Helena Hauss
Helena Hauss是一位来自法国巴黎的自由插画家。她对绘画有着极高的热情，Helena 说自己的大部分时间都用在了绘画上。Helena 通常用圆珠笔绘制尺寸为100cm x 70cm的作品。谈到为何一直选用圆珠笔这种媒介时，Helena Hauss说这都源于她小时候养成的习惯，因为经常在老师讲课时在下面随手涂鸦的关系，圆珠笔就成为了她最好的创作伙伴。长大后，Helena Hauss也学习了其他的绘画媒介，但相比于作品细节的精致度和创作的便利性，圆珠笔仍然是她的最爱，因为特也就将儿时的画画方式保持了下去。
Helena Hauss说她非常喜欢圆珠笔中蓝色的效果，所以你会看到他大量的作品的主色调都是蓝色，配以红色凸显作品的对比度。Helena Hauss最开始举办她的圆珠笔画展时觉得有些羞涩，因为在大众的认知里，圆珠笔是一种低级而单一乏味的创作媒介，她为此也备受困扰，认为自己的作品上不到展览的层面，但随后，Helena Hauss慢慢与自己达成了和解，她并不把自己当作是一位真正的艺术家，她只把看作是一位用圆珠笔创作的画者，这种自我和解让她不再有顾虑和包袱，而她的作品也被越来越多的人喜爱和认可。艺术就是如此，不必在意方式与媒介，只要你深入的去思考，努力去创作，真诚去坚持，就一定会有所回报，套用Nike的那句经典广告语：Just do it!
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关于Helena Hauss的一篇访谈
THE FINE PRINT: A BIC pen. Well, that’s a first! Let me guess, this started in high school in history class, haha. tell us about your relationship with this medium.
HELENA HAUSS: Actually it’s not really a first, there is a few other artists out there who work with BIC pens too! But for me, it indeed all started in high school where I spent every single class either drawing or writing in my diary. In the beginning, it was just a matter of practicality, as well as the fact that I was a little obsessed with the color blue. But as time passed, I got so much practice, that I became better at using it than anything else. It’s a little ironic: most of my teachers despised me because I wasn’t paying attention and they thought I was getting no education, but in the end, I actually was!
TFP: Your Illustrations are young, fresh and most definitely inspired by the party scene, are they a reflection of your own life in that way?
HH: Most of my illustrations, especially the recent ones are actually part of a series I’m currently working on ‘Teenage Wasteland’. I want to create narrative illustrations depicting the strong feelings that come with this time of life, and explore the boundary between innocence and rebellion. To do so I use a lot of my own memories. I calmed down as I grew up, but I definitely had some wild years when I was younger!
TFP: A lot of “teenage mistakes” are also present in your work did you make any of these mistakes?
HH: Yep. I did get my ear pierced in the lavatories of my high school by a friend. It was in the cartilage and it hurt like hell to put any ring in it, so it closed like a week later. It’s quite a funny memory. I did the same in thing to my lip a year later though, so I guess I didn’t learn!
TFP: You are kind of limited to the colours pen companies put out there. Did that ever frustrate you? Did it ever make you think of writing to Mr Bic, asking for a certain shade of blue?
HH: Actually it’s one of the main things that attracted me to using biro pens! I absolutely love using primary colours, and I’m not interested in depicting reality just as it is. I want to draw blue hair, and blue skin, red shadows, and have the colours pop out. Having so few shades to work with also means a lot of white has to be left out, and the contrast of the result is something that definitely rings true to me. Not only aesthetically, but also regarding my subject matter: I work on memories. Memories are somewhat “remastered” in our minds, and aren’t exactly like the reality they’re based on. For example, we might remember a detail strikingly, while other stuff are muted out, and for some memories, everything about it is a little magical. The bic colours are like the colours in my mind.
TFP: How does your Parisian lifestyle influencer inspire your artwork?
HH: Actually, not very much so. I’ve spent time in a lot of different French cities, as well as in England and Australia, and was fully raised on American culture, as my father spent a lot of time there. I have quite a weird, worldly culture as a result. And if you look at my art almost everything is in English for this reason.
TFP: Speaking of, favourite dinner spot in town?
HH: There is this really cool Chinese restaurant on the Champs Elysées where the floor is actually a huge fish tank, and you can sit next to little lagoons while you eat. I’ve only been there once as it was for my birthday. It was a surprise, and I had to keep my eyes closed until I was inside. When I opened them to find myself standing on water with fish all around me, well…that was pretty cool!
TFP: It goes without saying that your artwork is quite unique. That could really get brands on board for special collaborations, say advertising or magazine covers. Is there one you’d love to work with?
HH: There would be loads of course! I don’t know off the top of my head, but anything from the music scene, youth culture, and a little subversive would be great!