Carlotta Hey

Melbourne-based creative Carlotta Hey has had a long and extensive career in the fashion industry. Originally from Europe, with a background in product and fashion design, Carlotta spent the last two decades designing for the fashion industry. She has worked with one of the largest European chain stores and an iconic denim label in Australia before venturing into her own creative label.

Her artworks are a representation of her interest in the human and feminine form. She tries to capture the presence of her subjects and entices you into their world.

At present, Carlotta is focusing mostly on fashion illustrations. Clothing is a profoundly personal form of self-expression; the human body, with its clothes, is a vehicle for communication. Carlotta ensures that the body and its accoutrements take center stage through her compositional choices and muted color palette. This approach gives room to conjure the texture of the materials while conveying all the emotions of the subject. A mix of emotions finds its way into her art. It serves as a mirror to the viewer and lives in the eye of those who look at it—leaving it up to the viewer to interpret what they are seeing and what they might feel by looking at it.

Carlotta’s ambition is to take her fashion illustration background to a larger format, blurring the lines between traditional fashion illustration and fine art, and exploring new horizons. She currently lives and works from her studio in Melbourne, Australia.


Artist Statement

Fundamentally, my work is about myself, the sitter, and everything in-between. My work explores the idea of taking a moment for yourself to be still and to process your emotions.

Fashion is a central point in many of my drawings. In fact, I believe that clothes can communicate a message, an idea, or a feeling... as can color.

Color (or rather the limiting of color) also plays a pivotal role in my work. With a muted and limited color palette, the viewer can fully concentrate on the female figure or portrait. I always opt for simplicity in my compositions, e.g., blank backgrounds.

I want to invite the viewer to pause for a while. Sometimes the power lies in the silence. I want to invite the viewer to get absorbed by the figure, hence the monochrome background. It’s only the viewer and her, enjoying stillness, exchanging thoughts.


www.carlottahey.com.au