Down the artsy rabbit hole

One-man bands might be common in the music industry, but oftentimes we forget many people in the art scene can also classify as a “one-man band”. Award-winning Nikolina Petolas is one example, collaborating elements of photography, illustration, and digital painting to create thought-provoking, consuming pieces reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland and Narnia.

You can check her out on Twitter or venture into her world with her own personal website.

Enjoy this trip down the rabbit hole! It always gets curiouser and curiouser.

It goes beyond saying that you’re pretty successful in the art scene, booking clients like Salvatore Ferragamo, Marriott Hotels, and Saatchi & Saatchi. Can you tell us a little bit more about how you got here?

I've been working on my personal projects, with the most extensive one being the Tale of the Blue Pear series. The series is very successful and won more than 20 awards, so over time I was contacted by a few agencies that wanted to use my concepts or my existing artworks in their own projects.

Salvatore Ferragamo was looking for a surrealistic approach and the large impact of nature and animals in their new campaign, and my art fit perfectly to what they wanted to achieve.

It is always nice to incorporate my own personal stories in these kinds of commissioned work.

Your artwork is reminiscent of the Academic Arts movement and Surrealism. What’s the story behind that?

Surrealism is the art movement which explores the unconscious parts of the artists’ minds, combining unthinkable objects, and writing stories of the artists’ dreams and intuition. Although the movement is known to start in the 20th century with the initiative of Andre Breton, artists have actually been guided by their dreams and unexplainable visions for centuries.

I wasn't thinking much about defining my art, but shortly after I started to create my visual stories, I got contacted by a German traditional art collector who collected surreal and fantastical art, and he wanted me to exhibit among the German and European society of surrealist artists.

Later on I also exhibited in the largest exhibition of surreal arts in the world, led by the Portuguese artist Santiago Ribeiro. I also got featured in the Lexicon of fantastic arts by Gérard Habarta, who is a very influential author in the fantastic and surreal art circles, organizing Salvador Dalí exhibitions, among others.

Since your artworks also involve lots and lots of animals, there’s an environmental touch to your pieces. Do they represent anything, especially with how you play around with them and nature in general?

It’s hard to see what’s becoming of nature due to overpopulation, deforestation, and human negligence. I enjoy spending time in nature and working with animals, and I feel peaceful placing them in my work, giving them the opportunity to live in a better world.

It is an (anti-)utopian world, where everything seems in harmony at first glance, but things can turn for the worse in a moment and go to the dark side. There’s a moment of anticipation in my works, and no one really knows how things will turn out and what might happen.

I love to think of my work as a modern fable, animals mostly presenting personified characters—either undefined personalities or some personal characters from my imagination or life. They show us the animalistic side of human nature, sometimes presented as half humans specifically. Besides all that, however, I just love to tell visual stories. The whole body of work is presented through these little stories about life, our journey through it; through struggles and fears, about being lost and finding ourselves again.

Little details seem to be a big part of your work. Every little one appears to be very deliberate and thought out. What’s the thought process behind it?

I always enjoyed art that isn’t obvious; that has a deeper message and can be viewed for a long time. By placing these details, I’m giving the viewers an opportunity for that. To think and discover, to connect the pieces of the puzzle. I want the art to be playful as well, interesting and aesthetically pleasing, letting each layer unravel itself with time.

My art is usually connected with pieces and symbols spread evenly through different bodies of work, reconnecting with themes and elements. It's not unusual for characters from one body of work to appear in another or to have several scenes presenting the same event that happened in this parallel universe. By doing that I turn these characters into narrators, which guide a viewer through these imaginary dreamscapes. Even if the scene is different, people who are familiar with my work will frequently find connecting dots in the form of these characters throughout my work, whether it is an animal or a certain object.

You mentioned that all your artwork is a complicated process and is a collaboration of photography, illustration, and digital painting. Can you walk us through the extensive and all-round process?

I combine my photography, which I’ve taken over the course of 15 years, with illustrated parts. It is then tinkered further with digital painting.

Ideas don’t always come to me in the same way. The artwork usually starts with a rough sketch to get the feel for the composition, after which I browse my large database of photos to find the ones that are appropriate for the specific artwork. I often go to specific locations or photograph in my studio in order to get images which I’ll be able to use in the digital composite. Some parts of it are illustrated to make the scenery more realistic and in order give it my personal touch. I love to create a cinematic feel, like cut-out frames from a movie. I put much effort into achieving the lighting and mood of the artwork, and this process lasts from the beginning until the very end.

Sometimes I get ideas while looking through the viewfinder of my camera. I see potential in a scene or object which I photograph. I get a feeling of what could become of it, and then I give my best to capture the scenery as I am already processing it afterwards. Other times I have an idea that just comes to me during my sleep or when I daydream. Sometimes it is caused by some situation or experience. Then I try to find specific locations and materials that are the best to present that idea. It’s often a long process and some works unfortunately never get finished.

During many years of my photography, I collected an enormous database of photographs which I use for my art. Each part of the composite kind of has its own story. Therefore for me, it is important to create personal work from my own photos.

Two years ago was your first solo exhibition. Since then, you’ve been part of many more amazing exhibitions and publications as well as winning multiple awards each year. Are there any milestones you still haven’t reached yet?

Yes, I have had many exhibitions all across the globe in the past 7 years—in festivals, museums and galleries across Europe, Asia and the US. It eventually led me to the Paris solo exhibition, which was very well accepted among the French art scene.

I don't like to set milestones for myself, but there are so many things that I still want to do. What I feel is of the most importance is to work on some ideas that still haven't been realized, that have been simmering in my mind for years. I always fear the moment will pass, and when that moment spans through the years, I begin to fear I will never finish these projects. That is the most important thing for me, to tell my stories.

I've always known my art was not trendy, but I did it regardless of the big uncertainty factor for success. Now that it got recognized, I am even more convinced that I am here on a mission to present more of it; to close that gap between my dreams, imaginations and reality, and to make certain these stories don't remain untold.

But other than that, I would like to publish my art book, spend more time on oil painting, and hopefully learn 3D someday. I also want to work more on charity projects—maybe start a foundation, helping endangered species, conservation projects, and people in need. I’ve worked for elephant charity projects in the past, and currently I’m part of the Cova project, focused on helping young women in developing African communities. It’s really important to me that my art can make even a little difference or raise awareness.

You seem to balance digital, print, and NFT art at the same time. How do you see these media go hand in hand in your favor?

For me, creating art is the most important, regardless of the market. I was fortunate to do well in the traditional art scene, but there are many problems such as transporting artworks to exhibitions and then returning them home. The NFT market doesn’t face the same issues. It is a revelation, bringing so much good to the art scene—both collectors and artists. Everything is happening so fast here; the scene is getting bigger every day, and I’m so happy to be a part of it. I think the traditional and NFT art scenes can go very well hand in hand, but it will need some time. It will be so interesting to see the direction they take and the impact NFT art will have on the development of art.

courtesy of the now defunct Personalities blog by Creator Collection