On Gut Instincts and Curiosity: A Conversation with Emma Orhun
Emma Orhun’s artistic practice is multidisciplinary, process-oriented, and intuitive. Based in Ottawa, she is a self-proclaimed trinket lover and thingamajig maker with a background in computer science. On social media, Orhun shares videos of herself metalworking, sewing, collaging, journaling, 3D modeling, resin printing, and more, revealing an artistic practice that is diverse and experimental.
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Orhun describes herself as working at the intersection of art and technology as a creative technologist and content creator. Viewers of Orhun’s content see her take inspiration from the everyday, using an eclectic combination of thrifted objects, gadgets, and personal mementos which are then integrated into devices and software new on the market. Orhun’s Tamawatchi, for instance, gained traction online in 2023. The device, which combines an Apple Watch and a Tamagotchi, has modern functionality but is encased by the charm of late 1990s and early 2000s toy design. I see a distinct combination of both nostalgia and newness in Orhun’s art as she brings objects from the past and the present together.
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Orhun’s background in software engineering and graphic design is clear in her creative practice. She has designed a pretzel font, made Airpod earrings, written strawberry stamp comics, and modelled whimsical figurines for holding toothbrushes. She also created Emma Orhun’s Official Museum of Digital Artifacts which is an online repository of 3D scans of her belongings. Orhun’s playful combinations give her artwork life and character.
On social media, Orhun works with brands to share new uses for creative tools through process-oriented videos. Orhun’s online content takes you along with her as she collects weird objects, travels, and learns new skills which fuel her creativity. Above all, Orhun advocates for creation without intimidation.
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I had a chat with Orhun over Zoom, discussing tech while having a few technical difficulties. From our conversation, I gained a lot of insight into her creative process along with some tricks to keeping up artistic output.
OM: I’d really like to start with materials. I see that you use lots of nontraditional supplies and found objects in your art. You use lots of stickers, fortune cookie slips, pretzels, and strawberries, to name a few, and then you also use digital tools. Could you talk more about projects where you integrate these found objects and technology?
EO: Everything to me feels like work, and art, and my life, and then everything just feels like this one thing. There is no separation to me. Any human experience I go through, I’m like, ‘Okay, how does this apply to the business version of myself and to the art version of myself?’
I think I’ve always been a little bit of a collector or hoarder of physical things and digital things. My camera roll has, I want to say, a hundred thousand photos in it and I just got this phone, it’s ridiculous. But I [also] feel that way about objects. If I were to show you my desk—I’ve posted it many times—there’s just so many things [on it].
I always think there’s a reason why something would stand out versus something else. Any recurring thought to me is a clue. When I was working with the strawberries it was because I was going through probably one of the saddest moments ever of all my life. I was talking to my mom and she had cut up some strawberries for me. I always need to be fidgeting, so I just started stamping them [onto napkins]. I also really like comics, so then I guess I just started imagining that [the strawberry stamps] were talking to each other. You just follow through [on an idea] and then it turns into something you could have never imagined.
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OM: I like how you’re very process oriented. I see from your content that it’s not so much about the final product, but really about discovery. Would you say that’s representative of your practice?
EO: Absolutely. After a certain point I was making a piece of art and then I was making a video about how I made that. Then, always the video about how I made [the art] did better. For so long, I was wondering, what is my niche? Because I was a designer, and I was also a software developer, and then I was posting random art. [My videos are] never really meant to be like, ‘This is how you do this.’ It’s always, ‘Look, you can do this. I’m going to loosely show you the recipe and you need to Google it yourself.’
[Laughter].
I want to subconsciously teach people how to figure things out on their own as well because I feel like that is the most important thing in the whole world. I think [my] niche at the end of it, [is] just inspiring people to just try random things.
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OM: I think that’s really refreshing. For those creating, I think there’s a lot of fear involved. But to show people the process, to say, ‘just try it’ right? It’s so important to share that mindset.
EO: Exactly. I think I started putting stuff out there because it was the scariest thing I could do at the time. I don’t like being scared of things. I hope that it encourages people to try stuff and to just not take anything that seriously at the same time. I hope that my tutorials never come off as too serious… I don’t think anything in this world is that serious.
[Laughter].
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OM: I think that your content comes across as very playful. You even say to ‘make technology playful again’ in your videos. Could you tell me more about that?
EO: We needn't be taking ourselves or what we make too seriously. Old tech used to have so much personality and creativity and people collect it to this day like pieces of art. I feel like people would be a lot more willing to experiment when making things like electronics when there isn’t a notion of them having to be extremely sophisticated and perfect. So much old tech is faulty but tickles the brain.
Everything is scary when you try to do it perfectly. If you come across in the way of ‘Listen, I’m not perfect, I’m just a human and don’t expect me to say all the right things. Don’t expect me to do all the right things. I’m just here to share.’ I think when you do that it reduces the pressure from anything and everything and makes people a bit more open to hearing you.
