Olek is an artist who crochets in innovative ways and now she’s in London. Qype spoke with her about her work and what she’s doing in this city – apart from yarn-bombing our black cabs!

Crocheted London taxi with performers.

How did you come to use crocheting as your medium?

Obviously I wasn’t thinking when I opened this page of my book!

It is very boring, lonely, and feels almost never ending. Fortunately, I love watching movies and they help me work for the many countless hours I need to complete a project. I actually believe I continue to use crochet as my artistic expression because it allows me to do two things at once: watch moving and make art!

I started to crochet while writing my university thesis “Symbolism of costumes in films by Peter Greenaway”. The thesis was the starting point of crocheting & film for me but I actually only realized this insight a couple of years ago when I re-read it.

Greenway’s references to Vermeer and Velazquez, the ideas of transforming old into new, and observing that everything was at some point previously made, continue to influence how I perceive art. I believe that we have to learn how to recreate and transform the world into art, and art into our world.

The last movie I saw in 2000 before I left Poland was “Blade Runner.” In 2010, I created a piece influenced by this film. I covered a 16 mm film projector with the VHS tape of this movie while I was watching it on DVD. I was crocheting the shiny, noise making material and replaying the DVD until I finished the new skin for the projector.

The movies I watch while I crochet influence my work, and vice versa.

Where is your ideal place to show/create street art and why?

NYC. You simply cannot make street art in the place you do not know.

What is your favourite work you’ve created?

The one that exists only in my head and yet to me materialized in yarn!

What are your favourite places to visit in London?

I can tell you more about places not to visit in London… but some other time.

So far I am enjoying sightseeing London on the Boris bikes I spend most of my time on.

What did you do on your most recent trip to London

I’ve crocheted London taxi!

Which artists do you suggest we pay attention to/exhibitions you suggest we see?

Olek opens a new solo show in January in Tony’s Gallery. Till then, just sleep and stay warm.

All images provided by Olek

It happens to the best of us. You’re too tired/hungover/lazy to cook but the thought of getting dressed and dragging your sorry self to a restaurant doesn’t exactly appeal. Neither does ordering in fluorescent curry or questionable fried chicken. You have standards. Right?

Well put down the takeaway menu because Housebites is here! The brand new delivery service offers Londoners gourmet meals lovingly prepared by local chefs and delivered to your home. The menu varies daily depending on where you live, but judging by the chefs involved, you won’t be palmed off with anything that’s less than restaurant quality.

We’re offering four lucky Qypers the chance to try Housebites for themselves, in the form of a £15 voucher. Just enter in ONE of the following ways:

1. Email us on qdl@qype.com with the subject line ‘Gimme a (House)bite!’

2. Retweet us saying ‘Follow and RT to win dinner from @housebites!’

Closes Friday 9th December at 12pm. Winner needs to be contactable within 24 hours, otherwise it goes to the next name drawn. Please check that Housebites deliver to your London postcode before entering – you can do that here. The prize is not transferable, exchangeable for cash or anything other than what’s stated above, and must be redeemed in one transaction; them’s the rules, so don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Why are you called The Krah?

Way back when I was still a kid at school in a history lesson, I first heard the word ‘Krah’ in Greece. We pronounce the H in the end so it sounds even more bizarre. I asked the teacher what it meant and he said it means a corruption of a political regime, so the name represents the ideas I have about society. You might say that each time I sign my tag it’s like a reminder to everyone of how corrupt the system is.

For how long have you been a practising artist?

My parents say that I could draw before I could walk so it was natural that I would become an artist. Actually, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. When I was a teenager I created graffiti murals for shops and small business. I also made comics for magazines and my first job was to create illustrations and designs for clothing for a Greek skatewear company.

At the time, graffiti was not considered to be an art form so I never thought I would be doing art exhibitions in galleries. I focused on illustrating magazines and books and then working for advertising agencies. Later I moved on to working for fashion companies. I continued painting in the streets, evolving my style then galleries started asking me to do shows. Now I do shows every month, but I still do illustration commissions.

Why street style art and what are your favorite mediums to work with?

I always felt that if you are making art in the streets it’s like making art for everyone to see. I like to be outside to paint and be free, with no rules and no one telling me what to do. Spray paint is one of my favourite mediums as it’s quick and you can do cool effects with it, but the only problem is that it’s not easy to do small paintings because it’s designed to paint big.

Do you ever collaborate with other artists?

From when I started doing graffiti we would always collaborate on walls doing big murals mixing our styles; it’s a nice social thing. I am in two graffiti crews – the 101ers crew and the SR Squad, so I have painted lots with them. Since I moved to London I mostly paint on my own but have done some walls with the burning candy crew, ink fetish, and Milo Tchais.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep this inspiration fluid?

Creating gives me a great satisfaction, the process of drawing is very therapeutic. It’s like an intense journey, exploring dimensions. Sometimes when you let yourself get lost in the drawings it is like a natural movement that expresses your soul. Other times you have an idea and you just need to illustrate it. At the moment I have been working on a series of paintings that are very detailed and intricate; the first one took me four months to complete painting for three to four hours a day. I had an idea so I stated brain storming my concept and started researching it, using image libraries and visiting museums.

Where do you like to put your work?

I like to put work up in high places, especially in locations that lots of people would see.

Where is your favourite piece and why is it there?

One of my favourite paintings was a mural I painted for the mutate exhibition in Curtain Road. I put two canvases on the wall and painted the canvases and the wall around it, it was all free style and I was very happy with the result.

What do you like to do around London? Around the UK?

I like going around the galleries, checking out shows on Thursday nights. I like walking the streets and finding new cool places, going to crazy markets, drinking in pub gardens next to the Thames, visiting museums and going for bike rides along the canals.

We know you are getting ready to move so you can have a larger studio – do you have your eye on a particular neighbourhood? Why?

I live in east London and I love it here but I need to move a bit further away. We live in an area that is very central but there is lots of gang crime here, we have had a few murders and it’s all a bit too much. I live in a flat and my studio is very small so if  we move to the outskirts of London we can get a bigger house with a bigger studio and a big garden so I can do more spray painting.