Tell us about more about your exhibition "Little
Island".
Little Island is a series of 3D illustrations, some of which are
loosely influenced by the Isle of Man.
The idea is that Little Island is a small magical world where lots of unusual characters live, however, recently some strange things have been happening; and some terrifying creatures are slowly starting to ruin the lives of the island residents, and the exit is blocked so there is no escape.
I make small-scale characters out of mixed media and various
materials and then photograph them either on location or in an
environment I have built for them. This exhibition is the beginning
of the 'horror story' that is Little Island; and an introduction to
some of its characters and settings.
What do you hope people will feel when viewing your
work?
I want people to enjoy my work; the images are meant to be playful
and fun as opposed to much of the traditional, serious, meaningful
or 'pretty' work that you see nowadays. I hope they'll laugh,
either at the absurdity of the image itself or at the way I've put
the materials together - there's a robot made out of a Nokia 3210,
a man with a fish for a head and a castle surrounded by ice cream
hills. I hope my work brightens their day and I'd like to think
that they will try and come up with a back story themselves for the
creatures.
Where does the inspiration come from?
Anything and everything! - I scribble down loads of ideas and then
see if I can make them into something. I'm always collecting
different objects and materials - so when it comes to 'making' I'll
see what I've collected, look at the shapes and textures and see
what I can turn them into. I'm inspired by a wide variety of
artists and genres from old school stop motion animation, railway
modelling, lo-fi culture, surrealist artists, such as Hieronymus
Bosch; through to street and sculptural artists such as Slinkachu
and Isaac Cordal; as well as comedy-artists, such as Noel Fielding.
I also have a soft spot for collecting home and garden figurines
and ornaments.
What triggered your interest in art?
I've always been interested in art and making objects since as far
back as I can remember. As a child I was always painting and
drawing; and making obscure creatures out of plasticine and
playdoh.
At high school I studied art and textiles at GCSE and then went onto the IOM College to study the National Diploma in Art & Design, which was super fun. After college I then went on to uni and ended up with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Arts & Design - however the work I made at uni doesn't really reflect what I am exhibiting with now.
Now I work in a small music/theatre/arts venue in the South of the
Island as well as studying as an apprentice Graphic Designer at an
independent print house. As part of my job I get to arrange all the
art exhibitions in the Gallery, we have a new exhibition each month
so it's a really fun job for me as I get to meet a lot of local and
professional artists and I get to see a wide range of artistic
styles and ideas - this encouraged me to 'bite the bullet' and hold
an exhibition of my own. I'm used to working behind the scenes
there so it's going to be a strange and exciting experience having
my own work on display.
What are your future hopes/plans?
I'm hoping to gain lots of feedback from this exhibition, develop
on what I have already made and continue the story of Little
Island, I've already got loads of ideas of what to make next, so
hopefully there will be more exhibitions in the future! I'd really
like to exhibit in some of the others galleries around the island;
as well as some of the non-traditional exhibition places such as
bars and café's - so please get in touch if you'd like my work in
your establishment!
Where can people find out more about you and your
work?
The exhibition LITTLE ISLAND is on display 5th - 30th November at
the Erin Arts Centre, Victoria Square, Port Erin. The Gallery is
Free Entry, Opening hours are Wednesday - Friday, 10.30am - 4.30pm
and during events. November is a very busy month for the Arts
Centre so I'm lucky to have my work on display for all the
different shows - you can see the event opening times on my posters
around the Island or look on the EAC website: www.erinartscentre.com.
Most of my work is also on my website which also features a blog
section to keep you up to date with all my latest news: www.holliemills.com.