What’s your business name and what do you do?
Annika Earley, I'm an artist and occasional curator.
How did you learn your craft?
I went to school for art but was also raised by very artistic parents who always encouraged us to do creative things whether it was art, music, theater, or just imaginative play. It's really been something I've been practicing for as long as I can remember.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
The really boring and tedious parts of my work are the most fun to me. My works on paper include a lot of repetitive patterning and I love working on something like that for hours. It's gratifying.
What do you enjoy least?
Trying to figure out the instagram algorithm. It's maddening.
What’s one thing you wish people knew about your work?
My work is intentionally funny or odd at first glance, and there's a lot of visual reference to fairy tales or folklore to draw the viewer in. I think viewers often think my work is more about witchy things than it actually is...which is fine. For me that is all metaphor. My work is really about dealing with the tension of being a person and a parent and how those two identities don't always fit in one body.
What’s one artist you look up to?
Oh boy. Just one!? I really love Catherine Clinger. She was my advisor in grad school and her devotion to and love for art and art making is really aspirational. I could listen to her talk about printmaking, or Romanticism, or femme anger in popular culture, etc... all day long. There are so many more artists; it's hard to name just one.
What do you do when you’re not creating?
I love reading horror and mystery books, baking, playing legos with my kid, learning to cook real meals (instead of my habitual what-can-I-eat-right-out-of-the-fridge), and taking my sweet old dog for her daily therapy walks.
Night owl or early bird?
Night owl by heart, early bird by circumstance. I have a toddler and his schedule pretty much sets mine. When I'm at residencies, I usually work from 10am to 2am and like that rhythm best.
What's your favorite place in Maine? (can be a restaurant, bar, park, beach, etc :) )
I really love the Lompoc in Bar Harbor, a sweet restaurant and bar run by two sisters, Meg and Leah Kelly. I spent a lot of (too much?) time there in my early 20's and I also met my husband there. Delicious food, beautiful patio, and lovely people. It's perfect.