hai Lowena Hearn
Hai Society, meet Lowena Hearn, the London based artist providing a portal to a fantasy existence through her darkly glamorous online persona. Most recently cake and confectionary has been her preferred medium in creating intricate and enchanting sculptures that perfectly compliment her aesthetic tendency towards Gothic Romanticism. Alongside this, Lowena's ability to capture the intricacies of paintings from hundreds of years ago through careful styling and phone photography has captivated the dreamy group of followers who are lucky enough to have fallen into her rabbit hole of an Instagram profile.
A fittingly fantastical match to her work, Lowena lit a candle by the fireside to show us her Puff Gina, and give us some insights into her life...
Hi Lowena....or should we say Hai!
Hello!
Can you describe what you do?
My ongoing ambition is just to add fabric to the walls of my world, whether that’s in the guise of a more ‘traditional art’ such as painting or sculptural forms — objects that we attach a straightforward intellectual and artistic worth to, or making myself clothes, jewels, re-forming household pieces/furniture and food.
Where do you consider home? When do you know you are home?
I grew up moving around so much with my mother, we lived in different houses and apartments but also tents, caravans, shacks, boats, motels, hotels, halfway houses, even a geodesic dome for a while. So I’ve never had a solid idea of “home” or somewhere I can go back to. Now I have special spaces of my own and I tie myself to them by considering every object and corner that’s inside — every piece and curve I apply my own secret divinity to, and by this I create the feeling of home.
Describe how you feel when you are on a creative Hai? (high)
Sick! Feverish and sickly sticky sweet sickness. Ideas that are rushing so quickly you can hardly perceive them, it seems as if they are only a colour or taste — a wonderful kind of torture.
The best, untalked about place in your city?
Well I have a very special place in my heart for Spitalfields antiques market on Thursdays — I’ve been going for 10 years and although it’s sadly changed so very much with gentrification the stall holders are still the same (although there are less of them ) and there are still so many precious pieces to be found. I love talking to the dealers, there are such special strange people who care about objects in the most wonderful way, so I find I can relate to them more than most people!
How, or where do you go to find inspiration?
As touched upon above, antiques markets are very important to me, the people and some of the janky treasures (which I think is better than art) you can find is pure and inspires me very much. Along with this, places that treat food in a sacred way, creating ceremony and extraordinary concern around something seemingly mundane (such as they do in very good cheese shops and old restaurants). And lastly I love spending time in Italy and just letting the ancient beauty wash over me.
What do you do when no one is watching?
I watch cartoons! Mostly the 90’s/00’s cartoons of my childhood — often we wouldn’t have a TV, but when we did it would mean softness and security and I think that has really stayed with me. I pretty much just become a child when I don’t feel like seeing anyone or doing anything, I eat a big bowl of spaghetti and watch loads of cartoons in bed!
What's the feeling fashion gives you?
‘Fashion’ in its current form is outdated, it holds so much darkness… what we learnt as adolescents from fashion about beauty we still have to carry with us today. The ill/digitally altered bodies, the racism, it’s no foundation to build on — the things we wear and hold to our body should make us feel safe and beautiful and strong and not be steeped in such poison. Thankfully things seem to be shifting a lot, and that gives me a great feeling of hopefulness. It’s so lovely to see new designers like Hai making wearable objects whilst holding humanity close to their breast! Our clothing should make us feel as if we’re wearing silken armour, I know that when I have a special piece of clothing or adornment I feel like a divine being, Aphrodite, Arethusa and Artemis! All at once!
Where are you going to take your Hai next?
Hopefully to a divine dinner party, where there will be meat that I can languorously pluck with my fingers, wine I can gulp profusely, and lots of silk!
Hi Lowena....or should we say Hai!
Hello!
Can you describe what you do?
My ongoing ambition is just to add fabric to the walls of my world, whether that’s in the guise of a more ‘traditional art’ such as painting or sculptural forms — objects that we attach a straightforward intellectual and artistic worth to, or making myself clothes, jewels, re-forming household pieces/furniture and food.
Where do you consider home? When do you know you are home?
I grew up moving around so much with my mother, we lived in different houses and apartments but also tents, caravans, shacks, boats, motels, hotels, halfway houses, even a geodesic dome for a while. So I’ve never had a solid idea of “home” or somewhere I can go back to. Now I have special spaces of my own and I tie myself to them by considering every object and corner that’s inside — every piece and curve I apply my own secret divinity to, and by this I create the feeling of home.
Describe how you feel when you are on a creative Hai? (high)
Sick! Feverish and sickly sticky sweet sickness. Ideas that are rushing so quickly you can hardly perceive them, it seems as if they are only a colour or taste — a wonderful kind of torture.
The best, untalked about place in your city?
Well I have a very special place in my heart for Spitalfields antiques market on Thursdays — I’ve been going for 10 years and although it’s sadly changed so very much with gentrification the stall holders are still the same (although there are less of them ) and there are still so many precious pieces to be found. I love talking to the dealers, there are such special strange people who care about objects in the most wonderful way, so I find I can relate to them more than most people!
How, or where do you go to find inspiration?
As touched upon above, antiques markets are very important to me, the people and some of the janky treasures (which I think is better than art) you can find is pure and inspires me very much. Along with this, places that treat food in a sacred way, creating ceremony and extraordinary concern around something seemingly mundane (such as they do in very good cheese shops and old restaurants). And lastly I love spending time in Italy and just letting the ancient beauty wash over me.
What do you do when no one is watching?
I watch cartoons! Mostly the 90’s/00’s cartoons of my childhood — often we wouldn’t have a TV, but when we did it would mean softness and security and I think that has really stayed with me. I pretty much just become a child when I don’t feel like seeing anyone or doing anything, I eat a big bowl of spaghetti and watch loads of cartoons in bed!
What's the feeling fashion gives you?
‘Fashion’ in its current form is outdated, it holds so much darkness… what we learnt as adolescents from fashion about beauty we still have to carry with us today. The ill/digitally altered bodies, the racism, it’s no foundation to build on — the things we wear and hold to our body should make us feel safe and beautiful and strong and not be steeped in such poison. Thankfully things seem to be shifting a lot, and that gives me a great feeling of hopefulness. It’s so lovely to see new designers like Hai making wearable objects whilst holding humanity close to their breast! Our clothing should make us feel as if we’re wearing silken armour, I know that when I have a special piece of clothing or adornment I feel like a divine being, Aphrodite, Arethusa and Artemis! All at once!
Where are you going to take your Hai next?
Hopefully to a divine dinner party, where there will be meat that I can languorously pluck with my fingers, wine I can gulp profusely, and lots of silk!