INGA TOPOLNICKI
people's choice
What do you do? I make tiny watercolour artworks. My favourite subjects are the everyday objects I find around the house. They’re surprisingly beautiful!
When did you start on the creative path? I don’t think there was ever a time when I was not making things. I’ve experimented with a lot of different mediums over the years, but I think I started to uncover my style (whatever that is!) about six years ago when I began playing around with watercolour and paper.
Do you have a day job? Not really. Having ME/CFS means I can only work in short bursts for about an hour throughout the day, with lots of boring rest in between. I was on the way to becoming a research chemist when I fell ill, so that’s my wannabe day job.
What do you hope people take away from your work?
After seeing my stop-motion animation, I hope people will understand a little more about what it’s like to live with ME/CFS. Even though the illness is really serious, not many people know just how completely
life-altering it can be. What did your high-school
careers counsellor suggest you do? I remember doing a careers quiz that suggested I become an actor, a scientist or a teacher. What’s one thing
we should know about you? I’m currently teaching myself to paint by painting still lifes of all my favourite chocolate bars. I’m up to the Caramello Koala.
Biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far? That people can be going through a lot more than is visible on the surface. Most days I look perfectly healthy from the outside while, at the same time, my body desperately struggles to produce enough energy to keep me functioning. Experiencing this has helped me to stop jumping to conclusions about others. What makes
you passionate about film? It allows you to quickly and powerfully get across complicated emotions and ideas in a nuanced way. Why did you enter the Good
Stuff awards? I wanted more people to know about ME/CFS and I thought frankie would be a wonderful way of getting the word out there. I know a lot of amazing people who have this illness and I want their family, friends and the strangers they bump into to understand what they’re going through a bit better. What would you have been voted ‘Most likely to’ back in high school? Most Likely to be Found in the University Library, Studying Hermione Granger-style. Where can we see your work? You can watch my film on Youtube – just search for An Existence Project. You can also see behind-the-scenes-snippets on Instagram at @anexistenceproject.