Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika Monyè
Hi Erika, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Erika Monyè and my “artist name” is Emye (pronounced Em-Yay, which is a mix of my first and middle name). My journey with my art ebbs and flows and has increasingly evolved over the years. I finally seem to have a stronger hold over its place in my life and I’m excited to share it with as many people willing to listen and see.
It all started in 5th grade when I watched my granny draw a woman in her living room and then my brother went through a phase of being obsessed with drawing shoes. They were both really great at drawing and being from a very creative family, I vowed to myself to “get better at drawing than them”. So, I turned to a circa 2006 YouTube to teach me all I know 😉 I started out in realism and I severely shied away from color. It felt intimidating at that point in my life, and I wanted to focus on the basics. I was obsessed with portraiture and figure drawing and using graphite and charcoal mediums.
Once I entered middle school, life as a black girl trying to discover herself while dealing with things we all do – insecurities, school work, social influences, etc – had me falling into a discombobulating tornado of tween anxiety. Normal, right? Anyway as I said before, my relationship with my art ebbs and flows and this period of my life was an ebb when it came to producing physical art such as drawings and paintings. High school represented a big turning point in my life in maturity and my main artistic outlet became the written word. I would continuously immerse my mind in the worlds of books, poems, and scripts. These mediums inspired me to write songs and poetry, which I still do to this day. Under lock and key though…at least for now.
Into adulthood, I entered the workforce and then the military force. I enlisted in the US Navy at 19 in December 2015. This period of my life, transitioning and then settling into my 20s, represented introspection and gaining clarity within my soul and confidence within myself and my art. The world around me has always been my source of inspiration—the way people interact and connect, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, and the downright perplexing.
After being exposed to more of the world and people from different places during my time in the Navy, I realized something. I was allowing the societal pressures of what people view as success to force me into a box. I was still drawing figures or portraits on and off but quite frankly, I was bored and starting to fall out of love with the view of what being an artist was that I had at the time. When you’re tested by the wheels of adversity and are challenged in ways you can barely stand, eventually a light shines in the tunnel to illuminate your path forward.
The wonder of the human mind is one I try to show in my work. The colors I choose and the movement I create are meant to evoke emotion, introspection, perspective shifts, and connection. I’m a Pisces, and if you’re into astrology, you know they are creative and very emotional beings. I’m emotional in the way that I can either be a stone wall or a warm fuzzy blanket like a switch if it keeps me sane. I’m not crazy, but every artist has a little crazy in them, right? It’s our secret tool, yeah? Oh. Just me? Gotcha.
Moving on, my art has provided a therapeutic refuge for my busy mind to settle down, focus, and breathe, allowing my subconscious to take the wheel. I rarely go into a piece with a concrete plan, as I prefer to be intimate and in the moment during that process. Plus, being primarily an abstract artist doesn’t lend itself well to preliminary sketches. Dont care for those too much, anyway. To me, the act of creating is ritualistic and almost like performing a spell, like Stevie Nicks performing ‘Landslide’ in front of the backdrop of a purple, hazy sunset. I enter the world inside my head and bring a piece of that world to a canvas, a piece of paper, polyurethane foam, or anything I can get my hands on. Within my art, I love exploring how colors interact with one another and flow and mix in mesmerizing ways.
After years of floating in my discovery of myself and steadily flying in that anxiety tornado for so long, my art became my tether. It became an important part of my being, like an organ or an extra opposable thumb. That works, right? It is my connection to the world around me and how I make sense of my place in it. I hope others can connect with it in the same way.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. My art was there for me in some of my darkest times. When you feel trapped, you look for an out. The Navy was my out after high school. The Navy was instrumental to who I am today, but it truly was not who I was and when I was honorably discharged, it was a turning point for me. For me to not look externally for my out, but to look within myself for how I can create my out and be more confident in my abilities for my success. Which is when I turned back to art and began painting again. It just came back to me like learning how to ride a bike and I was hooked. I literally cannot picture doing anything else in life but creating in some way or another. When times get dark and I feel like slipping, art as my tether provides me with gripping.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in creating abstract pieces using acrylic inks, paint, watercolor, foam, and many other mediums to express my inner world. My world(art) is colorful, explosive, formless and connective. I also dabble in jewelry-making – creating whimsical pieces that complement my paintings. I’m most proud of my biggest project this past year, which was honoring my love of reading and dark/fantasy romance by creating a miniature, magical fairy forest library. It is two stories and 24 inches tall and took 3 months of my life to create. You can watch the full process on my Instagram (as well as process videos for most of my pieces). I also started participating in some craft markets throughout Tampa and the Clearwater area and that has been extremely rewarding emerging from my artistic cave and meeting other talented creatives. In the new year, I plan to start giving classes and conducting workshops so stay tuned!
I would say what sets me apart from others is the process and way in which I manipulate the colors and flow of those colors. It comes naturally to me and I don’t say that from a place of ego. It just is what it is. As we are who we are. As someone who is constantly on a journey of searching for inspiration and open to learning from my peers, I feel as though there are no limits to where me and my art can go.
How do you think about happiness?
Life makes me happy. The ups and downs. The beauty and the other. Experiencing a small part of the journey of this giant globe is both terrifying and exhilarating and being able to manifest my experience in a physical form is kinda awesome.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/emyetheartist
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emye.theartist?igsh=aTR4N2hoZnZrY25u&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://www.brush.bio/erikamonye
