I’m Hilda. I’m from Bandung, Indonesia, and my studio is in Melbourne, Australia. I’ve been painting since I was little, starting with tiny animals in the margins of my notebooks. Painting was my safe place when things felt hard. A way to say what I couldn’t put into words.
I only paint animals. I love their honesty, and the quiet way they sit with you in a room. I work slowly, layer by layer, until a piece feels calm enough to hang somewhere you actually spend time.
I still start the same way I did as a child: a small animal, a feeling, a bit of quiet. I add only the detail that serves the mood. I want each animal portrait to be lived with, not just looked at once.