LIVING A LEGACY
THE BODY POSITIVE ARTWORK OF HILDOS
In the 1970s every Saturday morning, the Lebanese American University offered art classes for kids. Starting when she was seven, Hildos took these classes and fell in love with experimentation and creativity in art. This weekend program left such an impact on her that, after high school, Hildos enrolled in the same University where these classes had taken place a decade before to study Fine Arts with a minor in Art Education and Graphic Design. Although she was in the same place as she had been in her youth, her art had changed and throughout her time in University, her art became a lot more than experimenting with material and transformed to a tool for expressing herself and discussing social and political topics that she is passionate about such as body positivity.
It Takes Every Kind of People to Make the World Go Round. 2002. Mixed media & collage on paper. 29 x 16 in. Winner for Rotaract 2450 Sept. poster competition in 2002.
Hildos identifies as a mixed media artist; using painting, photography, illustrations, animation, and most recently theater to express herself. She says that “We often get attached to one medium, but I learned through time that the idea comes first, and the medium comes next.” She believes in expressing your creativity with the medium as a means, but always remembering the idea is the queen. Hildos, who is always trying out new artistic mediums to promote her ideas of body equality, believes every artist should explore and use different mediums so that they evolve and don’t fall into the abyss of repetition.
The Lebanese artist follows a five-step artistic process to create her work, which she detailed for us: “I first look for inspiration, all artists need inspiration to come up with creative art; inspiration can come spontaneously, a view, a movie, daily life experiences or just another artwork. My second step is to brainstorm ideas to come up with a theme. Just like fashion, my art comes in collection, and each collection is relevant to a theme. My third step is exploring and researching ideas and which medium to use. It is a lot of sketching on different mediums to get as many ideas as possible and find the right medium to use to convey my idea. My fourth step is my favorite, it’s when the real creative process happens, and I start creating my artwork. I recreate my sketch at the beginning, then I let myself go with the flow and there are no “no-no’s” at this stage. My fifth step is leaving the painting for few hours and then come back and fine-tune.”
Snowy Sensuality. 2014. Soft pastels and chalk on paper. 38 x 55 in
After getting her Master’s in Marketing and Communications in Beirut, her city of birth, Hildos has lived between New York City and Beirut and has dedicated her time to making a difference in people’s lives through her artworks. Whether she is giving a TED Talk on body positivity, championing women in business, painting, singing, dancing, acting, or working as graphic designer you can recognize Hildos’ work through her intense passion, her levity, and her unique style.
HILDOS
LEBANON
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