Anna Marrow - May 2022

Anna Marrow is a visual storyteller. Fascinated by colour and creating a narrative, she often draws from her own childhood memories of the 1970s. Her paintings and illustrations offer esoteric glimpses of urban and suburban life in weird and wonderful ways.

Anna studied Fine Art in Bristol and then Communication Design at Central Saint Martins, specialising in illustration. She now prints at Spike Print Studio in Bristol. Working with mixed media she creates collages using anything from household paints, biros, and fine liners to pencil crayons. These collages are later developed into screen prints. 

‘My practice always begins with drawing. I draw from real life and from old books, magazines and record covers found at car boot sales and charity shops. My dad’s collection of 1970s National Geographics and my husband’s extensive record collection are a great source of inspiration.’

 ‘I love working with screen print because of how specific you can be with colour and can combine hand-drawn, painted, and hand-cut stencils with digital and collaged imagery.’

Combining mundane objects and environments with exotic creatures and characters, she creates surreal and sometimes humorous pieces.

‘My work often has a hint of nostalgia; I love the innocence and romance of old musicals so often include the characters from these, juxtaposing them with everyday settings to create surprising narratives.