At some point in our lives, we embark on journeys that become the turning point for our lives or how we view it in general. For artist Bolli Blas, it was when she backpacked through some of the poorest countries in Central America, Africa, and Asia, that served as the pivotal event that would later influence her art and how she sees the world around her.
Here’s what exactly happened during her travels.
A Close Encounter with the Locals
It all began when Bolli Blas was exiting a shebeen, or an illicit bar in Soweto, South Africa where both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived. Upon coming out onto the street, she had a close encounter with some of the local children in the area who wanted to get a peek of her iPhone.
“My partial inebriation allows me to hand it over without too much thought or concern. After playing with it for ten minutes and showing it to a bunch of his friends he comes back, hands me the phone, throws his arms around my neck and I show them all some photos on my phone,” Bolli recalls.
Afterwards, the kid then asked Bolli if she wanted to see his pictures, which she agreed to. A few minutes later, he returned with a sketchbook and showed Bolli his pencil and crayon drawings.
“They reminded me of my own drawings from my childhood and I’m transported back into that magical land of blissful nostalgia. It was that realization that all the paintings I have been striving to achieve perfection were not what I wanted to present to the world. Art was in the innocence, in the untainted originality of a child. It was all about doing whatever you wanted to do. There were no restrictions. It didn’t matter to me anymore of having perfect perspective, of drawing perfect faces, of having the perfect forms of people or things. Art was about freedom and self-expression, it was never about perfection. It was already perfect,” the artist explained.
From them on, Bolli uses her paintings to express her vision of utopia that’s peaceful, positive, and full of joy.
The Eyes that Greatly Influences Her Art
One distinct feature of Bolli’s art are the large-eyed characters known as Bollis.
“I have, for a long time, had an interest in eyes. The windows of the soul so they say. The eyes are the medium through which we experience everything that is visually beautiful. The pupils in the eyes can either dilate or contract to the size of a pinhead. When dilated, they seem to be absorbing every little detail of the world around; like black holes, attracting everything within their orbit with an irresistible gravitational pull,” she said.
Other than the eyes of her Bollis, the artist also takes note of some color combinations to make her art stand out from the rest.
“The use of black enhances the brightness of the other colors. I like to use vibrant colours in my work and the wide-eyed Bollis hopefully enhance the other detail and colours in the picture,” she explained.
Learn more about Bolli Blas and her Bollis through her Instagram.