In Her Element: “You know what? I didn’t do that,” she says. “WE did that”
In Her Element is an editorial series of portraits – written and shot by Nicole M. Gomes – spotlighting women from our community.
This is the first portrait of former mentee Marita Amour Itela. Read more and get behind-the-scenes view of what it looks like to be a French Digital Artist living and working in Copenhagen:
As I enter the loft space in the heart of Copenhagen’s city centre, my eye is immediately drawn to a wall sprawled with drawings, polaroids of friends, and posters that all nod to who the woman before me is - 29y/o French Digital Artist, Marita Amour Itela. The three largest pieces include Marita’s own illustration of Copenhagen’s infamous harbour Nyhavn, a graphic poster of the word ‘BONJOUR’, and an illustration of a black woman in a traditional African headdress with the caption “Khari - Queenly, born to bring joy”.
“I couldn’t find illustrations that really looked like me or my friends, so I started to draw it.”
Growing up in Paris, cultural diversity wasn’t something Marita consciously thought about when she was younger, it was just her everyday reality. All her friends came from different cultures, countries, and backgrounds. Naturally they looked different too—different skin tones, different hair textures, different body shapes.
However around 2015 (a time when presenting yourself on social media had become the thing to do) she says, “I couldn’t find illustrations that really looked like me or my friends, so I started to draw it.” She confesses she wasn’t even particularly good at drawing, “I just started and with time it became something very important to me to make a lot of portraits of women that were unique."
Fast forward ten years later, Marita exhibited her “Portraits of Women” series at the Little Africa Gallery in Paris, highlighting beauty across a diverse selection of women. Whilst her work began to be recognised as something worth celebrating, others criticised her focus on women of colour (red: notably those who do not fall within that demographic). But thankfully, such comments never made her doubt herself. Her mindset is straightforward: not everyone has to understand your work. “Sometimes people don’t know anything about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, or how you’re doing it—and they will dismiss you,” she says. “But you don’t have to make everyone understand you.” Instead, she focuses on staying consistent and honest in what she creates. “The people who need to understand you will see you,” she says confidently, “Your audience will find you.”
Marita moved to Copenhagen without really knowing anyone. She was therefore looking for more than just a job—she was looking for community and that’s when she joined The Soulfuls as their Social Media Manager. “It was my first big adventure in Copenhagen,” she tells me. “We held so many events and did so many things. The Soulfuls became really big so fast, because a lot of people really resonated with it.” Seeing the impact firsthand was deeply rewarding. “When you work so hard on something because you truly believe in it, and then you get to see the fruit of that work and all the people happy because of it—it nourishes you so much.”
“Sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader, but when you also have a cheerleader that is someone that is talented, successful, and has a recognition of their past, it’s so great.”
Today she is working as a Content Creator at Kayak and Momondo, while continuing to build her creative practice through freelance illustration and animation. “My daily tasks can be scouting new talent, discussing with agencies, editing, posting, community management etc.” and then she goes home and works on her own creative projects; whether that means drawing, reaching out to brands or posting on her own channels. Marita tells me how she actually loves the duality. I laugh in admiration of her confidence, as she recounts the story of when she was interviewing for the office job. The HR guy had complimented her profile and she responded, “great because I love the job, it’s mine! How can I get it?” Marita credits her drive and determination to her upbringing, “Mum really raised us in the idea of ‘I don’t raise mediocre kids, you have to be exceptional’.” Back then, she lacked role models in the creative industry, so whilst Marita doesn’t have issues with confidence, she recognised how valuable it would be to have a mentor and that led her to join the Soulfuls Dreamers & Doers program as a mentee. “Sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader, but when you also have a cheerleader that is someone that is talented, successful, and has a recognition of their past, it’s so great.”
She speaks highly of her experience being mentored by Laura Nørgaard, Creative Director of Koné, and how their relationship has continued past the end of the program (in fact, they are meeting up next week!) Towards the end of the mentorship, she did a collaboration with Laura, drawing for the store’s comms and decorations. Yet her main takeaway from it all was learning to slow down. Marita’s drive, although impressive, often found herself overextended as she gave way to the pressure of FOMO. “But while doing everything you can’t do anything properly. So Laura taught me how to slow down and focus on myself and my goals. It was really necessary for me to understand that slowing down is also a task. Resting is also a task. Thinking is more important than you can imagine.”
Taking this on board, she now prioritises her mental and physical health by going to the gym in the mornings before work. She describes it as an important part of her process, “I plan my day and as I do my cardio, I get answers to my creative prayers.” On one of her morning walks she decided to reach out to Vogue Scandinavia and successfully pitched a collaboration for Copenhagen Fashion Week. She beams over how refreshing it feels to work with brands/media that share her values, “When you reach the people who are aligned in what you are doing, everything goes very smoothly.” Of course it’s not always this way and so she advises others pursuing a creative career, “Stay consistent. Keep doing the work. Sometimes you might get a ‘no’ or a ‘not right now’ or we’re not interested because it’s just not the right time and that’s ok. It’s all about timing, consistency and work.”
I intuitively skip over my question about imposter syndrome and ask Marita if she feels that she has succeeded in her career. She answers yes but clarifies, “I am beyond happy, I have a great life and I really love it but I still have to keep building it. Career is not just reaching one place or one position or one company, I think it’s the long run.” Thinking back to her biggest role model she tells me, “My mum really dedicated her life for us to make sure that she will provide everything that we need. So starting a career and a life was a great way for me to dedicate it to her.” She smiles and corrects herself. “You know what? I didn’t do that,” she says. “WE did that.”