Artist turned Instagram star Helen Downie (@unskilledworker) talks big eyes, teaming up with Gucci and working without a plan.
What role does Instagram play in your art?
I think we all live in a world where everything is completely out of our control; and Instagram, to me, is something that allows me to create exactly what I want. I don’t think about how many people are going to see an image. If I do, that’s when it all goes wrong.
It has to come from my heart and it has to be, in a very selfish way, primarily for me.
Big eyes are a hallmark of your work. Why?
I haven’t meant it to be—I start with the eyes and then the rest of the painting is built around them, so the eyes are looking at me as I work. It has to be that way. I want something to emanate from inside the characters, so each one has an emotion.
What materials do you work with?
At the moment, I work in chalk, ink, oil pastel, Biro and felt-tip pen. I work in a haphazard way and with no process—it’s very chaotic.
You’ve worked with Gucci. What are the looks you have enjoyed painting the most?
I loved painting Joyce—the painting with the dressing gown with fur sleeves (a design from Gucci spring/summer 2016 menswear).
It’s very androgynous, and in the show it was styled with a ruffle that was very delicate. For me, [Creative Director Alessandro Michele’s] clothes are a dream.
When do you know to stop painting?
When it stops nagging me. When the painting is finished, there is suddenly a feeling of resolution. It stops talking to me and telling me what to do. I photograph it and put it on Instagram and very rarely do I go back to it.
Occasionally I have to because, on Instagram, I’ll see that the eye isn’t right—that something might not be right—but generally, it’s covered with tissue paper and it’s finished.
