Following on from Herne’s exploration of the selfie in his series SELFLESS, his new body of work explores the social media entrepreneurs, the Instagram influencer. The influencer’s Instagram profile tends to be a living advertisement selling the clothes, food, appliances and destinations we need to have and visit in order to make our lives better. To some these people seem to have sold their souls in order to gain wealth and celebrity.

Herne doesn’t necessarily want to live the life of an influencer but he cannot lie that he is quite jealous of their achievements and the recognition they receive. These people clearly put a lot of time into building their brand and their circles of influence and Herne unfortunately doesn’t have the time, energy, or drive to do this. So instead he has opted to take the easy route and draw himself into their influential posts.

The project is part homage, part spoof, and part envious admiration. The work also explores a number of themes including the idea of the self-made celebrity, our attraction to social media and the influence it can have on our lives.

The exhibition runs for one night at Greaser Art Gallery in Fortitude Valley. The event will run from 6pm-9pm with all works for sale.