For the first exhibition of 2023 we’re excited to present the Austin – Texas based digital illustrator Emma Erickson and her exhibition ‘Creature Comforts’. Emma places animals and creatures in surreal and sometimes human ways.
Meet the creatures
Emma Erickson shows some of her lovely illustrations in the exhibition ‘Creature Comforts’, January 1 – 31.
What’s your relation to art?
I consider myself a bit of an outsider to the art world, officially. I grew up in a creative family and loved to write and draw, but I focused on science in school.
After I’d graduated with my PhD in Molecular Biology, I realized I felt way more passion for my hobby of digital illustration than the work I was doing in the lab. It’s only been a couple years since I began to pursue art full-time.
Whats your process when you work. Do you start with a pen and paper, or do you go digital direct?
It depends. If it’s for a client, I usually start with pencil and make several sketches before moving over to digital. But if it’s just for fun, I like to start digitally and just see where it ends up.
What kind of device do you work with?
It depends. If it’s for a client, I usually start with pencil and make several sketches before moving over to digital. But if it’s just for fun, I like to start digitally and just see where it ends up.
When I look at your art it feels like a combination between clean modern digital illustrations and comics from the 50´s. I think of early Disney, and the more modern Video Game, Cupheads that’s directly inspired of the old style cartoons. Are you inspired by the old comics, or is that just coincidences?
I think it’s definitely inspired by deeply rooted childhood influences, and Disney movies would be one of them, along with old cartoons and other animated TV shows like King of the Hill and Futurama. A major artistic influence of mine has been Charley Harper. But also, many contemporary illustrators inspire me, George Wylesol in particular.
The exhibition is called ‘Creature Comforts’, and includes different kind of animals enjoying life. My first referens was Bojack Horseman, this may (probably) not be the source behind you work, but what’s the thought behind the crossover between animals and human?
I think it’s natural for people to anthropomorphize animals, but it’s also driven by my own curiosity about the relationship between animal traits and those specific to humans. Putting an animal in a very human situation also kind of makes you think about how strange people are.
Hippo Chill
Animals and creatures in a surreal environment, a way to see humanity from a different point of view?
