We were lucky to catch up with Elena Ciolacu recently and have shared our conversation below.
ELENA, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
My most meaningful project has remained, to this day, a university assignment that I created about 13 years ago. It’s called “A Story of Hope for the Bullied” and it is a graphic novel written from a first-person point of view, as a confession or a monologue by the main character directed at the victims of bullying. The story is not an analysis of this phenomenon, nor a finger pointed at the bullies, but rather a hand reaching out to those who suffer, trying to give them hope and encouragement. It’s based on my own experience with bullying and partly on that of my sister.
I wrote and illustrated this book in 2012, during my university studies in the UK, as part of an assignment that required us to enter various art competitions to get exposure for our work. I chose to enter the Creative Conscience Awards, a competition that encourages young artists to use their creativity in support of a cause they believe in. My inspiration and motivation to create a graphic novel that aims to help victims of bullying came from a young girl in Canada, named Amanda Todd. At just 15 years old she took her own life because of the horrible bullying she had endured for multiple years. Before committing that act, she had posted a clip on YouTube sharing her story and saying how much she needed a friend. Unfortunately, no one who could help her saw that video; it became viral only after the media shared the case. I browsed her channel and saw other videos of hers: she was singing, being a teenager, doing things she liked, and that’s when it hit me… this beautiful child had a life ahead of her, she had dreams and gifts and love to share with people! How heartbreakingly sad! A child taking her own life in the darkness of despair… I was profoundly saddened thinking that maybe I could have helped her, had I only known about her. That is why I decided to create “A Story of Hope for the Bullied”, so that I could reach children in similar circumstances, all over the world, children and teens that I will never know of personally.
In 2012, I published “A Story of Hope for the Bullied” on the internet, on a popular art platform called DeviantArt. My project was highlighted on the front page and within a month I received hundreds of messages from teens all around the world who were thanking me and saying how much the story helped them deal with their own bullying trauma. Many shared their own experiences with me. I was profoundly touched! It was also at that point that I realized what a tremendous power art and storytelling can have. Art may not cure cancer, but it can still save lives! It can truly impact people’s lives and even entire communities. However, art and storytelling can also destroy and influence people negatively, so with the blessing of being an artist also comes huge responsibility.
“A Story of Hope for the Bullied” was awarded the Gold Award at the Creative Conscience Awards in 2013, and the “Curator’s Choice” award, offered by Tricia Jones (cofounder of British magazine i-D), at NOISE Festival in 2014.
ELENA, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a Romanian visual artist creating in a variety of art forms. My work varies from illustrations to oil paintings, animated short films and graphic novels, but throughout this diversity it is my love for storytelling that ties them all together, which is why I like to call myself a “visual storyteller”.
My love for drawing has been intertwined with my love for stories ever since I can remember. As a small child I used to invent fairy tales, which I wrote and illustrated in notebooks or scraps of paper. Reading, writing and drawing became my escape and I pursued them all equally, up until high-school, when I started diving into the world of animation (thanks to my first computer!). It was upon seeing the works of Makoto Shinkai and Hayao Miyazaki that I decided I wanted to make animations myself one day. The sheer beauty of their work, the wonder of making drawings move, the added benefit of music and sound, all of it made animation become the ultimate storytelling art form for me!
But following this dream and my passion for creating stories and art has not been easy, as I’ve tried to juggle making money, pursuing university studies and doing what I love. However, I still managed to bring to life many ambitious projects: I directed and animated three short animations, I authored and illustrated two graphic novels, I contributed with illustrations to picture books and articles, and I am currently exploring fine art oil painting, being fortunate enough to already exhibit some of my work locally and nationally.
My career trajectory so far has been, seemingly, very chaotic, and while it might be so, I feel it has also given me a creative advantage too: I’ve acquired experience in many fields and I can bring something of each to every project I take on, thus enriching it with a new perspective – like making a graphic novel read cinematically, or bringing an artistic stylized feel to an animation.
Presently, I am freelancing as an illustrator and animator while on the side I am pursuing my own “Immersive Storytelling” project where I aim to combine oil paintings and animation to tell stories. This project is very ambitious and finding the time to work on it is very challenging, given the fact that I have to work for a living as well, but it is something I am slowly getting closer to. Oh, so many other stories and projects await their turn!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I think many people find it hard to understand why someone would willingly stay in a modest financial situation just so they could pursue their art. That is my case, and I am aware of the raised eyebrows and pitying looks it causes around me. It’s hard for me to explain and it’s probably hard for other people to understand that being financially stable but not creating is far more painful than going through periods of financial scarcity yet having the freedom to create what you have inside of you. I admit it may be something that artists can do when they don’t have a family to support, as is the case for me. If I had a family and children of my own, I would surely prioritize their well-being and happiness over my art goals. But until I have that, I am happy to paint and create! Of course, I am miserable at times too – I often wish I could afford more things and experiences, and make more money from what I love to do, but I am not there yet, and I have to push through. Maybe I’ll never be there, maybe I’ll never make enough money from my art, but I know I will never be fully at peace if I never at least try. And actually, I recently felt something – something that I hadn’t felt in a long time, and that made me feel like I might be on the right path for now. As I was working on a commissioned illustration project, I felt at peace. I felt useful! I was earning my living through my own skills – the ones that represent me, the ones that come naturally to me. I had never felt this while doing previous jobs that were not art-related. I always felt like I was wasting time, like I was an imposter. But not now!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of creating is the sheer joy of bringing into existence something beautiful – something that may inspire other people or simply offer them a moment of rest for their eyes and souls. Also, I feel a great sense of purpose in using my work to highlight other people’s inspirational stories. For example, many times when I read biographies or hear about various inspiring people and events, I feel such an urge to share them with the world – to put them into images and show the world how extraordinary they are!
I suppose, at the core of it all, my work as an artist stems from a desire to share, to help and to communicate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://elenaciolacu.weebly.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElenaCiolacuArt/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCawI2uWoyyquXq8__gBbJQA?
