Not too long ago, I came across some intricate designs by an extremely talented virtual tailor and digital creator named Helen Do. Utterly captivated by her depth of mysticism and eloquence of digital craftsmanship, I decided to follow Helen’s quest in exploring the intersection of psychology, technology and art.

From virtual jewellery, philanthropic digital dresses and biopunk passions, Helen continues to captivate, charm and entrance with her concepts and techniques. What impresses me the most, however, is her bravery as a Ukrainian citizen and how she continues to use her art to voice her powerful story.

Deconstructing perceptions 

Helen describes herself as a digital artist, meta-fashion creator, and virtual jewellery designer. Prior to her career in digital fashion, Helen was a graphic designer and felt herself burning out quite rapidly. “Digital fashion gave me a new breath of life and it's like I’ve finally found myself in this world,” she says.

There are several recurring themes in Helen’s work, namely reflection, sensuality, inclusivity and representing the value of personal experience and memory.

“I try to explore human memory and how experiences and emotions affect the personality,” Helen explains. “How experiences change us, influence our feelings or, for example, our understanding of what is beautiful and wasn’t.”

“I try to explore why some things disgust us. Is it evolutionary memory or deep human experience? Is it the stigmatisation of certain topics by society? Or is it our conscious choice? If this is understood, then the world of digital fashion can be constructed according to very different rules.”

From ideation to digital creation

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**When it comes to experimenting with digital textures, Helen opts for those that have a close resemblance to textures in the physical world. However, she utilises them in unique ways to breathe new life into her pieces.

“My bio-punk jewellery collection, for example, combines skin-related materials with metal to create an eclectic blend of artful pieces,” Helen explains. “I enjoy pushing peoples’ comfort zones and providing them with a new experience. It helps to shake them up a bit and make them think about whether the world really looks the way they are used to.”

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**Helen describes her ideas as often being complex and they have to trigger her in some way. “I often say the idea chooses me; I don’t choose the idea,” she says. I always have something to say, but I don’t always know how to say it.”

Shifting societal perspectives

Bigger than a pretty render, Helen’s work aims to push people to think outside of the norm and what society dictates to us as being “normal”.

“I want people to stop focusing on social labels and analyse who they are,” Helen says. I would like to help build a more inclusive society, with less pressure from unfounded stereotypes, less sexualisation and gender labels, and fewer marketing gimmicks.”

Helen believes that not all traditional rules and customs, in reality, should necessarily be transferred into the virtual world. 

“The rules of the real world should not apply to digital fashion. It shouldn't be comfortable or easy,” she explains. “The digital world is not constrained by physical laws however, we still continue to think in familiar shapes and functions. We bring meaningless structures into the digital realm, and we get something like the Cargo-Cult vibe. This is very difficult to overcome. I'm trying to beat it but I know it's not possible to completely change my mind because our perception is based on what we've been taught as being the norm.”**
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Connect with Helen Do here.

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