CAMILLA D'ERRICO

Garrick Webster talks to the Canadian artist who’s turned her skill with oil paints into a successful creative brand

- Garrick Webster

Camilla d’Errico is all for diversity in art. “I can’t be pigeon-holed and packed away neatly in one box,” she says. “I love putting my art on clothing and products, and seeing people experience it as part of themselves.”

And for 2020, the Vancouver-based artist will be carrying right on in that vein with the release of custom handbags featuring her Pop Surrealist manga characters. “I fulfilled a lifelong ambition of creating kimonos in 2019, and I’m hoping in 2020 to create a line of high-end handbags – because I’m a total bag-lady!” she laughs.

The list of items that Camilla’s work has appeared on is a long one. Her paintings are on snowboards and scarves, mirrors and backpacks, stickers and totes. There are limited-edition necklaces, lapel pins and lanyards, and she’s written and illustrated how-to art books as well as graphic novels. Her character designs feature in manga-based app games and she’s also produced some limited-edition figurines. There are the comic books where her career began as well, while today she devotes much of her time to fine-art paintings.

In fact, while Camilla is talking to us, she’s busy preparing for a solo show at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. Her exhibition starts in May and will showcase a new approach she’s been taking in her art. The series is called The Color Wheel, and with it she places her rainbow dripping effects within wider monotone images. The excitement is building as the show draws nearer.