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InspirationIllustration

Flower Power: The modern yet vintage vibes of Carolina Grandinetti

Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina is Carolina Grandinetti, an artist whose work you may have recently seen in The Guardian newspaper.

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Woman with black hair holding a white flower with red details against a red background, symbolising female empowerment and the fight for freedom in Belarus

Her cover for The Guardian Weekly centred around the Flower Power movement in Belarus (above) turned many heads last year. It is a great example of Carolina's modern take on art infused with classic, vintage vibes.

"The cover was a challenge because despite being an illustration of female empowerment as I usually create, there was a solid political background involved," she tells us. "My inspiration came from the real images of those women claiming their freedom."

"Andrew Stocks, The Guardian Weekly's art director, asked me to do something 'poetic'. The woman dressed in white visualises a better future, and the white flower and fist holding it are very symbolic. It represents the fight for peace and freedom. The project was amazing, and people in Belarus took my image to the streets, even made graffiti inspired by it. I'm very grateful for all of that."

As the Flower Power project shows, Carolina loves creating images and characters that are empowering, symbolic and bold through the use of a graphic style, negative/positive space, and strong lights and shadows. Her references, as you might guess, are usually old paintings, classic sculptures and vintage posters.

Stylised portrait of a woman with short dark hair and red lips against a split teal and black background, with concentric geometric patterns in orange and red forming a halo effect behind her head
Illustration of a grey-skinned figure in red clothing with arms raised against a bright yellow circular background, representing female empowerment

"I also find a lot of beauty in humans and their emotions. My illustrations, in general, convey an emotion, a state of mind. There is usually no clear context or physical space. The fact that they are mostly women responds to my own nature, but I love representing men, too."

Carolina had eclectic training as an artist. After finishing high school, she studied the art of image and sound design for movies, then changed into scenography, costume design and fashion design.

"Then, I took courses in digital illustration and graphic design. I also took painting and art history classes. I've been lucky enough to work in all those areas throughout my life, mainly in costume design. That was until 2016, when I started working for an Argentinian online magazine called Chocha and Illustration became my main profession."

"The wonderful thing about illustration is that it allows me to gather and apply all my past interests, passions and knowledge."

Follow the artist @carolinagrandinetti.

Woman with long dark hair holding a stylised anatomical heart overlaid with a white flower against a gradient background in magenta, gold and teal tones
Turquoise bust sculpture of a woman with wavy hair and ram horns against a bright orange background, inscribed with MMXX on the base
Two stylised figures in neon pink and blue tones facing each other against dark geometric shapes, symbolising female empowerment and freedom
Stylised illustration of a woman in pale green with long dark hair and red lips, covered in symbolic text and imagery, set against a bright orange circular background
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