3D POETRY: A Conversation with EXPLOREHER
When you come across ExploreHer’s art, it will definitely make you tremble.
From the anonymity of the World Wide Web, the artist known as “ExploreHer” has created a whole universe; where poetry and digital art hold hands emotionally, to build a space of valiant, futuristic forms and compositions.
Originally from Greece and now based in London, ExploreHer found in digital art, the perfect discipline to portray her essence and flourish in the form of poetry.
ExploreHer’s world is a 3D reflective essay in which she disseminates material physics as a means of vulnerability.
The GATA Team sat with digital creative ExploreHer— artist and poet— to talk about art, inspirations, projects and to just make us feel.
Tell us a little bit more about ExploreHer; who is she, and what is the story behind such an interesting name?
ExploreHer is the side of me that was born on the Internet.
It’s the name of my digital self when my given name was just not enough and simultaneously, too defining. I was in my early 20s at the time -the years that shape our identities- and I found a big, multifaceted chunk of mine online. There was no pressure, there was no rush; the World Wide Web is for the curious, and after a wordplay on Internet Explorer, ExploreHer was created and it felt right.
I can’t say it was a premeditated decision. As with most things in my art, it was mainly instinctive. But as time goes by I come to understand more of my alias’s layers: It serves as an invitation and as a shield; I’m a “personal brand” without the desire to really show my face often or clearly, because I feel it’s not necessarily linked to what I’m creating.
I like the anonymity and the potential it withholds. It could be any female-identifying person and there’s something quite topical to it.
My art has been complimented as “aggressive” and “bold” which is accurate and I love it but, in real life these words are being weaponised and create stereotypical narratives for the female side of the gender spectrum.
So ExploreHer is also an invitation to relinquish any gendered bias and just enter, see, explore, feel. Which is what art is about, no?
Austin by ExploreHer
“My art has been complimented as “aggressive” and “bold” which is accurate and I love it but, in real life these words are being weaponised and create stereotypical narratives for the female side of the gender spectrum. ”
When did you become a digital artist, and why? Did you explore other forms of artistic expression first?
I did explore different ways of expression from very early on; my mother is a brilliant painter but unfortunately I wasn’t as gifted and found creating something out of nothing didn’t come as naturally but, when I discovered photography I sensed that I had an eye for things. Which made things interesting. Later on, in the age of Tumblr I remember being quite obsessed with digital collaging that drew from diverse sources of inspiration for my then-blog on fashion journalism: eg. microscopic images of ore deposits (I was studying Geology at the time) and Pedro Lourenco’s Pre-Fall ‘12. But the love of my creative life was always the written word.
Then, sometime in 2016 when I had just moved to London from my native Greece and was emotionally fragile trying to find my footing, I found solace in digital art, creating stuff that my eyes liked. It was that simple. But it was the beginning of something and at the time I couldn't be aware of all its undertones.
The sentence “I JUST WANT TO MAKE U FEEL” appears on your bio; what is the feeling you aim for people to experience? Is it people’s reactions that motivates you as an artist?
It’s not a single feeling that I’m after with this. It’s the action of feeling itself, and the realisation that comes with it. Few things are easier than putting up walls and blocking out emotions. Being vulnerable and receptive... not as easy, but it’s so necessary. I like to think of it as an awakening of sorts. As if I’m sharing the load of something that gets too much sometimes for me, in the most subtle way that I can.
What are your main inspirations? Are there any artists that have inspired you specifically during your career?
My visual art is directly inspired by the relationship between nature and materiality (which sounds more pretentious than I’d like!) - for instance how does a thick piece of glass react to different sources of light and refraction? I do gravitate towards things that shine, I like visual chaos.
However the artists that move me, inspire me in a more subconscious way. Tracey Emin’s confessional art bleeding with emotion and Jenny Holzer’s large-scale installations taking up as much space as possible… These two have opened my eyes to all the ways art can come alive. But I cannot leave out Erik Madigan Heck, Lea Colombo, Natalia Stuyk, Peter De Potter and Gilbert & George- the latter’s “Bad Thoughts” always brings me home to my creative self.
When I think of you by ExploreHer
“Few things are easier than putting up walls and blocking out emotions. Being vulnerable and receptive... not as easy but it’s so necessary.”
Your digital work is intimately related to poetry written by yourself. How did this connection start?
It was a realisation that didn’t occur immediately. I’ve been writing poetry for the longest time, and I continued to do so during the tumultuous ‘16, which was when I picked up digital art so I would write and create within the same day. The desire to practice both stemmed from different sources and fulfilled separate needs, however this dissonance made for some interesting pairings that document the story in a way I quite like.
What do you conceive first: the words or the images?
Probably the images since the words, without fail, prefer to come late at night. I am definitely much more disciplined with image creation. The poetry, I don’t like to schedule as much.
You create from an emotional base, reconstructing feelings in the form of digital art. Do you feel like art should be intrinsically linked with emotions?
We are sentient beings and I feel that art can be an exceptional reminder of that.
And although I think the link between art and feelings is inescapable, I wouldn’t put a rule to it, it doesn’t feel right.
Tell us a little bit more about ExploreHer Studio, the Creative Strategy studio you run focused on the female economy.
ExploreHer Studio is the product of many years of freelancing, working alongside incredible women and supporting them in developing soulful, potent brands. My professional background is quite diverse, including editorial publishing, trend forecasting and digital marketing but always the common denominators were women and the creative, lifestyle industries. So recently it made sense to create a proper “house” for my work, sharpen the vision and reinforce the mission of teaming up with female-first, inclusive brands to amplify their presence and narratives and push the female economy forward. It’s a very exciting new chapter.
What would you like to explore next with your art?
I’m interested in trying my hand at more lengthy and immersive visual experiences, so naturally, video has been at the top of my list for a good while and the process is completely exhilarating. Also I try to challenge myself to become even more experimental; I’m interested in creating ecosystems of seemingly divergent platforms to tell a story over- it’s not a ripe idea yet but it’s my starting point for 2022.
Any exciting upcoming projects you would like to share with GATA?
Definitely. Officially (finally!) launch my Studio which is going to be injected with a generous dose of signature ExploreHer. It’s been a long road so releasing it into the real wild is going to be exciting. I am also working on a hybrid anthology of poetry x art that will probably be printed in a limited edition of books.
Have there been any movies that have impacted your life or work in the past?
Thankfully, so many. But when it comes down to the most integral ones I would have to go with the three Greek movies that tread with such an impact the spectrum of life’s rawness—that they either leave you empty, heartbroken or horrified - i.e.you exit the stories more vulnerable than you entered them: Cheap Smokes, Pantelis Voulgaris’s Little England and Alexandros Avranas’ Miss Violence.