Details

26-year-old, Hong Kong and Philippine-based artist Rheanne Jane Winstanley (alter ego ‘Ms.Ephialtes’) uses 2D drawings as a voice of complex emotions. She studied Visual Arts and Culture in Hong Kong Design Institute and graduated in 2019. Apart from visual arts, she also explores other mediums such as poetry, performance and music.

She believes art is her way of facing the darker sides of life.

“There is so much we can’t control in this world and sometimes life forces us to face our own demons. Art is my way of facing my negative emotions and trauma. When I have to overcome a challenge in life that I find too difficult to express, I visualize them as a demon or a creature out of the ordinary. When I put them in 2D pieces of art, I feel empowered looking at them unable to move or harm me and I feel like I’m the one in control and not my emotions and fears. When you leave a negative thought or memory in your head they grow bigger and more powerful. When you put them in a piece of work, they are imprisoned in a masterpiece.”

In 2017, she created an untitled spontaneous drawing work of demons to represent her own subconscious mind. The work was supposed to explore the inventiveness of the artist without any sketches or planning and pure impulse. In the summer of 2018, she was part of the ‘Hacking Reality’ exhibition and included a performance work entitled ‘heR B0dy’ to symbolise women’s degradation in society and media. In 2019, she created a large-scale ink painting of 162″ x 73″ to cover a personal topic about her characteristics and reflect empowerment and self-acceptance.

Rheanne is an active artist and is currently working on the ‘Ms. Ephialtes project’. Which is a long-term project to explore the power of self-awareness and growth.