Born 1983 in Kedah, Malaysia
ERYN uses a combination of pen and ink drawing, watercolor, acrylic painting and papercutting techniques to create meticulously detailed compositions filled with strange creatures in an otherworldly setting. Her art deals primarily with themes of introversion and self-discovery, reflecting on the experiences and interactions she has in her daily life.
ERYN employs storytelling as a way to externalize what is intrinsically an internal process. She is inspired by narratives from classical and contemporary sources. These can be in the form of literature or the way a story unfolds in a video game, or even a story told through song, movie and animation. Myths and legends from around the world to stories in the gothic horror, science fiction and fantasy genres are absorbed and turned into new narratives that relate to the artist’s experience on a personal level. These narratives are enacted by imaginary creatures and sometimes human forms in surreal landscapes and spaces. The use of imaginary beings helps to convey abstract concepts such as logic, anger, confusion, clarity, love and belief. For example the ‘Tree of Life’ theme makes use of the imagery of a tree in a vessel to represent a healthy thought process from the growth of the tree to its flowering branches. It alludes to how our thoughts operate and how each train of thought originates from a seed that we planted in our mind.
Growing up in Brunei has imparted ERYN with a deep appreciation of the natural world. The themes of introversion plays out in imaginary landscapes inspired by lush tropical rainforests, the frozen arctic plains, and even the dry unforgiving desert. Each landscape is shaped by thoughts and emotions in ERYN’s mind and the process is at once aware yet unconscious. These landscapes are also removed from the mundane laws of physics, gravity, and proportion. Through this the artist creates a dreamlike quality in order to bring the viewer into an inner space to experience both the mysterious and the extraordinary.
