Lack of internal taboos and self-confidence The interview with the author of graphic metaphors about female beauty, Hassan Hajila

You have to be ready to open yourself to something new and connect associations in order to read the plot of Hassan’s creations. Hassan Hajila, an artist from Casablanca, knows how to bring the author’s art to perfection and turn to non-trivial themes in his creations.

— Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Can you call yourself a busy person? How many hours a day do you devote to work?

— First of all, thank you for your interest in my in my art. It’s always a pleasure to have an opportunity to share my vision on such a great platform.

I think everybody has that feeling of having a busy life, specially in advertising field, the work never stops, but we should find time for ourselves to create personal art without any constraints.

— What are you working on now?

— I have a lot of projects in progress but I prefer to take all my time to develop each until I’m satisfied.

— What takes more time — commercial projects or the embodiment of your own ideas?

— For the moment commercial projects occupy more of my time because they’re more profitable and usually have a deadline, so they also take less time to complete. But commercial projects are never in the way of my ideas and I always find time to work on my art and continue to build my career as a visual artist.

— If you don't mind, I would like to talk about some of your photos. For example, "HAVE IT MY WEIGHT". You express your support for women who, due to the imposed beauty norms, may experience self-doubt. Why did you find this topic important and how did you come up with the subject for this photo?

— The female body is one of my main source of inspiration. I always like to explore its beauty in curves and shapes. It was my way to say that they are gorgeous with all those beautiful curves which to me resemble a beautiful landscape. I would like once again to thank my friend who believed in me in this project and allowed me to capture her beauty for it. It was challenging for me to find someone who would dare to expose her body.

— Am I not mistaken when I call your works "photographs"? Perhaps it is correct to say "an image", "a picture”?

— Since my art has a very conceptual side, I call them creations. It’s a mix between photography and editing. It’s a play between the light and the shadow, mixed with texture and other elements to create shapes and illustrate my word play.

— A very spicy photo "MASTURDATE". To be honest, when you look at it, you have a desire to do it. But why is it a woman in the picture? Men are also not forbidden to know themselves.

— For this project I have interpreted masturbation as a date with yourself to say that body exploration is completely normal. I prefered woman because I think we talk less about it than male masturbation. Women’s self-pleasure is a taboo and their pleasure is often ignored.

— Today’s world is full of global problems. Everyone is just talking about Covid, global warming... And your work is turned in the other direction – individually to the person, human emotional state and innermost thoughts. Why did you choose so?

— I have never been intrigued to follow the news or trends and work them into my art. It would require a rapid execution, and I prefer to take my time to develop my own concept based on a human emotions, it’s more eternal than the trend.

— What is there more in your works — photographs or graphics? Is there any border or dosage?

— My art it’s a mix between photography and editing which allows me to create a realistic illusion. Each creation is unique and created differently. There are no formulas or limits when I’m creating art, as to what I will use and how I will edit it to achieve my vision.

— The whole Internet knows your work "BEACH PLEASE". Tell us the story of its creation.

— It was created from many sources of inspiration from artists, who combined the beach with a body shape. I wanted to create my own version, a realistic visual that makes you want to escape to a beautiful island.

— Are you living in Morocco now? Tell something about this country to those who have never been there.

— For the moment I’m living in Casablanca. Morocco is a beautiful country with an amazing culture and I think it’s one of the reason which made me choose this kind of suggestive art. It’s a way for me to break taboos in a conservative country. I am convinced that it is evoking them that we will succeed in trivializing these taboos and making them accept differences.

— Finish this interview with three words, please.

— Peace, love, freedom!

Interview: Sergey Gutakovsky

Translation: Angelina Petrova

Editor: Sergey Fomkin

2022