Artist in conversation: Elena Tzilini
“ I think we all have an artist hidden in us, who just needs the space and permission to wake up and grow. ”
Elena Tzilini is a digital artist and graphic designer who explores various creative practices and mediums. Abstract ideas about the world, reality, time, and humanity, are themes that inhabit Tzilini’s attention as she develops work in experimental video, photography, print, sound, and writing.
She embraces the dynamic, unexpected and often contradicting results which are the culmination of synthesizing these various mediums. It’s not necessarily about finding black and white absolutes, but rather about discovering the grey areas of asking and remembering.
What initially inspired you to become an artist, and how did you develop your unique style?
Creativity has always been a trait of mine that wouldn’t pass unnoticed even in my school years. I was the kid who would get asked to paint the library’s wall or the banner of the festival or create the posters for the school’s theatrical plays. However, that was never something I thought of practicing professionally, until the day I moved to the UK. For the last three years, I’ve been exposed to so many incredible exhibitions, shows and art of many kinds in the multicultural streets of London. I could say that something has been switched inside me and reintroduced me to world of art. I think we all have an artist hidden in us, who just needs the space and permission to wake up and grow. As for my style, it’s something I can’t really explain or put into a timeframe of development. I feel like I always had an eye for aesthetics and visual harmony, which probably has shaped my personal style, either in my design or art practices. It’s funny how I tried to challenge and break that style, but even if I thought I did, everyone could still see myself in it. So, is our personal style fixed or something we can change in time? I don’t have the answer to that, but I find it quite interesting and intriguing for further exploration.
In terms of subject matter, what themes or motifs do you frequently explore in your work, and what draws you to these topics?
I’m obsessed with themes of time, reality, and identity, which I constantly explore and express through my work. A lot of times it feels more than a deeper concern and curiosity if you may say, of what those big ideas mean and how do they affect our lives. Like, what is time and where does it take us? Whose reality are we living and who tells us what reality is in the first place? Or the biggest question of all - who am I? And then, how can one find themselves in a perpetually changing reality through time? Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer, and a lot of times there is no answer at all. But asking those questions feels like a personal need and obligation at the same time. Attempting to find answers for myself and trigger the subconscious worries and fears that we all might bury deep down, is what always drives me to keep exploring these philosophical themes through my art and sharing them to the world. I’m very interested to what aspects of the human psyche I can reach through my work and how deep I can go in our times when everything feels like it lives in the surface.
How did you first become interested in digital art and graphic design, and what drew you to exploring various creative practices and mediums?
Well, I started out as a Graphic Designer which was my first introduction to all those creative practices that exist out there, but I kept feeling like there is even more. Graphic Design is a very open field, and most people usually choose one aspect of it and become experts on it, while all I wanted to do was to broaden that scope even more. That’s when I moved to the UK for my MA degree in the Arts about three years ago. Not to solve problems like I was used to as a designer, but to ask unanswered questions and explore the human element as an artist. To this day, I still feel like being both, like there is two different creative personas in me that have the same base, full of identical experiences and feelings. However, the way each one works, sees the world, and needs change. And along with those, the medium and the way this will get communicated outwards changes too. And there is nothing more beautiful and freeing for me as a creative than to shift between practices and not put myself in a fixed discipline. Which brings me back to the human condition that is so complex with so many layers, that If I don’t embrace that complexity in myself, how can I attempt to understand and express in in my work?
How do you stay informed about emerging technologies, and how do you see these advancements shaping the future of your practice?
I often say I practice in “digital” art, but that doesn’t necessarily mean in a digital format, but rather in a digital age. Nowadays, technology is emerging in high speed and our lives move equally fast by being attached to them in such a great degree, that I think now it’s more important than ever to be aware of it when creating something. I feel lucky enough to be living in London now, as there are so many exhibitions and things happening that embrace emerging technologies and make you question your creative practice for sure. To me, it’s important to keep the human and analogue feeling in a way. For example, if I make a video piece that is going to be shot with a digital camera, I could balance it out with handmade visuals, words and poetry or the way the final work gets presented in a physical space and interacts with an audience. To be fair, I find quite interesting that balance and contradiction, because it feels more honest to this digital age we’re living in and its suppressed human and raw emotions that are always there and keep trying to raise their voice over the digital noise.
Can you discuss a specific piece or series that holds particular significance to you personally, either in terms of its creation process or the concepts it explores?
