Erin Fostel

About the Artist

Erin Fostel spent her early years copying characters out of her brother’s comic books, and writing dramatic soap operas on her grandmother’s typewriter. A love for drawing and storytelling led her to the Maryland Institute College of Art. After graduating in 2004, she continues to explore visual storytelling through the act of drawing. Even though she appreciates that the world is full of amazing colors she enjoys pushing the tonal boundaries of charcoal, which is her primary medium. Her work has been included in local and international publications about drawing. Her studio is located in Baltimore, MD.

Artist's Statement

I want to make drawings that inspire people to pay more attention to the world around them, and to question or value the physical spaces they inhabit. Using my own photographs as references, and through the persistence and repetition of marking, smudging and erasing charcoal, I create an illusion of reality on paper. I depict the urban landscapes of cities, the wild landscapes of nature, and the private interiors of home. After experiencing the death of my father a few years ago, I have become consumed by the interplay of presence and absence. What does a space feel like when its occupant has left? I am trying to capture the fragility and impermanence of life by making tender drawings of the environments we inhabit while living that life.