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Phila Hillie is an architecture graduate, artist and illustrator from South Africa. She is a pioneers and adept of the digital art.
Hillie’s artwork is an exploration of women, culture, tradition and space through the use of form and color.
The idea is to simplify the subjects and themes without extracting their beauty and presence. Phila is interested in creating spaces in which women feel safe and can explore themselves without the pressure and standards that society often projects on to them.
Here is Phila Hillie exclusively for FXLB Mag.
When and how did your art journey start?
I would say my interest in art started when I was very young but, due to a fear of not being able to get work, I decided to study architecture for my undergrad degree. I remember being inspired by how talented my peers were and I think this inspired me to explore photography, styling, fashion and ultimately I fell in love with art again. My friends and I hosted an art show and I had recently started using Photoshop for my architectural presentations. I started playing with collages, forms and colour and eventually taught myself how to produce digital illustrations. By the time I was finishing my first degree, I had accumulated a lot of works or experiments and decided to share them and the interest in those works catapulted me into the world of digital illustration and freelancing.
You started with painting and then moved to the digital art, can you explain why?
I loved painting but soon realised that my university schedule left me with very little time to finish the paintings I had started which was frustrating. Digital art was amazing because I could produce a large number of works in less time. I also enjoyed being able to have access to more tools and colours through the palettes that were available on platforms such as Photoshop. I also enjoyed being able to use myself as a reference and manipulate that image through collaging or illustration.
Can you share with us how to commercialise digital art?
In my experience, the constant sharing of my work on my social media platforms helped me with getting visibility and clients. I also had to really learn what kind of work and products my clients wanted from me (i.e., selling prints vs. commissioned artwork in my style) so that I could fine tune and deliver products/services that I knew would generate a profit. However, I think it’s important to understand that while commercialising your art can be successful, it’s important to love the work that you do and stay true to who you are as an artist because that love and passion is what sells and makes you happy. Balance is important.
Digital art seems to be more commercial than the physical one. How a creative can combine these two aspects without “losing her soul”?
What does influence your creativity and inspire you?
How important are social media for the contemporary artist?
In your artworks you “create spaces in which women feel safe”. Can you explain this concept?
Can you share with us your current projects/ you are working on now?
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