I'll give you a few minutes to scream and dance in celebration that Helena from Plantimal is being interviewed for Artist Colony! YeeeaaaaahhhHHH!
"Who's Helena?" you say. Well, young grasshopper, I'm surprised you have asked. Helena is a 16 year old artist and activist who has a 21.4k following on Instagram. Her blog Plantimal is pretty cool too, featuring quirky photography, thrifted fashion and art art art. Her store has some super Rook-amil vibes (Rookie AND Plantimal if you didn't get my blend) which I'm sure will appeal to a whole lot of you.
SOOOoOOOoooooOOooOooo, let's see what Helena has got to say!
How are you? Tell me a little about yourself. I'm wonderful! Though a bit bored...I am on school break for 6 weeks. I'm writing this on the first day of 2016 and I feel like this year will be a good year art and experience wise, everyone says that but y'know... optimism is key!
What does art mean to you? It just means to express yourself, to make something new exist, something your own, made of your own thought and feelings, to bring something no many people bring into their life or the world. Anything is art.
What would you like to achieve in the future? Keep instagramming because i really enjoy communicating with my followers and its such a great platform for that and me personally. I also hope to have a website, my blog is a but rough and distant...I am in my last year of high school so i'm planning on going to university and do journalism and creative writing. At the same time I want to be creating, speaking and inspiring our generation and younger in a more professional way and for it to go further than a hobby.
If you could be another artist for a day, who would you be? Frida Kahlo so I can wear her beautiful clothes or Marina Abramovic so i can do a bit of crazy performance art. Now that would be fun.
How did you discover your style? I think it just developed over time, it still is. It always will. I cannot pin point my influences!
You have a lot of strong views and express them via Instagram. Have you ever had any negative feedback and if yes, how have you handled it? I do have a lot of strong views and not everyone agrees with them. And that's natural and okay! I do get negative feedback and I have recently learnt to handle it more maturely rather then try to defend my opinion and start a bit of a opinion based war. How i handle it varies on the situation but nowadays i try to keep as calm as possible. It is hard when everyone thinks they are right and we are all super passionate on the topic.
How has Instagram helped you express your art and views on the world?My followers push me (in a positive way) to keep exploring my art, keep making art. They also are my audience when i express my views and we have a lot of healthy conversation and people learn stuff! That has helped me also further my activism and knowledge on serious topics. And with 21.4k followers it seems like the right thing to do to use that 'power' to make people aware of a wide spectrum of stuff lfrom beauty standards, self acceptance to issues around the meat industry and the environment.
Many people look up to you. Who do you look up to? I look up to anything and anyone, I have taught myself to draw inspiration from my everyday life, not just one or a handful of people. It really opens your mind.
What do you do if you get artist block? I try to focus on a different art form, like embroidery or photography. Or i stop arting (that should be a real word) for a week or so and come back and try again. A lack of inspiration is always a factor, so I hit up interest and just collect photos of what i'm into at the moment and use this for fuel when I try to art again. Explain your drawing style. Get a pen, get some paper, SCRIBBLE out something. That's how my more satirical, comic like drawing usually start, the fun stuff, nice and simple but distinctly me. For my more serious stuff I love creating images of girls/female body and including mythology, symbols of nature and space to create harmony and deep meaning, for me at least. What has been the best experience for you thanks to blogging, art and Instagram. There hasn't been a single best experience yet. I think this whole journey and all those three aspects combined are an ongoing best experience. I've really flourished and my online antics became more real for me half way through last year. I've just met so many amazing people and just be creating, creating and creating in all different forms.
