ESS22 – Circle Foundation for the Arts

American artist, ESS22 was born in Chicago in 1984.

"My first experience with art was when I was four years old. A hand turkey painting I made was compared to the work of Jackson Pollack. It made me feel confident that maybe I could be successful at making artwork for a living. Years later, I won 2nd place in a school art contest for a Canadian goose rendered using oil pastels. These early experiences stayed with me as I ventured into textile arts, attending art classes in various schools and programs, and working as a tattoo artist for a bit. Today, I enjoy expressing my aesthetics and transmitting ideas via ink spitshaded on paper using emotive figures."

"My artwork is informed by tattooing, textiles, printmaking, and a love for working with a brush on paper. There is nothing like the relationship between the eye, the hand, and a brush dipped in a medium on paper, compared to using a pen to create the linework for my images."