bio
Victoria Elliott is a sequential artist living and working in Los Angeles, California. She predominantly uses pen and ink to express the passage of time, the movement of textiles and the complexities of the human figure on paper, cardboard, textiles, and other materials.
With a background in animation and television, she uses her practice to tell dynamic stories highlighting Black and brown subjects as the main characters in scenarios where they are often relegated to the background.
Victoria’s style pulls inspiration from animation, comic books and fashion illustration to build worlds and create cinematic narratives within and beyond panels, frames and shots.
She has been commissioned by WACO Theater Center, Harvard Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Black Girls Smile. Victoria earned a B.A. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College.
artist statement
I am drawn to the austerity of ink, the binary of black lines on paper. There’s a palpable tension between myself, my drawing hand, and the paper, knowing that the first mark that I make will define the rest of the work. My brain and my hand have come to an understanding — the lines we draw, no matter how confident, may not come out exactly the way we expect. However, I’ve become captivated by that spontaneity. The sense that the mark has been made and now I have to work with it. After each mark, I take a step back and watch as the work evolves into something I couldn’t have predicted. It’s exciting to watch my thoughts, feelings, and physical movement reflect on the page, no matter the subject or how many times I’ve drawn it. In this way, my art practice has been a journal of sorts, a gauge for my mental and emotional disposition at any point in time.
The dynamism of pen and brush strokes capture my urgency to create and document my subconscious feelings and Freudian slips. Drawing reveals the thoughts and emotions I can’t articulate with words.
The evolving and emotional nature of my approach to drawing is especially suitable for the subject matter I am drawn to. I am inspired by fashion, animation, and comics, and my works prominently feature dynamic figures and cinematic compositions. I use exaggerated anatomy and bold, decisive lines to capture the energy and movement of Black and brown subjects. A sense of worldbuilding is at the very root of my artistic practice, and I feel that each work I create is part of a larger story or universe.