Kornelija is a multimedia artist who focuses on upcycling clothes into her art. Finding ways to turn old clothing articles into new and innovative pieces. Focusing on sustainable fashion Kornelija hosts upcycling workshops along with online guides on ways to upcycle clothes. 

- Artist introduction:

My name is Kornelija, and I’m a multimedia artist primarily focused on upcycling clothing. I take second-hand garments and transform them into one-of-a-kind wearable art by hand-painting directly on the fabric. My work is rooted in sustainability, storytelling, and giving new life to discarded pieces.

- What does denim mean to you? 

Working with denim for this project was both exciting and challenging. It pushed me to think beyond just upcycling I wanted to deconstruct and reconstruct the fabric in a way that minimized waste and maximized creativity.

- What are you thinking when you create art?

When I create, I enter a flow state. It’s peaceful and grounding—I’m aware of what’s going on in my life, but all the stress, deadlines, and anxiety fade into the background. I focus on inspiration, clarity, and whatever ideas are flowing through me at the moment. It’s like a form of meditation.

- What is the title of your piece?

"Silver Heron"

I created a three-piece collection titled Silver Heron. My art often incorporates stars and whimsical, celestial elements, and the name reflects that—silver like starlight, and heron after the bird I illustrated on one of the shirts. It’s a poetic combination of light, nature, and imagination.

- What Medium did you use?

Screenprinting, paint and sewing on to clothing articles.

For the first piece, I screen-printed one of my designs onto a denim patch. The second piece is directly hand-painted on denim. And for the third, I cut star shapes from the denim and sewed them onto a sweatshirt—each technique was chosen to highlight the fabric in a different way. 

- Inspiration behind the project

The variety of denim shades in the Kancan jeans really inspired me. I found myself pairing darker denim with darker garments, and lighter denim with lighter ones—it helped guide my decisions and opened up more creative options. Having multiple tones of the same material gave me space to experiment and play.