RTL Today - Roux Magazine: The gross, the tender, and the transformative – interview with an artist

A farewell conversation on artistic vulnerability and creative student participation with ex-ROUX artist Sofia Miller, conducted and designed by Kristina Shatokhina  .

Kristina: Heey Sof! It’s such a pleasure to sit down with you and chat about the journey we’ve shared over the past (three? wow...) years – as artists/writers for ROUX, but also as good friends. With your departure coming up, we wanted to celebrate your time here with a little homage; to finally shine a spotlight on the face behind so many amazing artworks and designs, and to hear what this experience has meant for you – your art, your take on student participation, and all the moments in between.

Let's take it from the start: How did you first get involved with ROUX, and what made you stay?

Sof: Thank you so much for this opportunity! I feel super honoured. I first got involved with ROUX because I followed up on Zoltan's email [Note: Zoltan Tajti is a former philosophy student who founded ROUX in 2022] about the idea for a student magazine. I remember that I was pretty scared but figured that I should just be brave and take the chance. I believe you and I also met for the first time during that meeting and bonded, which I'm extremely (and eternally) grateful for. And then, day by day, things just sort of fell into place. I guess this can be said about a lot of things in life. I stayed because it gave me a creative outlet, but also a sense of purpose and community; something that I had longed for for a long time. I felt like I was actually doing something significant, simply put. And of course, the interpersonal connections and experiences, whether good or bad, cannot be underestimated. They were transformative.

K: I too think back fondly to those early days and the work we did on the first issues in the Winter Semester of 2022. Some of it was, let’s say, questionable haha, but other designs I look at now and think: girl, you did that? IT SLAPS. And it still feels true to my style. Having been sketching and designing for ROUX for years, was there a moment where you felt your work really clicked, like “this is MY voice”?

S: Yeah, for sure. I think, as an artist – and I've been trying to really get comfortable with using that term for myself – you always have works that you're fond of and works that you'd rather forget about. As for pieces that clicked for me, it must be Whatever, the poster in Issue #14 with the big pool table. The idea of drawing some chaotic bar-type establishment came to life pretty naturally here. Over time, the poster really grew on me and now I feel like it really represents what I do. Other than that, I do like the Rat Lovers at Fashion School Celebrate Saint Valentine’s poster. I wanted to draw these two mischievous, yet naive, best friends – and the issue was published in February so I thought I should sneak in some Valentine’s Day-related bits and pieces in there. That’s why it has a locker with Valentine’s Day cards on it. Also, the cover for Issue #17 with the close-up of the open mouth and tooth – I’m happy with how that one turned out. Looking back, I feel like I could've always done more and better but those pieces definitely “set the scene”, in a way. As for designs, I am pretty fond of the Björk’s Vespertine album review (Issue #18), where I wrote about one of my favourite albums and tried to represent the contents of the album with the graphics I could get my hands on at the time – like the little gemstones and minerals. Also, the personality quiz (Issue #20)! Although that one made me want to tear my hair from my scalp. Our team had the idea to create a fictional boy band, and I designed a personality quiz for the readers, so that they could find out which band member would be their potential soulmate – a way to mimic magazines from the early 2000s.

K: You mention this feeling of always being able to do more or better, of being driven a little crazy by your own creation. Do you think that kind of vulnerability is just part of being an artist? Especially since your art sometimes leans towards the transgressive or touches on sensitive topics, it can be so easy to get misread, which makes you, putting yourself out there, even more vulnerable. Actually, the notion of vulnerability itself brings me back to the thematic threads that seem to run through your work: bodily and psychic fragility – teeth falling out, distorted limbs, mental fractures, delusions. And yet all of this is always counterbalanced by the absurd humour that holds it all together...

S: Ah, I love that observation, thanks so much! I do think that the role of the artist is equal or at least similar to the role of a lover – they both make you see things that you wouldn’t be able to see on your own. And that includes plenty of vulnerability! In that sense, art and creativity itself can be very intimate. I put a lot of myself into what I do. Naturally, the themes I keep coming back to are personal struggles, experiences, and, simply, things that I think about regularly. This can include feminist themes, body image, the role of art in society, humour... Creating art, getting crafty and imaginative, is what keeps me fulfilled and stable. In contrast, I often explore instability: moments before disaster, dreams, delusions and fragility – as you said. Combining all of these themes under the umbrella of humour is something I just automatically do. I have to admit, most of the time, I don't even have the intention to be funny. I love nasty and gross stuff too! At the moment I'm really enthusiastic about sea cucumbers.

K: Artist as lover, I love that! I like how this definition works against the cliché of the “lonely artist” by centring the mutual, transformative power of love. And the sea cucumbers as your new muse, creatures that are both gross and tender… Speaking of gross and tender, ROUX has definitely given us plenty of moments that fall somewhere between disaster and pure magic. What stuck with you most?

S: I would say all the moments of “community” stuck with me the most, I'll definitely treasure those for a very, very long time. I believe the type of moments you have mentioned, between disaster and pure magic, are the ones I will treasure most – when it’s a couple steaming heads crammed together, working right before the deadline, thinking of last-minute solutions. We've had plenty of those. I also love how we all influenced and inspired each other – emotionally, creatively, personally... Looking back, I think you have certainly been one of the strongest and biggest influences on me. I've gone through a lot of change through ROUX and in front of ROUX members. One of the funniest moments for me, that I can think of from the top of my head, was the time when we started putting random objects on Valère's head in each meeting. I think we even have a folder with a photo collection of those instances, no?

K: Our meetings DID produce a strange archive: Valère with all kinds of objects on his head... I loved that tiny absurdist tradition. Thinking about what you just said, about this mutual growth and stressful yet entirely self-imposed deadlines, it really reflects broader questions around the community. These days, there’s a lot of talk about “engagement” and “participation,” but few are willing to give up free time to actually make things happen. In Belval, we used to hear that “there’s no student life here,” but the truth is, nobody will create it for you if you don’t step up. With a new wave of students arriving this autumn, what should they expect from student life on campus, and what changes have you noticed in the local scene since our early ROUX days?

S: I believe that nowadays it is important to remember that community requires work and effort – but that type of work is rewarding! Engagement doesn’t come easily, it requires you to get out of comfort zones and take risks – easier said than done, of course. I don't think I can make general observations for how the local scene changed, but I know for sure that it can always be improved, always be reclaimed by students and their creative, collective endeavours. New students should expect that there is definitely ground to cover, things to work on, to invent. And they should take this chance. If you feel like an activity or collective is missing, try creating it! Or at the very least, ask around! It's crazy how quick some things can be put into motion if we dare to ask for what we need. As you said, student life is truly what you make it. Even if that “only” means finding a nice circle of people that you connect with and feel safe with. That, in itself, can already be tremendous.

K: Thank you so much for this. I honestly think it’s a perfect note to wrap up our conversation: student life, and creative communities more broadly, only flourish when we take initiative and support one another. Dear Sof, we’ll all miss you very much, and I hope to work with you again in the future!

Roux Magazine

Roux Magazine is made by students at the University of Luxembourg. We love their work, so we decided to team up with them and bring some of their articles to our audience as well. You can find all of their issues on Issuu.