Anarkitty aka Emma Geary a Northern Irish New Contemporary / Pop Surrealism Artist
My Painting ‘Born to Kill’ was inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Full Metal Jacket’ for Spoke Arts Kubrick tribute exhibition. With this piece I wanted to combine some of the theories that surround the film: Dualism (the Jungian thing), Jokers rejecting of his feminine self to finally become ‘A Killer’ (Killing of the young female sniper) and Mickey Mouse Club House theme (the loss of innocence).
ABOUT ANARKITTY AKA EMMA GEARY
Hailing from a small village just outside Belfast and graduating from The University of Ulster with a Ba Hons degree in Art and Design. Emma moved to London as a web and graphic designer. The name Anarkitty was born during her six year stay. As a side line she started creating digital based character illustrations with work appearing in publications such as Creative Review, Computer Arts and DPI (Taiwan) magazine. She also created works for the likes of MTV, BBC and Pictoplasma.
Returning to Northern Ireland Emma started to move her characters onto canvas and got her first solo exhibition in The Frameworks Gallery Belfast. Her artworks now appear in Galleries and shows internationally, from New York, San-Francisco and L.A to Australia and Germany.
My influences and inspirations come from many places like Pin-up Art, Illustration, Manga and Anime, Tattoo and Graffiti cultures. Many Artist that have inspired me, all at different times and for diverse reasons. When I was a child I would pore over the illustration books of Allen Lee, Brian Fraud and Kay Neelson. However once I moved to London the art scene there blew mind. Graffiti artists like D*Face, The London Police and Flying Fortress made my heart race. Miss Van and Faffis work really motivated me to start painting. Subsequently I was introduced to the Pop Surrealism/Lowbrow art scene in the US through the artwork of Mark Ryden, Camille Rose Garcia and Jeff Soto and have been captivated ever since. Currently I adore artists such as, Tatiana Suarez, Caia Koopman, Jaw Cooper, Casey Weldon and Tom Bagshaw, once again to name but a few.
Welcome to Slavery was inspired by Salma Hayeks characters (Santico Pandemonium) dance scene from Dust Till Dawn, for Spoke Arts Quentin vs Coen An art show tribute to the films of Tarantino and the Coen Brothers.
My Painting Candy was inspired by 1920s Pin ups, their beauty, style and fashion. My main inspiration and reference point was the Ziegfeld Follies having been described at the time as ‘The rich mans Burlesque’. I wanted to combine these ideas with a modern pinup and Tattoo culture style.
My Faster Pussy Cat painting was created for Gallery 1988’s Crazy 4 Cult 7 and based on Tura Santana’s character Varla a Beautiful well endowed Go Go Dancer who lives for kicks.