Sophie Kern

Sophie Kern is a British artist that I just came across. It looks like she primarily works with ink and watercolor, but dabbles in collage. These two images are collage on some sort of watercolor paper (I assume). I love these because they look like fantastical representations of two portraits from the early days of photography. I revel in the muted colors of the background with the black and white figures in both, as well as the bright spots of color. I honestly have no idea what her intention was with these illustrations, but I think they are beautifully put together.

On the left, you have eleven figures with dead sea animals below them. It looks like they either are trying to rescue these animals or are killing them. Three of the men have paint coming out of their heads and the paint goes up past the page. Above the figures are a cluster of something, maybe birds, and then there are more collage pieces around it.

The collage on the right is more straightforward. It seems like an old fashioned studio sitting with Native American women. Sophie took their heads off and draws these creepy balloon figures in place of them. The water drops behind the figures and around them shows the hand of the artist, which is something I always like to see in hand done illustration.