Unskilled Worker
In\xa0Episode\xa009 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the brilliant London-based artist, Helen Downie, who goes under the guise of UNSKILLED WORKER!\xa0\n\nA self-taught artist who first started painting aged 48 a mere six years ago, Unskilled Worker rose to prominence after posting her work online (instagram.com/unskilledworker), amassing\xa0nearly 300,000 Instagram followers, which led to designing collections for Gucci, and exhibiting\xa0at museums all over the world.\n\nKnown for her intensely vibrant and poetic dreamlike canvases full of her very personal portrayals of people \u2013 from those in her imagination, to those who feature in her past and present \u2013 Unskilled Worker draws the viewer into a highly atmospheric world of childlike innocence. \n\nIn this episode we discuss the artist's lifelong fascination with people; what led her to pick up a paintbrush age 48; picking up her subjects where she left off aged 14; painting Oscar Wilde to Radclyffe Hall; and how she learnt to live life as a painter \u2013 as well as dealing with such a dominant internet presence.\n\xa0\nIt was an honour to interview the great painter, who also speaks very movingly about dealing with grief through painting \u2013 and how occasionally, those from her past who may have got lost along the way, appear on the page in front of her.\n\xa0\nWORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE\nWhere's Ted\nhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BujBg5eDOqD/\nFaraway Boy\nhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BzLuy_sBUrv/\nThe Arrival\nhttps://www.instagram.com/p/Bvb9r3ujcQP/\nSelf Portrait\nhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BdXY9z2DgR3/\nAn English Idyll 2\nhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BaMkZjpD0V5/\nRadclyffe Hall and Una \u2013 The Tiger That Lost His Stripes\nhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BXNwcaPD9ST/\nOscar and Boesie\nhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BWprTZxDlv_/\n\nThank you for listening!!\n\nThis episode is sponsored by the National Art Pass/ @artfund: https://bit.ly/32HJVDk \nTo receive a free tote bag with your National Art Pass, enter the code GREAT at checkout! \n\nFollow us:\nKaty Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel\nSound editing by @_ellieclifford\nArtwork by @thisisaliceskinner\nMusic by Ben Wetherfield\n\nhttps://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/