I am an artist/Illustrator, who resides in Riverdale, NY.  I have studied at SUNY Purchase and the School of Visual Arts and have recently exhibited in Westchester and Rockland County, NY.  My influences include comics and early animation, old pulp magazine covers, and early to mid-20th-century book & magazine illustrations.

I spent my undergrad education studying at SUNY Purchase, and The School of Visual Arts. After pursuing Commercial Illustration work and some shows, I left the art field as a commercial venture, but never stopped painting.  After years as a Teacher, Staff Developer, and Technology Coordinator in the NYCity Public Schools, I have retired, and have started to devote more time to developing my art and illustration.  It is exciting to be able to share artistic passion and ideas with others.

My work can seem colorful, playful, and humorous but often covers a darker message or feeling.  I use 20th Century Icons and characters from holidays (Santa Claus), advertising (Ronald McDonald), old toys (Jack in the Box), and folklore (Cowboys), to express ideas, joys, moods, or fears. These characters have an aesthetic beauty that often seems in contrast to the themes expressed, including the struggle of interpersonal or institutional power relationships, the inner urge to break free, and the contradiction of beauty and brutality.  Within an image, I try to place the viewer in the moment of tension or struggle.

Although my work may often look like watercolor, my primary medium is Acrylics on Illustration Board or Canvas Board. The ideas usually start as a napkin sketch. I enlarge that sketch in order to retain the spontaneity, and then delve into reference materials and items, for more emotional and physical accuracy.

My studio can be a corner of a room, a cafe, a park, or wherever I can put down pencils and paints. I feel that the environment and process can become as important as the outcome.

You can view more of my work at erickollin.com