Caroline Erolin is a Scotland-based printmaker, inspired by the natural world, animals, and anatomy. She describes herself as a “lecturer in medical art by day, and a printmaker by night”. Caroline studied Fine Art and Illustration before going on to specialise in Medical Illustration. Now in her forties, she is a senior lecturer and runs an MSc in Medical Art at the University of Dundee, specialising in 3D digital modelling. However, when she gets home, Caroline loves nothing more than getting her hands dirty with traditional media such as lino printing and etching. Although she has dabbled in relief printmaking on and off over the years, it wasn’t until recently that things really took off.
“I studied fine art and illustration in the 1990s with dreams of becoming a wildlife artist. However, my desire to depict the natural world simply for its own beauty wasn’t deemed enough by my tutors and after three years of arguments I left feeling there was no value to my endeavours. In my final year I discovered medical illustration and after completing an MPhil went on to work as a medical illustrator and eventually to teach this wonderful subject. I love that I have found a career that values accurate and realistic depiction and does some good for society. However, the urge to depict the natural world never left. Suddenly, a couple of years ago, something snapped, and I carved a toad into lino, simply because I like toads – I realised I needed no further justification. Since then, I’ve dived headfirst into printmaking, with my subject matter of nature at the fore. And while I don’t need meaning to justify my art, I’ve come to realise it was there all along. With worsening climate change and threats of an ‘insect apocalypse’ humanity desperately needs to wake up to the beauty that is all around.”
Over the last couple of years Caroline has transitioned from printing with her trusty wooden spoon, to getting a relief press, and most recently her prize possession, a Gunning Etching press. She works mostly in linocut, but is also starting to explore drypoint, etching, and collagraph. Her work tends to alternate between colourful reduction prints and more stark monochrome pieces. The monochrome work is slightly darker in mood, often referring to the cycle of life and death, depicting both the living animal and its skeleton.
One of Caroline’s latest prints, Sleeping Badgers, however, is lighter in mood, depicting a trinity of adorable badgers amongst the roots of a tree, whilst still referencing duality with the distinct above and below motif.
Going forward, the printmaker has a long list of projects and topics she hopes to explore, and animals she would like to depict. Caroline is currently learning etching and is excited to explore this new medium.
www.erolinstudios.com
@erolinstudios
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