Helice Wen

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Helice Wen, and I am a Chinese born illustrator and artist living in San Francisco.

What is your favorite medium?

Acrylic and graphite.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Personal experience. Emotion.

What is your creative process?

First I will do a short brief writing and rough sketches of ideas. Then I will do research and find models / references. Which is followed by a more refined study. After all that I will be ready to start a piece.

Is there a specific theme/message/emotion you aim to evoke?

Yes I always have a specific theme / message / emotion for every single piece. It changes as I change my mind pretty often. For my coming show, my theme is called “public intimacy”–how to connect the deepest intimate feeling with viewers through my painting. Being intimate is never private because it always involves another individual, a certain environment, or even a song.

What motivates you to continue to create?

I feel the need to share my thoughts with people; it’s my way to communicate.

When you encounter creative blocks, what do you do to overcome them?

I used to let creative blocks stop me from going. But now I usually have multiple projects at the same time, so I will switch between them and keep on going.

What are your thoughts on the future of art?

More accessible and interrelated.

What is something you have had to learn on your own that you would like to pass on to the next Creative?

I used to think think about my viewers and galleries when I created a piece. But now I know that “I” am the most important viewer, so I need to believe in and truly relate to everything I create.