The artist known as Halokidnapper grew up experimenting with Photoshop, always wanting to go beyond what is expected with her images. Initially creating work only for herself, her rich inner world slowly spilled across the digital domain. Now, the 20-year-old curates three separate Instagram accounts sharing her pastel-hued and offbeat vision, based around her main art account, @halokidnapper.
“I’ve been using Photoshop ever since I was about 7 or 8 years old kid — but my Instagram account started when I was in my second year of high school,” says Halokidnapper, who’s based in Poland. She says her surreal digital mash-ups are a way of escaping everyday routine. “It is a different and much-needed world, providing me not only with entertainment, but also a sense of calm and self-satisfaction,” she says.
Many of Halokidnapper’s posts poke gentle fun at the consumer world: from Gucci-emblazoned bananas to Kardashian-inspired, streetwear-clad Teletubbies posing amid classical interiors. But for the artist, it’s the sense of the surreal that makes this world her own, rather than the satire.
“I am aware that I have a specific taste. I never follow convention,” she says. “I love to create weird, kitschy, illogical things and to mix different artistic styles.”