An interview with: Helenya Apostolou

Astral are delighted to speak with Welsh light reactive artist @helenya_art

"I am a multidisciplinary artist who makes bold and colourful screen-prints, paintings, drawings and digital designs; all centred around bridging the gap between movement and stillness... I use the Samoiloff Effect to turn layered illustrations into short and repetitive stop-motion animated cycles, so that when exposed to red, green and blue LED lighting, my work moves and changes." - helenyaapostolou.com

Read on below for the full interview...

Where are you currently based and how's your summer going?

I am currently based in North Wales, UK. I love the countryside and have a small studio space in a local, picturesque town - which I love! But I also adore seeing the world, and spent the end of last year travelling south-east Asia, and went back again last month to paint a mural. I would love to go back a third time too! Life so far in 2025 is chaotic, but enjoyable. This summer has been full of fun opportunities and pinch me moments, though I do wonder if things will ever slow down. Inevitably, if that were to happen I already know I would be itching to get busy again. I think perhaps my lifestyle is more of a reflection of where I am at right now more than anything else!

Are there any ideas or concepts that are captivating you recently which you would like to share? 

There are always so many ideas and concepts that pull at the edges of my imagination. There are a lot of recurring themes in my art - nature usually. Flowers that bloom are a staple, and every spring / summer I am once again drawn to them as subjects for my work. Water is another big one - ripples and waves. Undulating surfaces, contours and ridges. I love this idea of the surface of water being a thin veil into another world. It literally is. When you are submerged in water you’re existing in another state of matter. It always has and probably always will interest me greatly! I am also really into the way sound is visually communicated through water and other natural materials alike. Cymatics has been on my mind a lot, and I am currently working on a project (with another artist too) that uses my RGB light-reactive art style to reveal different layers of vibrational patterns in water. And finally, I am still, as always, mad about hands. They feel so emotional to me, so expressive, and I think they give away a lot about a person. I love drawing and painting hands to express deeper meanings and concepts. Usually some element of yearning or reaching.

What initially influenced you towards your style of art exploring colour spectrums and what does this visual language of light represent to you?

Honestly I was initially pulled into this technique through my own indecisiveness. I couldn’t decide whether or not to make ‘normal’ paintings, or to follow my desire to explore stop motion animation. So, with a bit of research and a LOT of practice I found a way to do both at the same time :) However, there is definitely something important to me about the use of colour and light too. Colour is vital for human happiness - and there is so little of it in todays general life (in cities anyway). I think the millennial grey or old school magnolia on walls is so depressing. For me, colour signifies LIFE! In the past I’ve been really interested in advertisements and packaging - basically how companies use colour to grab our attention and drive consumerism. I have always wanted to make bold, vibrant art that stands out, but without a hidden agenda. Adverts use colour and design to make us want more, focus on our lack and our disconnection.

They manipulate people into buying stuff. I kind of wanted to use colour to do the opposite? To fill those pain points with connection and meaning and a complicated visual that forces people to think for themselves. And attach their own meanings to the pieces. As for the light aspect, well that has always fascinated me. Colour science, rainbows, electro magnetic radiation (aka LIGHT) sparks a whole world of feelings. I am so interested in the way visuals can transmute into feelings. It’s all interconnected and I love the idea of purposefully playing with the way light interacts with matter. Absorption, reflection, transmission - how can I use these wavelengths and frequencies to open a new realm of possibilities, and most importantly, to question?

What sort of feelings and emotions normally arise when creating a piece, and what do you love the most about what you do? 

All sorts of feelings come up when I make work. Usually however, the ideas arrive ALMOST full formed in my brain. Then I feel like the go between - the facilitator almost - turning a concept into reality as a form of visual communication. There are so many themes, emotions and topics that inspire me though, and my work is littered with different references. Often there is sense of disconnect, dissociation, or a feeling or longing that comes up when I draw hands and faces. I think a lot of my work feels aspirational to me - it feels like it wants to be something that it can’t quite be. Like, it wants to be move and be free but is confined to paper or canvas. I don’t know if that makes sense but that is sometimes how I see the work. As though the concepts have their own life.

Sometimes the work is probably about SEEKING connection too. A way to hide my difficult-to-put-into-words feelings and share them with the world in the hope that others resonate and feel drawn to it too. And that is absolutely what I love the most about what I do. I love the connection. With others - other creative beautiful people - but also with myself. My art could almost be a conversation between my subconscious and conscious mind, which I have to take time to reflect on and understand why on earth that is coming up again and again. I have this deep seated sense that everything comes from the same place anyway, and sometimes my art is about trying to get back to that place, trying to mash myself back up into the universal energy with everyone else. Reconnection - and frustration at this illusion of separation. 

Do you consider your works to have a psychedelic element and if so where did this interest in 'otherworldly' or 'trippy' aesthetics stem from?

Yes my work definitely does have a psychedelic element to it, though that was not necessarily my intention. I think a lot of people see my work and assume that is the purpose it serves - a visual representation of psychedelia. But actually, these concepts and visual motifs arrived long before any sort of ‘dabbling’ in that realm. My interest in these ‘otherworldly aesthetics’ is ultimately just the way my brain chews up and spits out whatever visual and emotional fuel I give it. I think perhaps some of that comes from the openness of my parents, and the conversations we would have about understanding the world when I was growing up. Both my mother and father are very open-minded, and taught me a lot about critical thinking, questioning, remaining present and then receiving.

We had a lot of conversations about the universe and they hold certain beliefs which were perhaps unconventional in our society when I was younger - but they seem to be getting more widely spoken about and understood now! They taught me to meditate when I was about 6, and that feels like it has had a significant impact on the way I connect with the world around me.Fundamentally, I like to assess feelings and situations from multiple perspectives, and that is what my art is about. The co-existence of multiple truths - and I try to give viewers the ability to see different layers at the same time. I guess psychedelics offer the same thing, in a way!

What does Spirituality mean to you? 

This is a tough question because I don’t think it is something I can communicate with words. To me, spirituality equates to a deep rooted knowing, a feeling of being held, being part of something, a collective subconscious. An understanding of oneness? Of limited existence in this form? I don’t really know how to explain it. Some people call that ‘faith’ or ‘belief’ which is maybe what I’m referring to - but for me I don’t feel like those words fit because they seem too concerned with logic. It’s a feeling, not necessarily something I can justify or analyse. I do of course need to remind myself of this feeling when my mind gets too occupied with other stuff though. Brains are powerful distractions! The words ‘faith’ and ‘belief’ also feel hijacked by institutionalised religion, which I do not identify with. I think that is why spirituality feels important, because for me and many others, it fills the space that organised religion has held for a long time.

I do, however, have a lot of respect for the morals and ideals almost all religions impart - but I can also recognise that many maintain a level of corruption that comes with power and humans. I think spirituality means more to me than I care to admit in this fast paced and somewhat judgmental society. I don’t tend to talk about my feelings on it that often because I don’t want to explain it away or justify it. It is enough for me to know and experience, without seeking external confirmation. It comes out in my art like a secret language that skips words, and the people who get it, get it :)

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- Astral Magazine