An imagined future of human society adapting to climate change by illustrator Rosanna Tasker. (All images courtesy of the artist.)
Illustration is a medium that straddles self-expression and interpretation of outside materials. Unlike drawing and painting that is derived from points of inspiration wholly determined by the artist, illustration is a collaborative exercise, asking that an artist visualize aspects of another’s story, while still maintaining her own perspective and visual style. UK-based illustrator Rosanna Tasker conveys a masterful sense of her own interests and voice, even as her imagery illustrates subject matter that varies from Guardian articles on transportation and healthcare to a Spanish-language translation of The Art of War.
“The Way We Were” by Rosanna Tasker.
Image from a series “Misty the Mouse Catcher” by Rosanna Tasker
From “El Arte de la Guerra” by Alma Clásicos Illustrados.
“I’ve always hoped that creativity would form a large portion of my life, but traditional fine art didn’t ever feel like the right fit with my identity as an artist,” said Tasker in an email interview with Hyperallergic. “When I was presented with the idea of pursuing illustration, I couldn’t believe that such a perfect avenue existed and how much it made sense for me. A large amount of my childhood was ruled by words, imagery and imagination; drawing scenes and characters while my dad read to me, building worlds and stories with friends in the form of books, theatrical plays and games. Illustration feels like a wonderful amalgamation of those things, and it’s incredible to still spend my days conjuring and creating as an adult.”
One of Tasker’s exhibition pieces.
An illustration by Tasker for the Guardian, for an article on future transportation.
Many of Tasker’s illustration feature women in the mix of their daily life.
Tasker pursued her education in illustration at University of the West of England, Bristol, and has gone on to provide imagery for the New York Times, the Guardian, and Tangent Books, among others. Her perennial themes include near future quasi-utopias, gardening, and women at the work of daily living, and her characters play out their stories against landscapes that manage to be clean, but richly detailed. Tasker also leverages the power of color and tone to strike instant moodiness through a given tableau, adding weight to the overall whimsy and vibrancy of her style.
From “Misty the Mouse Catcher”
From “Misty the Mouse Catcher”
From “Misty the Mouse Catcher”
“Many of the themes running through my illustrations today have roots in my childhood; I was lucky to live in the countryside with very little technology growing up, so I think much of my work draws from that era of my life and celebrates the freedom of exploring nature, as well as the significance of connecting with our environment and nurturing the flora and fauna around us,” said Tasker. “I especially love using my illustrations as a portal to another place, whether based in reality or far from it. My personal work usually has an unwritten background beyond the image and often aims to show you a snippet of a story which you’re free to augment and continue in your head, or sometimes to invite you on a journey somewhere unknown to get happily lost, or perhaps simply to evoke a feeling or atmosphere that I felt painting it.”
From a series titled “Praxis”
From a collection of magazine and newspaper illustrations, many of which concern issues of food, health, wellness, nature, and agriculture
Another of Tasker’s exhibition pieces
In addition to her Instagram, web-based print shop, and prints and cards available on Etsy, Tasker has limited-edition prints currently for sale at Toi Gallery, where they are part of the Women’s Show, featuring the work of female artists.
A Guardian image on health leaders
Another from Tasker’s magazine portfolio
Another exhibition piece by Tasker
“Illustration can be so inclusive and liberating, and being a good illustrator comes in so many different shapes and colours, which is one of the things I love most about it,” said Tasker. “It’s so rich with potential beyond the physical imagery, and can do and say so much.”
The Latest
Coasting the Topography of South Asian Futurisms
As part of Hyperallergic’s Emily Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators, Sadaf Padder presents an exhibition to offer insight into her curatorial process.
I’m a Florida Drag Queen and I’m Scared
I’m truly at a loss for what to do for work and what kind of life I can expect to live.
Pratt’s 2023 Fine Arts MFA Thesis Exhibition Is On View in Brooklyn
The two-part exhibition features the work of 41 graduating artists across disciplines, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and integrated practices.
An Artist’s Hopeful Vision of the Ocean
Indonesian artist Mulyana crafts a tactile, mystical world in which fish, whales, and coral reefs coexist with sea monsters.
An Introduction to “Afrogallonism”
Serge Attukwei Clottey explores Ghanaian culture and identity through discarded jerrycans and other found materials.
The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation Presents The Feminine in Abstract Painting
Curated by Jennifer Samet and Andrea Belag, this group exhibition in NYC explores the feminine through aesthetics, as opposed to identity or gender.
A Ride With Liz Cohen
Nothing in the artist’s personal biography could predict that she’d one day become a car builder and bikini model.
LA’s Hammer Museum Wants to Be Seen
After two decades of renovations, the museum that calls itself a “well-kept secret” reopens with a mission to be more visible.
NYU Steinhardt Opens 2023 MFA Thesis Exhibitions
Taking place at 80WSE Gallery in New York’s Greenwich Village, Part I is on view from late March through April while Part II opens in May.
AI-Generated “Dope Francis” Fools the Internet
Many thought the picture of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket, created using Midjourney, was the real deal.
1,400-Year-Old Mural of Two-Faced Man Found in Peru
Historians hypothesize that the Moche paintings could represent artists’ attempts to experiment with portraying movement or narrative.
Miniature Worlds: Joseph Cornell, Ray Johnson, Yayoi Kusama
Through small-scale works, this exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art in New York examines Cornell’s prominent role in the lives and careers of Johnson and Kusama.
Louvre Shutters as Pension Plan Protests Intensify
President Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 has sparked widespread demonstrations across the country.
They Managed to Mess Up an Art Heist Movie
There must be a lesson in Vasilis Katsoupis’s film Inside about the vacuousness of the art market or the claustrophobia of exhibition spaces — I just don’t care.