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OM: Yeah, that makes sense. Another element I wanted to talk about was your incorporation of old and new electronics in your creative practice. For myself, there’s a lot of nostalgia surrounding these objects. I think about my own Tamagotchis and pastel blue DS with a lot of fondness. Would you say that nostalgia is an active element in your practice?
EO: I feel like it’s a venn diagram of old tech and new tech and the stuff that I make exists in the middle. It happens very naturally. [Emma pulls a Pixel Chix toy from her shelf that sits in front of her computer]. I feel like I’m really naturally inspired by stuff like this because I grew up around it and there’s this really innate attraction. It feels the same as when I was a kid. At the same time, I’m just obsessed with AI and brand new stuff. I went to a robot convention the other day and I’m very optimistic about the future. I find that [in my art] there’s a pattern of combining two things to meet in the middle and I really like that.
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OM: Let’s talk specifically about the Tamawatchi, which gained a lot of traction online. The Tamawatchi exists in the past and the present simultaneously. Could you talk more about the past and present in your art? And what were people’s reactions to the Tamawatchi?
EO: Honestly I didn’t think it would take off as much as it did. It was the first thing I made that people started making content about. Whether it be reaction videos or people making their own Tamawatchis and that was the most fulfilling thing to witness. It really made me reflect on that theme of the old and new combining. I feel like, in general, whenever we’re building anything we should consider both [the past and the present]. The present is a combination of where we came from and where we are going. In the world of tech and electronics everything is super minimal and dark and serious… I just can’t imagine that being a net positive.
[Laughter].
[The process of creating the Tamawatchi] was like connecting the dots. The most tangible connection that made [the Tamawatchi] happen was just that they’re the same size. I was like, ‘Oh, how cool would that be?’ Seeing my friend with his Apple Watch and being like I wish I had those statistics that it gives you but I don’t like how they look.
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OM: It’s almost like the Tamagotchi and the Apple Watch were meant to be together, they fit so perfectly. Do you have any other similar ongoing projects?
EO: I feel like there’s three hundred ideas happening at once. . . I wanted to keep going with this trend of combining the old and new. I have this Etch-A-Sketch [which is] the same size as my iPad Mini. There are these little guys that I’m working on [holding up two 3D modeled flower creatures that hold toothbrushes]. The things that you see every single day in your bathroom and your house, they could just all be a little more playful as well.
OM: Honestly, we all need a little more whimsy in our lives.
EO: Exactly.
OM: So, when working with brands [during projects like the 3D toothbrush holders], do you find that you have a lot of creative freedom?
EO: Luckily, I feel like through putting myself out there authentically, ninety percent of the brands that come to me [I’m already like], ‘I love you guys already,’ we’re on the same page. There will naturally be a bit of compromise, especially with bigger companies but I'm just here trying to create win-win situations for me, the brand, and the viewers. Because ads can inspire! I still think about an Apple ad I saw as a kid, or another LEGO one. Remembering this throughout the making process is a superpower.
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OM: I think that it does come across that you do projects that you are genuinely excited about.
EO: Exactly, exactly. I’m super grateful. I have two projects coming up. One of them is a graphic novel or a zine and the other one is to build a website… Sometimes I put an idea out there and then when the time is right a brand that aligns with that will just be like, ‘Hey, we saw your stuff and would like to work [with you]’ and then [I’m] like, ‘Okay it’s time to kick this into high gear.’
OM: And then it can come into being.
EO: That little bit of magic happens from putting yourself out there.
OM: You mentioned earlier that you went to a robot show and I saw that you’ve also travelled and gone to conventions and such. Do seeing these kinds of things influence your practice?
EO: If there’s any excuse for me to go somewhere I’ve never been before, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing that’. Like Copenhagen, or Yukon, or most recently Vegas [for the annual Consumer Electronics Show]. I just end up in the most random places and even if it doesn’t immediately turn into a vlog or something, it just feels like my brain is nourished. I feel like you need to see new things often especially as an artist because you need to feed your mind to be able to “output” stuff.
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OM: Definitely! There’s one more question that I have for you to wrap up. We’ve talked a bit about how you show your process and embrace not knowing if things will work and doing it anyways. For you, what would you say is the key to making new ideas happen for those looking to get into or get better at digital design or online creation?
EO: One of the biggest themes I told myself when I was first starting was, if I’m going to be on social media, I need to be creating if I’m going to be consuming. I would say, just make stuff! . . . The biggest thing is get off your phone, stop thinking about what everybody else is doing, and just start writing. I would say just get a notebook and start writing, write whatever you want to do… it’s very much a practice between you and yourself… or even ChatGPT to be honest [and] just talking to it like a friendly girl. ‘What do you think about this?’ And then she’s like, ‘Here’s the tea.’
It is clear that Emma Orhun creates with lightheartedness and liveliness. Bringing together the unexpected through gut instincts and curiosity, her art and content encourages others to do the same.
Find the artist on Instagram and TikTok: