Annika Earley, "Escape XI (Vent)"
Not for sale. Graphite on paper, 9.5" x 9.5" unframed, 2021.
Artist statement
My work is about fantasies of escape brought on by postpartum anxiety. My anxiety looks different every day, but one aspect remains constant: the nervous exhaustion brought on by the unknowable nature of raising my first child in a pandemic. I fantasize about escape: I look for secret doors out of this pandemic and the isolation and fear that it brings with it; I look for a lever I can pull to get me out of the occasional but deep fear that comes with caring for a baby; or an escape hatch leading away from the panic that comes with my reformed body. I think of Arundhati Roy: the pandemic is a portal. The transformation into motherhood is a portal, too. Stepping through both at the same time takes a tremendous amount of energy and courage. I don’t always have both. And so, I return to the comforts of drawing.
Artist bio
Annika Earley makes intimate graphite drawings about transformation, in-between states, and the experience of being a woman. She uses German folktales as reference points in her work and addresses contemporary feminist issues, motherhood, and bodily autonomy. In addition to her drawing practice, Earley also makes prints and creates site-specific audio installations. Earley holds an MFA from Maine College of Art and an M.Phil from College of the Atlantic. She has been a resident at the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation in Rockland, ME, Hewnoaks Artist Colony in Lovell, ME, Monson Arts in Monson, ME, and was accepted as a resident at the Vermont Studio Center in 2020. Her work has been most recently exhibited in a solo exhibition at Nightshade Contemporary in Littleton, New Hampshire. In addition to her studio practice, she is the Managing Director of SPEEDWELL projects, an artist-run gallery in Portland, Maine.
Not for sale. Graphite on paper, 9.5" x 9.5" unframed, 2021.
Artist statement
My work is about fantasies of escape brought on by postpartum anxiety. My anxiety looks different every day, but one aspect remains constant: the nervous exhaustion brought on by the unknowable nature of raising my first child in a pandemic. I fantasize about escape: I look for secret doors out of this pandemic and the isolation and fear that it brings with it; I look for a lever I can pull to get me out of the occasional but deep fear that comes with caring for a baby; or an escape hatch leading away from the panic that comes with my reformed body. I think of Arundhati Roy: the pandemic is a portal. The transformation into motherhood is a portal, too. Stepping through both at the same time takes a tremendous amount of energy and courage. I don’t always have both. And so, I return to the comforts of drawing.
Artist bio
Annika Earley makes intimate graphite drawings about transformation, in-between states, and the experience of being a woman. She uses German folktales as reference points in her work and addresses contemporary feminist issues, motherhood, and bodily autonomy. In addition to her drawing practice, Earley also makes prints and creates site-specific audio installations. Earley holds an MFA from Maine College of Art and an M.Phil from College of the Atlantic. She has been a resident at the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation in Rockland, ME, Hewnoaks Artist Colony in Lovell, ME, Monson Arts in Monson, ME, and was accepted as a resident at the Vermont Studio Center in 2020. Her work has been most recently exhibited in a solo exhibition at Nightshade Contemporary in Littleton, New Hampshire. In addition to her studio practice, she is the Managing Director of SPEEDWELL projects, an artist-run gallery in Portland, Maine.
Not for sale. Graphite on paper, 9.5" x 9.5" unframed, 2021.
Artist statement
My work is about fantasies of escape brought on by postpartum anxiety. My anxiety looks different every day, but one aspect remains constant: the nervous exhaustion brought on by the unknowable nature of raising my first child in a pandemic. I fantasize about escape: I look for secret doors out of this pandemic and the isolation and fear that it brings with it; I look for a lever I can pull to get me out of the occasional but deep fear that comes with caring for a baby; or an escape hatch leading away from the panic that comes with my reformed body. I think of Arundhati Roy: the pandemic is a portal. The transformation into motherhood is a portal, too. Stepping through both at the same time takes a tremendous amount of energy and courage. I don’t always have both. And so, I return to the comforts of drawing.
Artist bio
Annika Earley makes intimate graphite drawings about transformation, in-between states, and the experience of being a woman. She uses German folktales as reference points in her work and addresses contemporary feminist issues, motherhood, and bodily autonomy. In addition to her drawing practice, Earley also makes prints and creates site-specific audio installations. Earley holds an MFA from Maine College of Art and an M.Phil from College of the Atlantic. She has been a resident at the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation in Rockland, ME, Hewnoaks Artist Colony in Lovell, ME, Monson Arts in Monson, ME, and was accepted as a resident at the Vermont Studio Center in 2020. Her work has been most recently exhibited in a solo exhibition at Nightshade Contemporary in Littleton, New Hampshire. In addition to her studio practice, she is the Managing Director of SPEEDWELL projects, an artist-run gallery in Portland, Maine.