Featured Artist: Polkip

Although DBH artist Polkip reflects on the “unpredictable” nature of creativity, she also firmly believes that “if you can wrangle it you can really create some beautiful things.” Polkip’s art is the opportunity to watch that exact moment when wild imagination is wrangled into something spectacularly beautiful. The dark and edgy elements of the designs may intrigue audiences, but it is the intricacy and level of detail that makes it impossible for them to look away.

Polkip, or Polly, is originally from Bristol, England and she is currently living in Oslo, Norway. As a tattoo artist, she is able to use her distinctive artistic style every day. Her passion for the bold line work found in graphic novels, botanical illustrations, and medieval woodcuts helps to contribute to the fascinating detail and “heavy line work” in her designs.

She jokes that she finds inspiration for work “absolutely anywhere” and that the world around her continues to encourage and motivate her. She is always pushing herself to move past her boundaries and let her creativity run wild. Although her expertise is working with ink, she hopes to someday return to painting and expand her creativity to the canvas.

She confesses that she struggles with “creative block and imposter syndrome.” Although she has learned to overcome feelings of a “creative block” by taking time away from her project, she recognizes that the monster that is imposter syndrome is a much more difficult beast to subdue. She shares the comforting advice that sometimes all you can do is “switch the phone off, make a cup of tea and sit down and just do your work, it doesn't even matter if it's any good, just keep doing your work.”

Polkip’s hope for other artists is to never lose sight of their own worth and that the most important step in the creative process is to follow the mantra “keep creating.”