Sophie Elinor

Celebrating womxn creatives

For my first time participating in the 36 Days of Type challenge, I set myself the two-pronged task of fine-tuning a heap of animation techniques, and also celebrating some of my favourite creative womxn from around the world. Style is an elusive beast, but I wanted to highlight their work while putting my own spin on it as much as possible. This visually diverse alphabet is an ode to the wild, insanely talented, wickedly funny, wonderfully sensitive femme artists who were the many muses for this project.

A is for Amber Vittoria. Amber illustrates the female form like no-one else. Her subjects are lumpy, hairy and magnificent; both whimsical and incredibly real.

B is for Beci Orpin. Her warm, dreamy style traverses so many mediums. The little critters in this animation were made from garden cuttings and craft drawer snippets.

C is for Grace D. Chin. Grace is a bastion of intersectionality and inclusivity, and soaking up her work feels like some kind of poetic, political therapy.

D is for Deejennarate -- and also for derrière! Jenna Josepher’s cinemagraphic work is titillating, deeply intriguing and always unexpected.

E is for Ellen Porteus. Ellen’s work is polished and punchy. The linework in her juicy, pastel illustrations is so clean, and her looping animations are mesmerising.

F is for Louise Fili. Mother of lettering (and probably dragons), reviver of deco, creator of so much timeless typography, Louise Fili sets the benchmark.

G is for Rosalie Gascoigne. Her mixed-media, text-based collages made abstract art of found objects, highlighting the curves and negative space of lettering.

H is for Lisa Hanawalt. Her half-human, half-animal creatures are surreal, absurd and somehow so relatable; twisted but mundane, and gritty but beautiful.

I is for Imakestagram. Rachel Burke fills me with so much joy. Everything in her wake is vibrant and dazzling. This shimmying ‘I’ is an ode to her glorious tinsel jackets.

J is for Laci Jordan. Her bold, vivid work spans many mediums, but the common thread is always a celebration of black culture. It’s feminist, political and fun.

K is for Yayoi Kusama. Her works - bursting with saturated, repetitive patterns - are visually iconic, and testament to the therapeutic, redemptive power of art.

L is for Libby van der Ploeg. Libby is a champion of empowerment and equality, and her illustrations and animations are textured, playful and uplifting.

M is for Mona Chalabi. Mona is a journalist who draws data. Her scientifically accurate and visually engaging graphs make statistics intelligible.

N is for Nadia Hernandez. Nadia's paper cut illustrations are striking, full of movement, and layered with narratives of culture, identity and politics.

O is for Oh Happy Day. It’s all a celebration of colour and light and goodness, and I will take a big fat second serving of that every time.

P is for Kitiya Palaskas. Between her larger than life props, piñatas of every persuasion, and paper collages, Kit makes everything pop.

Q is for Angie Quintanilla Coates. I love the way she folds politics and pop culture into her art, which always seems to come from a desire to lift others up.

R is for Rupaul. Gender-bending, binary-rejecting, and an unconditional love of colour and sparkle. We’re all born naked and the rest is drag!

S is for Nike Savvas. Nike is a conductor of colour and geometry, and creates kinetic, immersive, sensory worlds you can escape into.

T is for Tierney Milne. Tierney is a master of tessellated, geometric landscapes; balance and colour; and stop-motion that is like voodoo sorcery.

U is for Under Over The Moon. Nancy Liang’s work feels textured and organic. It's often dark but curious - exuding serene stillness with a pinch of sparkly whimsy.

V is for Vichcraft. Jenna Blazevich uses art as activism. Her multi-media work is inclusive and intersectional, and always radiates a bold, witchy vibe.

W is for We Are Clay. Anastasia Tumanova's work has an earthy, organic energy; translating ephemeral nature into something more permanent.

X is for Jennifer Xiao. She folds so much nuanced emotion and humour into the vibrant visual language of her anthropomorphic illustrations.

Y is for Yukai Du. An expert storyteller, her animations and illustrations are intricate, swirling constellations that vibrate with pattern and texture.

Z is for Alexandra Zutto. Alexandra illustrates the most enchanting dreamscapes, full of softness but also mystery and intrigue in the finer details.