I’ve known Amy Higgins since my teenage ‘Havana Days’ and little did I know back then that we shared other interests apart from our love for ‘booty shake’. Born in 1983, Amy left her native Malta at an early age to pursue a Creative Arts Degree and a Master of Fine Arts at Bath Spa University, UK. Soon after she completed her studies in 2010, Amy started exhibiting in numerous collective shows, festivals and exhibitions around the UK including ‘The Guardian Critics Award Exhibition’, London (2015); ‘The Royal West Academy Annual Exhibition’, Bristol (2015); and ‘Tactile BOSCH: Garden of Earthly Delights’, Wales (2016).

Untitled Pencil and Pen Sketches
Photo Credit: Amy Higgins

In the UK, Amy became recognised for her pencil and ink illustrations of human-animal hybrids and other imaginary creatures. Being a multidisciplinary artist, Amy also works in other media including photography, film, printing and installation; through which she similarly transmits her interest in the unusual.

Amy’s fantastical visions find their roots in numerous sources, particularly in the eerie illustrations of Edward Gorey, Dan Hiller and Ian Miller, as well as Beth Carter’s sculptures and drawings. Despite the fact that her work is informed by so many sources, Amy still managed to create her own distinctive style. Often imbued with strong social messages, Amy explains how her work challenges the viewer to: “dig deeper into the imagery, and reflect on the representation and symbolic content of the composition”.

Photographic studies of a Dead Magpie
Photo Credit: Amy Higgins

Currently living and working as an art therapist in Bristol, Amy continues to exploit her admiration for pen drawings through a series of ‘female-headless’ illustrations (pictures below) which will eventually be published in a feminist book: Women who Dress in Black. Whilst working on these illustrations – and helping people express their emotions through art – Amy also produces and edits visual projections for a British electronic ambient band called Shoto-Daito.

Women who Dress in Black: The Selfie, The Space Cadet, and The Day Dreamer
Graphic Pen Book Illustrations
Photo Credits: Amy Higgins

If you would like to know more about Amy click on this link https://www.facebook.com/ArtBoxHiggins/