The Travelling Medicine Show – a Solo Exhibition for E17 Art Trail
Personal Work ·
The Travelling Medicine Show - a solo exhibition for E17 Art Trail, showing prints and handpainted "medicine" bottles at Mother's Ruin gin palace in Walthamstow, east London. And of course, there are tote bags because every sideshow needs some merch.
Liquors. Potions. Philtres. Lotions.
Roll up, roll up for an installation of elixir bottles and curios, by illustrator and artist Emma Russell, accompanied by a collection of new prints.
Why are we seduced by promises from uncertain sources? What if a little magic really could change the world? The travelling medicine show, popular in the Victorian era, was a sideshow entertainment by purveyors of ineffective patent medicines, often accompanied by circus-style entertainments to draw a crowd. This small show is an exploration of the contradiction between dangerous falsehoods, the seductiveness of bewitching entertainments and the wish for possible change. I’ve spent my adult life skating a line between the desire to believe in magic and transformation, and the realism of rationality.
Emma Russell
Illustratorhelloemma.co.uk
London, United Kingdom
English
Hello, I’m Emma, a freelance illustrator in London. I make drawings, patterns and paper constructions to communicate ideas and stories in an accessible way.
My illustrations have appeared in all kinds of settings from books, through beer cans, to heritage signage.
Recent projects include the tie in book for cult Netflix series Grace and Frankie.
Previous clients include: BBC, Octopus Books, Girl Friday Books, London Borough of Waltham Forest, The Guardian, KPMG, Meringue Girls, Nestle, RCA, Construction Manager Magazine, Symonds Cider.
My work was selected for Secret 7” 2024, 2020 and 2014, TASCHEN’s 2018 compendium “Food & Drink Infographics: A Visual Guide to Culinary Pleasure”.
Shows include: Secret 7”, The Travelling Medicine Show - a solo show as part of E17 Art Trail, House of Illustration Illustrators’ Fair, Combat Stress Secret Postcard Auction, RCA Secret, Amwell Print Fair, #BAGSIE at The Proud Archivist, London Illustration Fair.
Clients: Octopus Books, Bbc, London Borough Of Waltham Forest, Girl Friday Books, Time Out Magazine, The Guardian, Kpmg, The Meringue Girls, Construction Manager Magazine, Nestle, Little Free Libraries Project, Symonds Cider, Old Tat Magazine, Observer Food Monthly, Shapeshifter Productions, One Thing I Know Journal, Rca
Skills
Software: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Associations: Association of Illustrators
United Kingdom
13 Years Experience
Hello, I’m Emma, a freelance illustrator in London. I make drawings, patterns and paper...