Interview with Helena Blomqvist

q)Please introduce yourself.

a)My name is Helena Blomqvist.

q)Where do you live and work?

a)I live and work in Stockholm, Sweden.

q)How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a)A surreal photography with haunting and strange apparitions. The main contenders of my works are unlikely heroes playing out in a comedy or tragedy, a philosophical observation of the human condition.

q)How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)I guess I started in the arts during my time at art school (School of Photography, Gothenburg University) sometime in the end of the 1990´s. I think I´ve always known that I´m an artist.

q)What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)I use to buy vintage clothes to make costumes for my photographs, and balsa tree is a great material for building small models.

q)What/who influences you most?

a)I work intuitivley and get imressions from my surroundings. One motif that comes back in my work is how fragile and lonely a person can be, either it´s a chimpanzee or an old lady. I get alot of influence from music too.

q)Describe a typical day of art making for you?

a)It depends on where I am in the process of making a picture, but usually I go to my studio and answer some emails and drink some tee. Then I work with some prop, small model of a house or a diarama landscape. It´s a slow process, takes a long time to prepair for one photograph. The photosession goes really quick compared with all the work before and after. When the photographs for the picture are taken I work with it in my computer for some time until it feels finished.

q)Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)I always want to develop my photography, to surpass myself in every new image.

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)I really can´t say.

q)How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)About a month.

q)Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)Since I have an edition of five or six and I always keep one artist proof there is no problem for me to sell my pieces.

q)Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)Music is really important for me and I always listen yo music when I work. Right now I´m listening to the music from Wes Andersons films such as The Darjeeling Limited, and old french singers; Yves Montand and Barbara.

q)Books?

a)Right now I´m reading ”Mrs Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf.

q)What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)I try not to have so many theories, I just work, and enjoy to be creative.

q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)I enjoy being with my family and friends, see movies, and to live an outdoor life.

q)Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)I´m really enjoying starting to work with my new serie of photographs.

q)Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)I really can´t say no one in particulair.

q)Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)Be naive and never give up!

q)Where can we see more of your work online?

a)My website www.helenablomqvist.com