Artist Spotlight: Eka Lestienne aka @ekavibes
Meet Ekaterina (Eka) Lestienne, born in Ukraine, this French artist left a life of finance to pursue her lifelong love of art full time in 2020. Taking back control of her own body, after being run ragged in the rat race she knows first hand how bad a body hurts when it’s neglected.
Now that she has taken the time to heal herself and raise her vibration. This rockstar mother of three has turned her attention to the health of the planet, and with the same careful intentions she is looking to heal the planet. She is using her art as her voice to start meaningful conversations around crucial topics like Climate & Global Warming.
Eka is a leading pioneer of “Crypto Baroque” art and is using her unique style to make statements around the world about how we can heal this planet with a little love, hope, and good old fashioned hard work.
“It’s pretty obvious that climate change is a global crisis that affects us all and it resonates deeply with me.”
Award Winning Artist Eka Exhibited by the United Nations Joins the Wolf Society Foundation
We were lucky enough to catch up with this mom on the go to chat with her about her mission, and why she jumped at the chance to join the Wolf Society Foundation.
Eka Pursues Art Fulltime in 2020
Eka has been an artist her entire life, but in 2020 she allowed herself to pursue it fulltime. She attributes digital mediums as the reason for her launch success. She embraces the mesmerizing capabilities of a true digital multi disciplinary aritst fusing together the latest Artificial Intelligence filters, combined with our of this world Augmented Reality filters to bring her unique creations to life.
She doesn’t start with a sketch, she doesn’t follow any traditional rules, and she feels that gives her a truly unique look, as so many told her “you can’t do that”! When Eka gets a hold of a reference the destruction begins. Her very process revolves around destruction in order to create. She tears apart images and then layers them with careful intention creating 3 dimensional collages that are composed as a visual symphony.
She joined NFTs in 2022, after creating quite a name for herself in Climate Change during 2021 when her art began winning awards and being exhibited
How the Wolf Society Fits with Eka’s Climate Mission
In August 2021 Eka won second place at DigitalArt4Climate Art Competition at the UK COP26. 208 artists from 58 countries were in the running. Then in December 2021 her piece Wildfire was featured at the Geneva Forum inside the major UN building in Switzerland. Later in March 2022 Wildfire was exhibited at MENA Climate Week in Dubai.
So when we contacted her in August of 2023 to explain the Wolf Society’s mission it just made sense. She immediately chose the Climate & Global Warming Collection to be part of. When we asked her why in Space she answered, “It’s pretty obvious that climate change is a global crisis that affects us all and it resonates deeply with me. My art has always been a reflection of my connection with the natural world. Through MELTING I hope to raise awareness on this cause.”
We then asked her when she remembered first participating in a charity. It was a local community cleanup as a child at a nearby park, it left an impression. It was the first time she was involved in a community action. She has this in common with all the artists making #ArtImpact. Each one I have interviewed had their first experience as a kid. I mentioned this during the interview and it stuck a cord with Eka.
Is being involved in charitable causes important in your life? How so?
It’s more than just creating beautiful art, I want to use my art to drive conversations about global warming, about human rights movements. Art has the power to communicate past language barriers and be a vehicle for positive change.
We don’t always use all our means to inspire climate action, we use guilt as a default, we use despair and sadness, and I think it’s important to yes understand that there is an issue. But a better way to inspire humanity would be through solutions, through hope. We can’t build on sadness and depression, what really can inspire us to act is a simple understanding that we are one family. This is not about protecting your own interests. You actually can’t because you are part of it. You have this delusion of independence but you are actually NOT.
We can inspire climate action with the positive feeling of working together.
What type of legacy would you like to leave?
I really hope to leave one of inspiration and action. Maybe transformation. I believe that as humanity is going through a huge transformation we will see many challenges in the coming years, but also opportunities to connect to our true selves and who we really are. I am feeling this so deeply, and I want to be remembered as someone who used their creativity to spark conversations and to inspire others to take actions.
Closing Thoughts
I’d like to express my gratitude for the global warming project. I encourage everyone to engage into conversations about climate change. We can create a more harmonious future for generations to come. I’m grateful for the Wolf Society and let’s keep working towards a better world.
the interview and transcription into text form was conducted by RiRi_LotusQueen NFT Artist
