In the world of fashion of the 21st century - where everyone tries to find their voice, identity an empowerment, it’s also complicated and hard to fully grasp the complexity and sensitivity surrounding gender identities. As we are progressing and educating ourselves daily about people and their developing insights of oneself, we spoke to Mathu, creative director and creator of the digital model Ophelia, about their artistic ambitions attached via technological and digital fantasies.

Hi Mathu, my first question is on wanting to know a bit about your young juvenile years. How was life in your teenage? How and when did you begin exploring your creative endeavors? Please describe your social environment.

I grew up in a small coal mining/working-class village outside of Sheffield/Rotherham, it was nothing special, it was the kind of place you didn’t feel comfortable showing your true self. Growing up queer in this kind of environment I didn’t have much of social life, I was bullied quite badly in school, due to my sexuality and how I looked. I would go home after high school and create digital work, listen to music or play games, and just check out the real world. I first began exploring my creativity when choosing photography as a subject, I initially started creating/looking into photo manipulation and digital surrealism. I always had the vision of distorting reality as I hated the reality/life I had. Even at a young age, I knew my passion to become a visual artist, leave the small village life behind, and move to the city for university. I knew if I stayed back home, I wouldn’t accomplish what I have at my age.

How did Ophelia come to life first? When is her birthday and is it your altar avatar... so to speak? Why did you name the model Ophelia?

Ophelia came around during my final year of university when set with the task of producing a fashion shoot. Due to my only income being from loans, I couldn’t afford to hire models, makeup artists, stylists, etc. So, I decided to create my own virtual model, and go down the route of digital fashion / virtual models. The birth of Ophelia official happened on 25th February 2019, making them 4 years old, as a queer non-binary person who also does drag and a Gemini, I would say Ophelia is somewhat of a alter ego/gender exploration and extension of Mathu. Regarding the name, I’ve never really discussed why I chose Ophelia, there is a meaning and a reason but Its quite personal, so it'll stay with me for a little longer.

Being queer and supporting all the intensity, challenges, and divinity of the people alike... What are your personal challenges with society and the creative industry at the moment?

At the moment my personal challenges are of course mental health, gender, and sexuality. Finally realizing that I don’t belong to any gender and identifying as non-binary, it’s been a struggle to process that and essentially come out again to friends and family. As well to getting people to use your correct pronouns, I’m lucky to have amazing support from my family and friends who try so hard to correct themselves when using my deadname or wrong pronouns. My main challenge within the creative industry is getting my art seen, it’s so difficult to break through, to points where I have questioned if I should carry on creating and posting.

If I’m allowed to get personal... Would you be able to share some of the “dark night of the soul” moments with me? How did you overcome the problems and continue to be inspired and inspire others for better navigation?

(TW Self-harm) It was within the first and second years of university, living on your own for the first time. Having the freedom to do whatever, looking back I had a bad relationship with alcohol, consuming it most nights with friends or on my own in my room, just to feel happy, to get my creativity going. I suffered badly from anxiety and depression and never really reached out to anyone, looking back at the work I created then you can see it, it got to the point where I wouldn’t leave my room. It was the first time I had a queer city and bars on my doorstep, growing up in a small city with only 2 queer clubs I was going so often, straight after class and most evenings. The worst night was after I got so bad news and spent in a mental spiral, drinking straight spirits to the point I had a huge emotional breakdown which resulted in self-harm. Luckily, I got control and learned moderation and feel healthier by using alcohol and not abusing it. I still struggle with my mental health, but I’ve found ways of dealing with it, including reaching out to friends if I need support. I feel I’m much stronger and more confident as a person now because of these issues. Never be scared to reach out, there are always other options and support online you can get.

What future do you imagine for Ophelia in your wildest dreams? As she is beginning to have her own conscious interest in your creative outlet, what does she want you to do for or with her?

I want Ophelia to be everything and everywhere, modeling for haute couture fashion houses, being used on front covers of magazines, I would love to release music with her, there’s so much I want for Ophelia. For Mathu, I want to break into fashion, create a fashion house with other queer artists and designers, and take the fashion world by storm.

Coming on empowering sexual intercourse and ripping off the stigma and taboo that is associated with it; what would you like to say about the rising matriarchy and power of the trans community in these times.. Do you feel grateful for the supportive times? What more changes and differences would you like to see, both socially and politically?

Growing up in the UK, you never really realize how prude this country is, sex is so taboo to talk about when it’s such a natural part of human life. As a person, I am very open with talking about anything, I don’t get embarrassed as I don’t see sex as something you should be embarrassed to talk about, it's human. With my art, I’ve always been inspired by the kink/fetish community, to the point I’ve attended events based around BDSM, Leather, and rubber. You can see it in the fashion I design, I love to take elements of the outfits and accessories used within fetish communities. Sex shouldn’t be Taboo and the stigma behind it really needs removing, we should be talking and educating people about sex. The rise of Homophobic, Transphobic, and Racist attacks within the UK is scary, it seems like we're taking so many steps back, and it's awful. We really need to protect and protest to help the lives of Trans youth, and the Trans community, specifically Black Trans People. With people like Boris Johnson and JK Rowling having a platform and preaching nothing but hate and false information it's dangerous and needs shutting down asap. The fact the government has accepted to ban Conversion therapy but not covering Trans people is vile. The government needs overthrowing as they’re dangerous to the LGBTQIA+ Community.

Last but not least... Please share with us your aha moments of creative and artistic explorations, along with a bit reveal on your ongoing projects.

Every time that I create new artwork, either personal or for Ophelia I’m constantly learning new techniques, I always find there’s something to learn. From using different software to render, creating new materials and digital fabrics for the custom garments. I think that’s the best thing about digital art, there’s always something new, and it's constantly changing. My biggest aha moment was creating the first version of Ophelia, seeing the change in the quality and aesthetic shift through the 4 years. I think next, I want to bring Mathu into the light, whether that’s creating a digital fashion collection featuring Ophelia, Taking my webstore / clothing brand one step further into limited custom clothing designs. As mentioned, before I want Ophelia to be used on fashion campaigns and magazines, to be seen as an alt digital supermodel. I’ve got a lot of exciting things planned and can’t wait to release them.