Artists make the world go round, and never cease to amaze us with their talent, tenacity, and tendency to know the future trends before we do. Class of The Future is a series of interviews with eight absolutely astronomical talents from Australia, who are the up-and-comers ready to change the game.
Erin Sutherland is an illustrator with the most incredible set of tattoos you will ever lay eyes on. Her inimitable style and unabashed queerness come together in perfect harmony with every creation she makes, speaking volumes to those who witness them with their intimate sense of belonging.
With dreams of either going into short film or tattoo artistry, Erin Sutherland looks to craft the bones of the world. But in all seriousness, Erin Sutherland is a dear friend of mine, and
we may have had a bit too much fun with our interview. Never let two gays in a room, as the saying goes. That is how the saying goes, isn’t it?
Challenging stigmas around mental health and sexuality, Erin creates the art she wishes was around for her when she was younger, and really, which most people her age, including myself, wish we had as well. It’s art that speaks to the queer experience on levels that only queer people can really resonate with, and that is truly something special.
For the Class of the Future series, Erin has submitted an artwork that looks into both of these challenging topics, and deals with them with grace, artistry, respect, and nuance. Check it out below.
For real, I love this woman, and it was an absolute pleasure to talk with her and learn more about her process, her style and what drives her in the art world. Only respect for my president.
Interview with Erin Sutherland
So how did this whole artistic journey begin?
Actually, it’s a really funny story. My sister was always the kid who could draw, and I was petty and wanted to prove that I could do it better than her, and now it’s my career and livelihood. She does beauty therapy now.
What’s your dream career after uni?
To be honest, I really want to be a tattoo apprentice. That is something I’d love to try out. I have mad respect for the industry and the people who work in it, and the craft is just really cool. As far as animation goes, I’d love to work in short film. There’s something about it that’s just hectic. There’s a lot of incredible creative output going into that at the moment.
What is your preferred art style?
I love illustration and concept art and stuff like that. Character design, and getting to craft the bones of the world, dare I say.
Craft the bones of the world? I love that so much.
I just gave you your heading. What can I say, I’m an artist. But yeah, I love illustration. There’s something really intimate about personal work where you get to put yourself into it that I really respect and appreciate.
Do you feel like you use your art as a method to explore your place in the queer community?
Yeah, of course. My art has always been a huge way for me to discover new things about myself. It’s how I have used it for a long time, which can make it very scary, because creating work that’s really personal about your own feelings and mental health and sexuality makes you very vulnerable to other people, and of course putting it out for the world to see is scary.
But it’s also wonderful, because I’ve been using it to figure out what’s going on since I was 18 in a catholic school closeted.
Been there.
Yeah, right? So now I have the chance to put stuff into the world that I would’ve loved to see when I was 18-14 and didn’t have the chance to create stuff like this, or share with anyone. I would have appreciated it, so I hope there are people out there that appreciate it. Also, tiddies.
That’s going to be your main quote now.
Also, comma, tiddies. I love it. But yeah, I definitely explore my queerness in work. I try to make it as intimate as I can. I feel like it’s a nice way to connect with someone else when you can talk about the things that everyone has in common, which is that everyone loves. Everyone loves. That’s the cool thing. And if that is something that can bring people together then who am I to stand in the way?
So have you ever used your artwork to send any form of social message?
I try to make my artwork as inclusive as I can. People of colour and non-gender conforming people. I try to not being exclusionary in any sense when I am drawing bodies and people. As far as statements go, I haven’t made many yet. I’m still a young person in the world, and I’m still figuring out all of the things that I believe and all of the things that I want to say. I feel like it’s appropriate for me to know exactly what I want to say before I put it out into the world. There are so many artists who struggle with mental health, and that’s something I think I want to start being honest about again soon. There’s something amazing about a vulnerability that brings strength to other people.
The Class of the Future, Sydney’s rising artists you need to keep an eye on.
Top Row left to right: Erin Sutherland, Sara Hirner, Jimmy Nevell, Nancy Li.
Bot Row left to right: Olivia Serrao, Rosemary Vasquez Brown, Connor Xia.
(*missing from group photo: Anne-Simone El Sokkary)
