Meet Artist Wim Heldens
GALIA VELEVA: INTERVIEW WITH THIRD PLACE PRIZE WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL FiKVA AWARD FOR PAINTERS 2026 – WIM HELDENS
Q: Please, tell us a bit about your past. When and where were you born? Where did you grow up? And where do you live now? What was your childhood like? What have you done for a living?…
I was born in Sittard, a small town in Limburg NL, an unhappy childhood is an artist’s goldmine, as they say and I want to leave it at that.
I have lived in Amsterdam since 1972 and spent a lot of time in NYC from 1991 to 1995.
Q: Can you take us back to the moment you heard you had won the third place of 2026 International FiKVA Award for Painters? Whom did you share the news with first and why?
I was very excited when I heard the news, the first person I told was Musanje, the model in that painting.
Q: Every artwork has a story. What’s the story behind this one – the one we can’t immediately see?
Musanje is a queer refugee from Uganda, who had to hide his nature all his life, since he is in NL he can be freely who he is… crossdressing is a part of the way he expresses himself, and I wanted to express that freedom, so this painting felt like a celebration. The man in the mirror is my good friend Andre, who does makeup for transvestites.
Q: Was there a moment while creating this piece when you doubted it, changed direction, or surprised yourself?
Every painting presents us with challenges, I had to re-work parts in this painting, but in the end it all worked out fine.
Q: If your artwork could whisper one sentence to every visitor, what would it say?
Our similarities are far more important and numerous than our differences, recognise your fellow human being, we are all brothers and sisters.
Q: What usually comes first in your work process as an artist: an idea, an emotion, a material, or simply curiosity?
Ideas come first, but they may stem from emotions. I have a surplus of ideas, I will never be able to paint all of them in one lifetime.
Q: What part of creating gives you the greatest joy – and what part still challenges you every time?
I start with a grisaille in acrylics, but I am really walking on clouds when I start working in oil paint. Seeing something getting shape and becoming alive under my hands, gives me great satisfaction.
Q: Has failure ever become one of your best teachers?
I am an artist who never gives up, so what is failure really? Those experiences have made me stronger both career-wise and in my development as a painter. If it would all be too easy, I would get bored.
Q: What keeps you making art when nobody is watching?
The joy of painting itself, a painting on the easel that I can get totally absorbed in leaving the outside ugly world far behind me.
Q: Has your definition of success changed over the years?
Success has become a confusing concept for me, I won major art-prizes, yet my work is never asked for exhibitions and collectors are rarely interested. So I have had my successes, but they did not make me successful, absurd, I know, but that’s how it is.
Saint Hoody / Oil on Canvas, 60 x 80 cm, 2017
Q: Is there a question you’re currently exploring through your work rather than trying to answer?
Who am I? Who are other souls, and how do we relate to each other? Why was I born with this talent? Why are we alive on this tiny planet somewhere in this incredibly vast universe? What is the meaning of it all?
Q: What do you hope people feel after spending a few quiet minutes with your work?
I hope my work will encourage people to let go of their prejudices.
Q: If your artwork had a soundtrack, what would we hear?
Verdi, Puccini, Bellini operas, Beethoven piano concertos, everything Rachmaninov, Vivaldi, Bach, Mahler symphonies and many more, and Miles Davis, John Coltrane and many more…and sometimes, of course, Janis Joplin!!
Q: Which daily ritual helps you stay connected to your creativity?
Structure and discipline.
Q: Looking back, what would you tell the artist you were ten years ago?
LOL, I don’t want the me from 10 years ago to know what I know now, I would hold my tongue!
Q: What’s a risk you’ve taken that completely changed your artistic journey?
I have never sold my soul to the devil of commercialism!
Q: What are you learning at this moment – not as an artist, but as a human being?
My conviction that compassion and love are much more important than anything else in life is only growing stronger. This world needs MORE empathy, not less!
Q: If someone carries just one small piece of your artwork with them after leaving FiKVA- not physically, but in their heart or mind – what do you hope it is?
I hope my work can encourage people to have more empathy.
Q: Finally, imagine someone leaves this virtual 2026 International FiKVA Award for Painters exhibition feeling just a little different than when they arrived. What do you hope has changed?
I hope their souls are enriched with love and compassion…because that is the source of the talent of us artists.
Blue Bambi / Oil on canvas / 65 x 45 cm / 2025
www.wimheldens.com
