Poi and Keely is the 3D Illustrator Your Fav Musician is Obsessed With

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I found out about Poi and Keely the same way all my peers did - through Ice Spice’s cover artworks. The kitschiness of doll making combined with slick 3D design and a style all her own, once you start scrolling through Keely Majewski’s Instagram, it’s hard to stop. The details, both parts slick and dewy, feel tangibly digital while simultaneously visceral. Her cast of characters all very clearly come from another world, but all from the same world too. It’s easy to picture the Ice Spice cartoon milling around a quasi - Mii plaza filled with other Poi and Keely designs. 

Speaking to me off the back of a self enforced creative boot camp - forcing herself to make one new art work every day, each day for over three years - it would be easily imaginable that Keely is sick and tired of talking shop. Of course, just as clearly as her passion for her project shines through her social media posts, Keely’s enthusiasm doesn’t falter once during our thirty minute phone call. As well as accepting our invitation of an interview, Keely produced two exclusive artworks to accompany the piece. If there’s anything that constant creation for over one thousand days has taught the artist it’s this: if there’s something worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

Morning! I have to ask - where did the name Poi come from?

It was a Tumblr username! I used it as my handle and went to an art high school, so it was my nickname there too. It’s not super exciting but it’s stuck with me throughout all of this.

Has 3D always been your fav form of art making? Tell us more about how you came into the style you have today?

So I actually started with traditional art. During the same high school period, I mainly focused on watercolours, but I always wanted to explore digital art. It wasn't until around college that I started trying at digital illustration. Then when the pandemic started in 2020, I had some time to really dive into 3D and just went ahead and taught myself. 

It took a long time and I kept leaving it for a bit and then returning, but eventually through the repetition something stuck and I was suddenly able to just go for it.

How important is having a distinct personal style as an artist? Was it a purposeful decision to try to stand out? 

For me personally, it happened organically. Looking back on my old work I can definitely see the parts that have stuck around from when I did traditional illustration to my 3D work.

I feel like it has to be natural, but personal style will come in time for anyone. You should definitely experiment with different outputs - as many as you can - then you can see what ends up carrying through to the end product.

Your work reminds me a bit of Pidgin Doll from TikTok if you’ve seen his work at all? Why do you think doll aesthetics are so popular right now?

I try not to pay attention to trends when being creative, but that said I am drawn to doll aesthetics because being immersed in it so much as a kid. It was such a huge part of 90s and 00s culture, even with the invention of the internet, doll making and playing with dolls carried through to there.

Reflecting on dolls also helps me with picturing how a 3D model works for sure, but I guess doll aesthetics being popular lines up with the Barbie movie being pushed right?

I love how clear the importance of inclusivity is to you in your work, seeing belly rolls on a 3D artwork really made me smile especially, is creating diverse representation in your art a purposeful decision or does it just come naturally?

I definitely think it's a combination of both. I try to be really mindful of all skin types and all body types, especially with heavier women - I especially didn't see that in the 3D space before. It's really important for me to reflect my own experience and also be able to try my best to reflect other people's experiences, so they can see themselves in my art and feel comfortable - that's always been very important to me.

You collaborate a lot with celebrities, in particular Gen Z artists like Ice Spice and Rosalia, what’s that experience been like?

Definitely surreal. Like, even when I hear that, it's like, ‘Wow, I can't believe that happened.’ I'm just very thankful for the opportunities that I've gotten. While I'm working on the process with people, it's a very head down, wording, kind of attitude, because it can get really intense. Then it all just hits me after. 

The process changes from artist to artist too. I've had some of everything: Some people have been very hands on with me and some have been very distant -which is also fine because I get a little bit more freedom. But other than ways of working, everybody's just been lovely!

You seemingly have an endless supply of concepts and ideas, where do you draw your inspiration for your work from?

I find inspiration in all kinds of media that I consume: films, fashion, any kind of cultural thing. I'm open to just takeing it all in and seeing where that takes me and how I can utilise other people’s work and learn from it. 

It can definitely become a habit too - constantly writing inspiration down as I see it, almost a little bit obsessively. Just anything and everything - I would write down or draw in my sketchbook or even like, a sticky note, and I try to push myself to make something from it. 

Doing that during my period of daily art making really fine tuned my problem solving skills too. It makes it so much easier to get over creative blocks, having ideas to pull from is very helpful.

Do people reach out to you that often for help with their own work?

There are definitely people that reach out for advice and I always try to be as open and honest with my process and the tools and programs that I use. I'm very big on keeping everything as accessible as possible. So I always try to help people out with that side of it too.

I’ve noticed that with 3D artists! Everyone seems so friendly and helpful with sharing their practice and technical knowledge. It goes hand in hand with the digital aspect of it as well I suppose - there is no internet without other people being on the internet, so, can there be digital art without interacting with other people?

The community is honestly one of the best communities I've been a part of. I've made so many like lifelong friends from it and I'm just very thankful. Like I said at the beginning, having that time during the pandemic to really dive in and fall in love with my art again was crucial. I’m so glad I went for it.

Words: Gina Tonic