Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist

Mimma Helse

Featured Artist / #131 ScrawlrBox 

Mimma (b. 2000) is a Finnish-French artist based in Finland.

She is working onher masters degree in art education. She is a bubbly person who has a passionfor beautiful things and tries to enjoy the little things in life.

 Her art is between reality and everyday life mixed with something from somewhere else that can not quite be reached. She enjoys making art that captures parts of reality with added layers.

She mainly works with oil pastels to create vibrant patterns using colours and combinations that spark joy in her and others.

Instagram: @helsemimma

We love how colourful your work is, it feels incredibly expressive and full of movement. Can you tell us a little about how your journey as an artist first began?

I have an artistic mother who’s encouraged me to be creative ever since I was little. I started in comics and then for years I didn’t create anything. One day I decided that I had enough and grabbed a pen. Ever since it has been an on off - relationship. I have moments when I create multiple pieces a week or nothing for months

Looking back at your earlier work, how do you feel your style has evolved over time? Was there a turning point where things started to feel distinctly you?

Oh I have absolutely noticed an evolution in my style. Even my friends told me that they can sense that something had “clicked” in my brain. I started oil pastels at the beginning of this year, and was doing a lot of realistic stuff in the beginning. I got bored so fast and wondered to myself that there has to be something else out there for me? And little by little I discovered that yes indeed there was something else. No big “click” but more of a switch from spring to summer without really noticing the moment it changed.

Do you find oil pastels encourage you to work differently compared to paint, pencil, or other materials?

Oh absolutely. In a way you have a different kind of control over the medium. Oil pastel is also something you can’t layer forever. It starts to smudge and get muddy. You do have to embrace that in a way. At some point even if you’re not happy you have to step back. I have pieces that I learned to love through time, even if it wasn’t the ending I wanted at first.

Oil pastels can sometimes feel wonderfully unpredictable, is that sense of spontaneity something you actively embrace in your creative process?

Sometimes you have no idea what might come out of it. That is a thought that I have to push back, because then that might stop me from continuing on creating.