The Household Surrealism of Helga Stentzel: helping people to connect with their inner child

London -based visual artist Helga Stentzel’s playful images are created from common objects to make you look twice, and her style has been dubbed ‘household surrealism’.

Helga Stentzel‘s household surrealism brings a smile to your face

Helga Stentzel is a Russian-born artist based in London, UK. She works across a wide range of media including illustration, photography, video and stop motion animation. Helga received "food art creator of the year" award in 2020 and has collaborated with BBC, Honda and O2, among others. A St. Martins alumna, Helga worked in the advertising industry and ran a children’s clothing business before becoming a full-time artist.

“To me, household surrealism is about finding magic in the mundane, seeing beauty in imperfections, and connecting to our reality in a new way. I love noticing playful similarities – be it a sweater on a clothing line looking like a horse or a slice of bread resembling a dog’s head. It’s only the starting point though. From this moment onward the stories and visuals start buzzing in my head: What will this horse look like? What’s her name and character? Does she like racing with other horses? – the list goes on and on! 

I hope that my art will help people to connect with their inner child and rediscover the joy of savouring little visual delights in and outside their homes.”

Below are a selection of 20 of Helga’s untitled designs, and one short video, all shared with kind permission of the artist. For more, follow Helga on Instagram and Facebook to see more images and video, or check out her website to browse and purchase limited edition high-resolution prints.