Helena Pantsis (she/they) is an editor, writer and artist from Melbourne, Naarm, Australia with a fond appreciation for the weird, the dark, and the experimental. Her debut short story
collection, ‘GLUTT’, was published in 2024. She is the author of Orchids in Slinkies 2024. Their work attempts to break boundaries and cross genres, leaning towards the strange and unexpected.
We chatted with Helena to get an insider scoop on the creation of her short story.
What does your creative process look like?
Pantsis revealed the importance of trial and error within her creative process and the unexpected nature of a great idea striking at any moment.
“Just random sentences in my notes app, mainly. Also a lot of failed drawings.”
“With balancing study and work, it can be hard to feel motivated or find the time for
creating these days. It’s predominantly ad hoc, from ideas that come to me when I least
expect it.”
What inspired you to write ‘Orchids’?
Helena said she became drawn to the idea of “people working together despite their different crafts [and] working with family members who didn’t necessarily consider themselves artsy people.”
“I’d been looking for an opportunity for collaboration and had been toying with doing an intergenerational story, so I thought this would be the perfect chance to approach [the both],” they answered.
Your story centres around family and generational patterns. Why is it important to you to explore these themes?
“I think it’s a particularly relatable experience for the children and grandchildren of migrants, to reconnect with our roots and explore the places and people we came from.”
She explained that these patterns become increasingly important when developing these personal identities.
“I also feel that as a woman, our history is often lost. Whether or not you hold your father’s surname, the name you have is [still] one that came from a man, there’s no real way to trace back the history of our women.”
Helana expressed a sense of personal importance in documenting her “limited history, to show that these things matter.”
“[and] to connect with my mum and my grandmother through my artistic practices.”
Why did you decide to include illustrations in ‘Orchids’ as a form of storytelling and who has been your biggest inspiration in developing your writing style?
Slinkies 2024 is publishing its very first illustrated collection. Helena is one of the two authors to illustrate their own story and she notes that her comic/graphic form was particularly inspired by artists like Eloise Grills, Mandy Ord, and Lee Lai.
“I can only aspire to be half the artist each of them is.
“I really enjoy the authenticity of hand-drawn illustrations and handwritten text together but the piece actually began as illustrations, and the text and story were added later,” she recalled.
“I wanted to immortalise my grandmother in some way, so I began doodling old photos I had of her.”
This helped to develop her core idea. She created an intergenerational collaboration, comparing and analysing her maternal family line against and alongside her mother’s experiences.
“My mum has always been a creative person, but it was never encouraged, she has never felt good enough for her writing or art to be shared—so I wanted to give her a space to make, to work with me.”
You can check out Helena’s work at hlnpnts.com and @hlnpnts on Instagram and X.
Look out for Orchids in Slinkies – out October 24th in our shop.