About me – Ivana Radić Art

I am Ivana, a painter. I graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts and I have been into puppetry since forever, which makes me more a puppeteer than a painter. Besides that, I’m also a mother to Dunja. As it usually happens, when I became a mother I felt like I wanted to be more than what I was before, so I became a designer of children’s backpacks. I called them Džaaks (sacks) – ordinary old sacks with extraordinary children’s motifs on them. So, initially Džaaks was an exclusively children’s brand, but when I realized that they were being worn by moms too, and when those moms wanted to have their own Džaak, I decided to expand the production. Today, Džaaks are worn by moms, kids and some fathers, but also people who don’t have kids. 

Besides having branched out across an entire family tree, they have overtime become better in quality as I now use harder and more resistant materials so they are ready to be thrown, hung, held on the floor, stuffed with things and searched for keys. Ever since Dunja’s first kerosene blue one with a dachshund on, Džaaks have undergone a metamorphosis. The only thing that hasn’t changed is my mother’s old Paff sewing machine that serves me now (and I it) as it had the first day I set my foot on its pedal.