“Illena”

“Illena” is a piece inspired by line and dolls.

I’ve worked with a lot of line when I did wire sculptures and wanted to work with a fine line on paper.

Growing up, I collected dolls and have always been inspired by artists who used doll-like figures in their paintings, like Mark Ryden, and Tim Burton etc.

I wanted to create my own dolls, incorporating my own fashion preference, exaggerated features, and a darker aesthetic to convey an “empty” emotion.

“Illena” is spelled unconventionally, as opposed to the traditional “Elena”.  She is wearing black and white stripes, as if to be in a prison of her thin bone structure, looking ill.

Her frail body and exaggeratedly small facial features are symbolic of the silence she feels in her own mental prison.

She only sees the world through her tiny eyes, and her small pouted lips are too frail to speak of the emptiness she feels inside.

There is a red glow to indicate a portrait like composition, and to symbolize the glow of life able to fill her, if only she would just turn around to be able to see it.