Maker Monday: An Aspire Exclusive Interview With Maja Dlugolecki

Maja Dlugolecki is a Polish-American mixed media artist based in LA, with a background in visual design. Maja’s work is inspired by her life experiences expressed through the lenses of abstract art, with each piece acting as a view into a singular moment in time in her life. Her work incorporates different textures to synthesize each of these moments visually. Learn more about this unique artist in this week’s Maker Monday.

Andrew Joseph: You’re the newest Crayola color. What color are you and why?
Maja Dlugolecki: I’ve never really been a big fan of pink, but it’s been showing up a lot recently in my environments and also in my paintings. There is a single palo borracho tree on the side of the freeway on my drive home from the studio. It’s this incredibly vibrant happy pink hue with hundreds of blossoms that feels like a little reminder to pay attention and notice the little moments throughout the day. The color would be called silk floss tree, which is the tree’s common name.

AJ: What would you like to be remembered for?
MD: This question reminds me of a “Super Soul” podcast with Oprah being asked about leaving a legacy. I loved this sentiment she shared from a conversation she had with her mentor and friend Maya Angelou:

“I remember when I opened my school in South Africa and I said to Maya Angelou, ‘Gee this will be my legacy.’ and Maya in her Maya way said, ‘You have no idea what your legacy will be. Your legacy is what you do everyday. your legacy is every life you’ve touched, every person whose life was either moved or not. It’s every person you’ve harmed or helped, that’s your legacy.’ I don’t think about it. I just try to live it.”

In that same vein, I think less about what I’d like to be remembered for and more about how I can make small impacts around me every day, with everyone I cross paths with. I believe that the little things add up and make a difference in someone’s day and life. I also love the thought that we will never really know all the touch-points we’ve had. It’s the same way that a single interaction from a stranger or a loved one has moved me from one place to another, or from one form of thought to another, and influenced my life in a way that they aren’t necessarily aware of either. I am grateful for all those little moments that got me to where I am today.

AJ: What’s something you always travel with?
MD: I’ve been subletting in different cities since 2017, and travel often so I have a few things I like to bring with me to keep me grounded and have little bits of home. My GvgCeramics mug is my favorite item from the list. It’s the perfect size, beautifully designed, and now that I’ve taken it so many places it feels like it holds a lot of memories and moments in it.

AJ: Best advice you’d give your teenage self?
MD: Wake up earlier and see how much more you’ll get done. I spent the summer in Europe so when I got back to LA I was waking up at 5am for a week or so with jet lag. I quickly noticed how I had more energy and felt much sharper in the earlier hours, and how much more fulfilled I felt at the end of the day. I’ve never been a morning person but I’ve trained myself to wake up between 6-6:30, which I’ve found is the ideal time to meditate (still a little dark and so peaceful) and then go for a run or a long walk before starting the rest of my day.

AJ: What’s a new hobby/skill that you have learned recently?
MD: Similarly to not being a morning person—I’ve also never been a runner. Over the summer my brother mentioned that he wanted to challenge himself by signing up for a half marathon, and I decided it could be a good challenge for myself too. I’m always looking for ways to challenge myself and this has been a great lesson in pushing through the initial fear of doing something I’m not good at and believing in myself that I can make it happen if I set my mind to it. Being able to run 4 miles straight is something that I have never done or thought I would be capable of until the last few months. It feels really good to try something new, even when it feels completely foreign at first, and find a way through to the other side


About the Maker | Maja Dlugolecki (b. 1992) is a Polish-American painter based in Los Angeles. with a background in visual design, her work draws from experiences and impressions in her own life through an abstract lens. Maja’s intuitive paintings feature layered washes and a variety of textures, creating movement and emotion through bold pigments. with an ever evolving palette and method, Maja enjoys experimenting and challenging new ways of expression through technique. Each piece reflects a specific personal moment in time. In lieu of a daily journal, Maja assigns past recorded thoughts to her titles. She feels this process best reflects the emotional elusiveness of a moment and how time to reflect provides a clearer understanding of the self.

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