This is kind of an older thread and there's already a lot of great information on here but allow me to add something in case anyone is still struggling with this!
--> The instagram algorithm favorites interaction a lot. <--
So let's say you have 10 likes on a post and one comment, first of all you should reply to that comment within the 1h mark, that will help with the visibility of the post. But I can guarantee you that that one person that liked and commented will most likely see your next post as well, because instagram took note that that person enjoyed your content and interacted with it.
Sadly likes are just not enough anymore so chances are that most of your followers won't have access to your posts on their feed if there is lack of interaction.
I have a bussiness acc so I get to have the insights and when I'm gone for a while I can clearly see that the reach of my posts suffers immensely and that most of my followers didn't even see it.
So yeah the algorithm can be really damaging but there's always the instagram stories! Try to stay active on there and interact with people, ask them questions, share pictures of the stuff that matters to you, I think that really helps you fight the algorithm without having to post everyday.
As for how to grow followers I believe that using the right hashtags and contributing to any big movement that is currently popular is really helpful. So for artists things like "draw this in your style", "100 heads challenge", "inktober", "dream week" etc etc are all very good! Especially because there's people actively looking through those hashtags and there's a sense of community.
Hopefully some of this helps!