Drawing

As a child, Emmanuel Hele spent countless hours drawing everything he saw and everything he wanted to see. He was fascinated by traditional animation and stop motion animation; Early influences include Walt Disney and Will Vinton. By the end of the ‘80s he found himself gravitating toward the bold, graphic designs of the burgeoning metal and skateboard scenes. As a teenager in the ‘90s he found inspiration in the youth subcultures of the era, and the visual devices of punk, anime, graffiti, and rave culture seeped into his art.

He took his first “real” drawing class in the late ‘90s; shortly thereafter he began showing his work in group exhibitions. Eventually he began practicing mehndi (henna), which sparked an interest in ornamental art. Over the next decades he would continue to fall in love with ornament, which he found wherever he went. He saw an organic universality in the forms; in the curves, the links, the flourishes; in the way it fills space, frames subjects, and provides an aesthetic introduction from which a subject or object can gracefully emerge from its environment.

Emmanuel’s drawings are an ever-evolving record of where he’s been, what he’s seen, and who he’s become along the way. They bring together arcana, natural forms, ancient aesthetics, and subtle homage to contemporary subcultural influences, all in the graphic vehicle of the era.

Emmanuel acquires most of his framing materials and many of his drawing materials from second hand and post-consumer sources.

If you would like to know more about a specific work, please reach out!

Custom drawings are available upon request.

Also available for commissions in other mediums.ext goes here