for Monika?
That's a question I can't answer too precisely. I am always in process and like to be driven by events that come and go. But what I plan to do is paint more, I think that's a constant that won't change anytime soon.
