Liz Rowland explores through her art the many ways in which a place and culture can shape a person’s identity. Based in London, she admits to moving around quite a lot in the past few years, exploring the world around her both in person and on paper. “I am interested in culture and identity, the different ways we live and celebrate the things that make us so diverse,” she told Māgoa Magazine.
With an early passion for drawing, Rowland enrolled in University College Falmouth, graduating in 2011 with a BA in illustration; but it took her quite some time to return to her initial artistic route.
“I was 21 years old, living in London, trying to figure things out,” she says. “Eventually I started to question what was important and took some time out to travel. During the trip, I spent most days painting, frantically recording everything in my little sketchbook. I ended up in Australia, where I stayed for a couple of years. I found a studio, which helped me to take my work more seriously. I started putting some images out in to the world, which led me to my agent and slowly work came in.”
Now she’s fully focused on illustrating, with clients like Vogue, The Telegraph, and Soho House. “I’m interested in people and their habits, food and language, pattern and color and shapes and handmade objects and painted signs,” she says, describing both her inspirations and illustration themes.
Her creations – bold, colorful, and cheerful are painted using mostly gouache, with a touch of watercolor and acrylic. “I’m an incredibly nostalgic person and this influences my color palettes as I strongly associate places with particular colors,” she admits. “I’ll usually make notes of color combinations and refer back to them later.”
Scroll down to see some of her work.
