Marisa Mu

"Marisa is a Sydney-based designer that loves to capture and challenge the possibilities of colour through abstraction and materiality. The founding philosophy embodied within my work is to create contemplative pieces that are visually bold yet embody the tangible beauty that is specially found in handmade work." http://www.marisa-mu.com/

"I have been hand making since I was a little kid, maybe 4-5. I used to love using my hands, molding things out of play dough and painting artworks. I remember once doing a drawing of my family standing outside of my house when I was in primary school and thinking ‘I’m going to be an artist when I grow up.’" Marisa has channeled this enthusiasm for craft into an independent business selling handmade leather bags, this business has been running since September 2014. "I consider my business as a personal outlet for me to be creative and have balance, so yes, I do have a day job that enables me to have my leather project." Prior to starting her business, Marisa did free lance design work, studio assistance and also worked in retail.
Upon starting up her business, Marisa shares that she felt "anxious, being a creative person and investing a lot of your time, money, effort and self into the work we do and then putting it out to the world is always a scary prospect. I found that it was the perfect opportunity for me to start something that I have always wanted to do, and bit the bullet and I haven’t looked back since. I feel accomplished and proud that I started my own thing, it is still in the early stages but I can already sense a strong potential for greater growth. To see and hear feedback from customers and stockists, it makes me feel incredibly happy inside and just reminds me that all this hard work is worth it.
My process is very organic and my enthusiasm comes in bursts, so when I am feeling a sudden drive and focus on the project on hand, I take advantage of it and work like a person possessed!  I am a very driven person and like ticking things off the to do list!

A highlight of running my own business has essentially being able to do what I love and having people wanting to collaborate with me because of the aesthetic and style that my work has. A great achievement I recently encountered was being approached by a stockist in Brisbane who had found me through social media and wanted to stock my products. To be approached while still being so young and trying to build onto my foundation, is a great achievement in my eyes. It's reassuring that people love my work and can see the value in locally made goods.

For me, making things has always been about the process and the satisfaction you get when you see it in its final state. I would say that it's a combination of both my own personal taste and style, and being influenced by my late mother and aunty. My aunty was in the rag trade and was a phenomenal seamstress, whereas my mother was always a hard working woman who loved to have her own creative outlet. One of my fondest memories was when I would come home from preschool and I would sit with my mum and pick out different coloured wool for her to crochet and knit into patterns and squares for blankets" 

Marisa describes herself as "a maker of colourful leather goods! I currently make mini pouches and clutches that are made from Italian leather that I have sourced locally. This leather then undergoes a process where my bright and bold artworks are applied onto the surface, creating a visually beautiful finish. My designs and visuals have always been quite abstract, a lot of my aesthetic is dream-like and of a smokey patterning. I love encapsulating an organic form and integrating it onto a textural surface like leather."

As Marisa runs her business independently she understands the potential difficulties that may arise for small businesses, "As a local and independent business, I haven’t faced serious difficulties but have become a lot more wary of agencies and stockists who claim they want to support your work but evidently just want your hard earnt money. I think large businesses wouldn’t be necessarily approached and manipulated in such a way that I could had potentially been. Luckily I have a lot of close friends in the industry and after speaking with them, I managed to take back my own control and decline unfair offers from agencies with confidence." Speaking confidentially to aspiring business owners and hand-makers about putting in the hard work, Marisa shares about her passion for the craft of handmade and supporting locally made goods, "Its unrealistic to think that things will be easy, if it were easy then everybody would be doing it. And don’t wish things were easier, wish you were better. The people that are around you are a reflection of the person you are, and its so important to expand your mind and self by discussing ideas and sampling potential projects with people in your network – they understand the creative process and know how much of our own self we invest in our work

It is so important to come back to the core of our society- local businesses and local makers play an important role in supporting the striving Australian rag trade. Locals invest their efforts and time into their craft with such care that is not found in mass produced products found off shore. That sentimental value embedded into a locally made product tells a story of the maker- the love, passion and desire to be more socially and sustainably aware of our community- it is such a simple yet beautiful thing.
Handmade products and local businesses go hand in hand as they represent people who see the value in bespoke and handmade products. Its reassuring and promising to see a growth in this market as it highlights the growing interest in buying local. The reason I do what I do is because I can see the beauty and sentimental value embodied within my products, and that is how I approach my shopping decisions- is it locally made? Is it sustainable? – these are questions we should apply into our daily lives as it shows community support and a love for bespoke craft" 


You can find all of Marisa's designs on her website and Instagram page:
http://www.marisa-mu.com/
https://instagram.com/marisa.mu/