About

Many years ago I read a quote:

" Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because the world needs is people who have come alive"- Howard Thurman

These words meant a lot to me and I do think we need to test the things we dream of otherwise we will miss out on so much. Throughout life, I did not see my real potential. Going through a hard time in my youth I lost my self-esteem and even though I wanted to do so many things, I did not know if I would have the courage to dare. So when Saatchi Gallery one day in 2008 found my webpage and chose me and 24 other artists from Sweden to have an exhibit at Opera Gallery in Budapest I found the boost that I needed and realized that it was the start of my artistic career. After many painful events in my life, ( losing 22 people in 15 years, going through diseases among other things ) I needed to paint naive, characteristic people or figures. Also, the abstract paintings made me realize the healing power of art. The paintings had an effect on me and I felt the joy in my paintings. I also realized that the colors were very curative.During the years many of my clients felt the same feeling and that made me realize that I was on the right path in life. Giving people the joy that I want to spread to them.I have shown my art in various countries in Europe and in the US. "I love the naive feeling in my paintings and they have a deep feeling that you can see mostly in the eyes."Well, Art is in the eyes of the beholder they say.......... What do you think?

About Helena Hötzl Setterström

Text by Sarah Smithson, New York Artz magazine

Swedish painter and Illustrator HELENA HÖTZL harnesses and manipulates perceptual reality effortlessly with ease.
She takes her inspiration from vivid sequences of events or phenomena such as birth, life, sex, and nature interrupted – hence her paintings/illustrations are genuinely intriguing and evoking to all. One may say; it is her unique, sensual, flirty, often humorous ” storylines”- enjoyed and especially favored by her fans worldwide – that started her art to take off.
Sensory perception for Hötzl is a spiritual activity; one that leads to a heightened yet subconscious awareness of both culture and human nature. People call it; ”a new kind of realism”— where she combines deeply intuitive layers of text and form to enchant and excite the intellect and the emotion. In her ”poetic” work – with her bold lines, vivid colors, and suggestively figurative elements – she creates this timeless magical quality her collectors have grown to love.

Women easily identify themselves with her enticing; sensual, feminine style -hence the idea was born to use her designs on luscious silk scarfs and a variety of clothing. Hötzl has exhibited her work internationally; in Europe and in the U.S.

When she was asked what drives and inspires her to share her designs, she answered:” I am a very intuitive and passionate woman. I don’t just see faces I see emotions. I especially know how women feel, since I listen to them. Art and fashion ultimately are about not just looking fashionable but feeling fashionable, feeling strong and desirous, sensual and authentic. And that is exactly what my gift is to women… and of course, with a touch of humor and cool.”She adds – showing a glint of her signature smile.