Amfythimia, for sure! It was my major project in my master’s degree and there is no piece that’s more personal to me than this yet. Amfythimia in Greek means Ambivalence, which explains its paradoxical and contradicting nature in a multi-media journey of finding the “truth” and the “self”. The complexity and multi layers of its themes were so interesting and challenging and that resulted in the combination of poetry, video art and experimental sound in one big installation in the middle of the gallery space. Amfythimia gave me the chance to dive into different parts of myself and share that existential journey not only through the exhibited piece, but also via my first playwright that I wrote as a supplementary piece for that project. It will always hold a special place in my heart and artistic work.
How do you incorporate feedback from critics and audiences into your artistic practice, and how do you balance this feedback with your own artistic intuition?
Intuition plays a huge role in my creative approach, decisions, and critic as well. If it feels right and true to me or if the work is a personal achievement that no one else can see, I always try to prioritize that voice of this incredible guide inside me. However, I’m very open and curious to see what people think of my work of course and I could even say that feedback is part of the ongoing practice as well. Making art might be an internal need and way of expression at first, but after leaving it in a gallery or a digital space, it stands alone there on its own, vulnerable, and ready for the world to experience it. It’s not about me then, but about how people interpret and feel about it and how then can I filter that extra information and use it on my next work by combining it with my intuition. So, I would say feedback is part of this creative circle and is always welcome and expected for me to grow, learn, and keep being authentic to the human experience, as this is my initial goal in the first place.
How do you stay motivated and inspired despite any setbacks or creative blocks you may encounter?
I think interaction with people and friends will always be my golden ticket to overcoming creative blocks. Seeing other exhibitions and what other amazing artists are doing is very important. Yet, I find casual conversations, debates, and interviews even more motivating and challenging, because it requires to access different points of view through verbal communication. As a person who easily gets lost and often trapped in their own world and thoughts, having people who can get me out of it and open my perspective feels so vital. Not only for breaking the block, but for inspiring me and providing me with new data and different thinking processes to keep me going and help me shape the next project.
How do you feel about exhibiting your artworks with The Holy Art Gallery?
Exhibiting with The Holy Art Gallery was such a unique experience for me. As my second group exhibition right after university, I was very excited and curious of what to expect and experience. I had the chance to share my work to so many different people in London that showed up to support us. I was lucky enough to meet other great young artists of different mediums and chat a bit about our practice and ambitions in the arts world. For me, that’s what a gallery should feel like. A safe community space for people to connect, exchange ideas and share their amazing works with each other. Especially for us who are on our early stages of our practice, I think The Holy Art Gallery has been very supportive and helpful to keep our artistic mission going and worked as a reminder to never give up.
Looking ahead, what are your long-term goals and aspirations as an artist, and how do you plan to achieve them?
Generally, I just want to try and produce different types of work and learn how to use different equipment and mediums. Technical development and knowledge can be a great influence on the creative process, and I would like to keep challenging that. My biggest ambition, however, would be to create my first solo exhibition and showcase a collection of future projects that narrate something important and challenge the gallery space and point of view. At the same time, making my own publication was always something I wanted to do, as I love using poetry and creative writing along with the visual aspect of my work. Of course, I can’t hide the effect that Graphic Design has on that side of me. Designing books and other editorial materials for other artists is such a big pleasure of mine, so doing it for my own project would be a dream coming true.
What role does emotion play in your creative process, and how do you aim to evoke specific feelings or reactions from those who view your artworks?
Emotion is everything to me! We’re human beings after all, and although it might feel like we suppress it on many occasions in our daily lives, I believe it’s my responsibility to bring it back to the surface for those of us who have buried it deep down. Personally, emotion is the greatest tool we have and what binds us all together. Therefore, trying to understand and embrace my own emotions first – trust me, it hasn’t been easy – and then communicate that to the world, feels so fulfilling and important to me. I want to the experience to feel as human as possible, even if that equals to high levels of complex, irritating, confusing or lost elements. Because that’s what it is to be human, and it can’t be expressed without honesty and exposure. Getting out of one’s comfort zone and exploring different corners of the human psyche, is what I’m aiming for. Sometimes, that requires the literal change of the physical space and location, to travel and meet new people and emotions. The world is so big and us humans so many, that having just one singular truth could have been too simple and easy to rely on.