We were lucky to catch up with Zena Gottholm recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zena , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Ive always felt like a artist, and I don’t think I could ever be anything else. Drawing was my first love, I used to collect little plastic dinosaur figurines as a kid and would sit at the kitchen table and draw them for hours in different poses. As I got older and my drawings became more refined I began working on my own creatures, folklore, and ways to express myself through fantasy. Mapping out the characters in my mind and exploring what could be to escape everyday life.
After discovering the artwork of Dali and Alex Grey I wanted to embrace painting, surrealism, and visionary art in my own work.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a twenty six year old freelance artist residing in Chattanooga TN. My studio is at a creative collective downtown called Clearstory Arts, which is home to 40 local creatives. I went to art school for awhile but it wasn’t for me, and although that felt like a huge setback for awhile – I kept painting and drawing obsessively for the next four years. I could never stop creating and over that time period really found my style and myself as an artist.
Illustrating myths and far off worlds to take the viewer somewhere magical to reflect and compose their own meanings.
I’m most proud of never giving up on my dream, because I feel like that’s always a looming factor for every artist. In this business financial stability isn’t a guarantee, the creative dry spells, and fighting the urge to compare yourself to every other artist can be a little threatening sometimes. Art is so important and as hard as it is sometimes you’ve got to keep the machine running. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found comfort and solace in my work, and love hearing what it means to others and where it took them, I can’t imagine doing anything else with my time.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is getting to explore form, color, and consciousness so throughly. To connect with yourself and others.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

With social media being such a heavy hitter to discover and support new artists, if you enjoy someone’s work just engaging with their content is enough support as is. Visit local pop ups and become familiar with local talent, great art is everywhere.
There are so many great outlets these days and the possibilities have become sort of endless, it’s wonderful seeing all these creatives find new ways of supporting themselves and their crafts.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zenagottholmart.com
• Instagram: Dameofdelirium
• Other: www.patreon.com/dameofdelirium

Image Credits
I took the photos