ArielleAdalae

I'm interested in depicting both personal and societal mythologies, especially those created by children in the form of Paracosms. I work as if I were an illustrator, but my images are intended to be more "art" than "design": an aim I tackle through my content. My current project is achieved through a process of interviews, photo shoots, and then drawings, which I condense and refine into drypoint etchings. These etchings are then painted with watercolors. This process lends a unique texture created by the resist properties of the oil-based plate tint. My illustrations depict moments from paracosms, mythologies, and similar tales, which evoke fundamental, difficult to describe truths about being a human being.

I'm inspired by the philosophies of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, in that I am interested in exploring the images and symbols humans use over and over in their story telling. I believe reconnecting to this vocabulary of archetypes, symbols, and mythologies can enrich our modern lives and teach us something about being human.

Visually, I draw upon the rich legacy of Golden Age illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Emma Florence Harrison, John Bauer, Warwick Goble, Sulamith Wulfing, William Heath Robinson, N. C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Edward Dulac, and Charles Robinson. I also find dark and fantastical inspiration in the monsters of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

If you have stories from a childhood paracosm which you would be interested in sharing and possibly having illustrated, please contact me! I'm very interested in hearing about more peoples' worlds, and am actively seeking new material.

Thanks, and enjoy!