Best in Show
NOVEMBER 3 / DECEMBER 22, 2005
Man's best friend (and other animals) as depicted in contemporary illustration. Featuring artwork by Bella Pilar, Jenny Kostecki, Camilla Engman, Christopher Silas Neal, Daniel Chang, Heather Sloane, Mike Kerr and Renata Liwska.Affordable original art and quality digital prints perfect for Christmas gift-giving.
See images of the show here.
Bella Pilar
Born and raised in New York, Bella currently paints out of her studio in Los Angeles. Her strong ties to fashion began with a degree in fashion design, followed by work doing fashion styling and designing window displays in visual merchandising, and then a career as a makeup artist in New York City and Los Angeles, before going onto her true love, illustration. Her whimsical feminine illustrations are created in gouache (watercolor). Her work has appeared in advertising, magazines, POP, fashion, beauty, licensing and greeting cards.
www.bellapilar.com
Camilla Engman
“I live and work in Gothenburg, Sweden. Two years of Art school and another five for a Master of fine Arts degree in Graphic design. Worked two years as a Computer game designer, now I have my own company. After many years I’ve finally realized that I can do what ever I want! I don’t have to choose between being an illustrator/graphic designer/artist/crafter. I can do it all, that makes me so happy. That things can change on the way is part of the charm of creation. That expressions just form themselves. And that I get myself into the situations I’m in. The art of allowing things to be as they become.”
www.camillaengman.com
Christopher Silas Neal
Christopher Silas Neal began his career as a graphic designer. In 2004, he started his illustration career full time. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Flaunt, Rolling Stone and has won recognition from Communication Arts, American Illustration, Print magazine and the Society of Illustrators. He lives in Brooklyn and has a studio in Manhattan.
www.redsilas.com
Heather Sloane
Heather Sloane is an Illustrator based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Born a compulsive doodler, she has since turned this apparent affliction into a burgeoning career. Her work has been featured in several local and national papers and magazines, including the Irish Times and Blueprint. Heather is inspired by biscuits, whales and finding faces in inanimate objects.
www.heathersloane.com
Jenny Kostecki
Jenny Kostecki is freelance illustrator. She also likes to make paintings and write stories. After studying at the Illustration Academy and the Kansas City Art Institute, she worked as an artist in Hallmark Cards’ Fresh Ink Studio for seven years. She lives in Northern New Mexico and is presently illustrating her first children’s book which she wrote as well. Much of her work is inspired by her ongoing travels to Nepal and India.
www.dancingelephantstudio.com
Renata Liwska
Visitors to UPPERCASE will be familiar with the children’s book “Nikolai the Only Bear” which was exhibited in the gallery this past April. Renata moved from her native Poland to Calgary in the 1990s. She added to the skills she developed at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw by attending the Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary.
www.renataliwska.com
Michael Kerr
Mike Kerr is a freelance illustrator who has worked for editorial, corporate, institutional, and advertising clients throughout North America. Mike is a graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design where he is currently an instructor in the Design dept. “I enjoy the the experience and the challenge of illustration. Both the exploration of the content and the manipulation of the medium. My work is constantly growing and changing, which reflects my personality and lifestyle. Much of my work is done in sketchbooks, while at coffee shops alongside my partner, Renata Liwska.”
Lisa Brawn
Lisa’s woodcut series World of Monsters is inspired by mythological creatures, fabulous medieval bestiaries, 19th century carnival creations and the contemporary wonder and horror of genetic engineering. These hybrids are based on collaged animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects from a collection of 1975 wildlife encyclopedia flashcards, along with purely fanciful embellishments.
www.expeditionism.com
