This month's Curious Person is Emma Sjaan Beukers. We explored the theme of Auspicious Adornments over on our collaborative Pinterest board taking inspiration from ideas of talismans and ornamentation of lucky objects.
About You
Introduce yourself!
Hey! I'm Em and I am a designer and illustrator based in Naarm. I usually work with local charities and organisations in the health, queer and Indigenous spheres, creating illustration libraries, products and social media graphic design solutions. I also do a lot of arts and crafts workshops, which is something I am hoping to expand on this year!
I love plants, fairies, crystals, stickers, notepads and I am a massive trinkety bitch hahahaha every surface in my house is either covered in books, trinkets or stickers.
Did you always know you wanted to do what you do? What was the journey like to get to where you are now?
I always knew what I wanted to do, but that damn imposter syndrome would not go away (it still hasn't). I also didn't know how I could I actually do it or think that I could financially run a creative business. It's tough but I have the support of my partner who helps me believe in myself!
I have had a pretty different journey to most; I went to TAFE straight outta high school and got myself a Diploma in Media & Comms because I literally did not know what to do and didn't want to make huge decisions. After I got my qualifications I then spent close to 13 years working in TV, broadcast, video post-production and content management which I loved and was great at, but it was just not what I dreamed of doing. During a lot of that time I was studying part time and got my Cert IV in Digital Design then my Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design. I finally called it quits on TV world then spent close to 3 years as a in-house designer for a kids retail brand. I loved my time there and I learned a lot about design, myself and working in an open plan office (the AuDHD says no thanks), but I had some huge opportunities open up to me that I couldn't ignore, so I decided to quit that job.
I have now been a full time freelance creative for just under a year and a half! Crazy! My second kids book is about to be released in April and I truly cannot express how surreal it all is!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to paint surrealist and abstract artworks that represent my visions of the liminal spaces between waking and dream life. I also love to read, go on beach and forest adventures with my partner and fluffy doggy, rewatching and binging cartoons and comedy shows like The Office & Brooklyn 99, cooking and eating, and have recently gotten back into scrapbooking as a hobby. It is really hard to have creative hobbies as someone who runs a creative business, the constant thought that everything needs to be monetised is a real creativity killer sometimes!
The Pinterest Board
See the board we collaborated on here.
Tell us what you think of the board theme- why does it inspire or interest you and what’s your connection to the theme?
The theme Auspicious Adornments came from the idea that we all have things that we have collected or attracted into our lives. We imbue these with magic or sometimes the magic is already there from societal and cultural symbolism.
I see adornments as all kinds of charms, good luck trinkets, ceremonial tattoos, talismans and amulets. If you think about it, humans are just adornments of the Earth. And the planets are adornments of time and space. We use words, songs, poetry, clothing, jewellery, dance, patterns, art and objects for protection, luck, to invoke spirits and ancestors and more.
There is vast history on the magic of physical adornments, from all over the world. All humans from all cultures and ages have little things that we have connected to in various ways that hold special power and meaning to us. Some are religious icons, some are gifts from nature like crystals, others are gold jewellery inlaid with lapis from Ancient Egypt, others are artworks...the list goes on. Humans have always adorned spaces with these; we have adorned our shelves, altars, our cars, our houses, the land we live on and the body we inhabit. We use them as a way to express our spirituality, our connection to the land, connection to ancestors, to communicate our vast inner explorations and to further explore the magic inside us all.
As a trinkety gal you can only imagine how many little special guys I have all over the house! I have adorned my studio desk, the walls of the house, my altar spaces, I wear meaningful jewellery, I have ceremonial tattoos and adorn my mind with information from cultural anthropology, religions, spirituality, art history and more.
If you could collaborate with anyone—living or historical—on a project around this theme, who would it be and why?
Goshhhh, just one?!!! Okay. Well.
I think I would love to hang out and make art with Hayao Miyazaki as I think we both have similar representations of magic and a love of nature, and obviously his work is a huge influence and inspiration to me. I think we could come up with some cool trippy magical creatures going on a quest to recover a lost amulet or something! I might have to write up a short story about that and make a print series based on it!
I would also love to make weird occult spiritual art with Hilma af Klint. Also my sweet friend Amie, a fellow esoteric and occult babe. She makes amazing sculptures and paintings and is an aura photographer and reader and does ceremonial ritual tattoos.
What’s the absolute, non-negotiable piece of content you pinned that people must see?
Mallorie Vaudoise's fantastic book Honoring Your Ancestors is a must read for anyone who is seeking to connect to their old people, known and unknown as well as their inner self.
Closing Curios
Beverage of choice?
I am a recent convert to the Aperol Spritz! But I also love a bloody shiraz gin and tonic with a garnish of fresh orange.
Favourite recent find (could a book, tv show, website, tiktok account)?
Not really that recent of a find, but I always have to scream out loud about my favourite Patreon account/website/Instagram which is Morbid Anatomy. They have a beautifully curated feed of wonderful, fantastical and macabre art and often host workshops and online classes with cultural historians, anthropologists, mystics, artists and more. I did a course on the history of fairies and how they pop up over time and across all cultures! Super amazing and I really recommend seeing if they have a class that interests you.
Where would you visit in a time machine? And Why?
I'd love to visit the ancient civilisations; Roman, Greek, Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, Phrygian, Egyptian, Aztec, Babylonian etc. as well as the pre-colonial civilisations of the Americas, Aotearoa and Australia. I want to absorb all the information, participate in veneration of the old gods, create endless art that confuses people for millennia but then come back to continue those practices and revamp them for modern times.
Favourite ever thrifted find?
OMG I have been wanting to talk about this for so long. I was at my local Savers and was flicking through the books as I often do. I came across this book that had such a beautiful spine and cover; super old and a bit tattered but stamped and gilded with beautiful patterns. It was a copy of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, first published in 1856. It is about the life of Emma who is recently married and finds herself bored and disappointed by life and her husband. Shenanigans ensue in the form of reckless spending, affairs and poisoning.
But, that's not why this find was interesting. About half way through the book are seven extra pages that have been glued in. On these pages are hand drawn symbols and handwriting representing and explaining eliminating time, negative space and time and inter-dimensional summoning. Can you imagine my face when I saw this while wearing my dirty, 'around the house' clothes while in Savers!? I have never bought something so fast! It was only $3 too! I have no idea who did it, why they did it or where they are now...hopefully in another dimension living their best life!
Last niche interest you dived deeply on?
Look, when I get obsessed with something, it is all consuming. I think that my tizzy brain combined with my passion for learning and culture and art has made me a huge consumer of content in terms of articles, books, interviews etc.
I have also been expanding my artistic practice to include my more visionary and dream like states after convincing myself that my art needs to be like my digital illustrations. I have been inducing trance-like states, meditating and invoking spirit and colour to form visions of how I want this formless art to be. It has been incredibly freeing and helpful for my own art practice and connecting to my spirituality. I have also been re-reading my Kandinsky and Albers books on colour and spirit, as well as the Jennifer Higgie book (The Other Side) on the movement of Surrealist female artists who were heavily involved in the mystic and spiritual movements but largely left out of art history as is so common (though it is mostly centred on white and western gals).
What ridiculous item is on your wishlist that you want to buy but absolutely do not need?
Hahahaha can I say a house in the forest with a separate building for a studio?! I want it, not so much need it, but I was too busy being a baby when I should have been saving for a house deposit in the 90's hahahaha :')
Something more realistic but still ridiculous, is to study overseas at Amsterdam University to do a Bachelor of Religious Studies then popping over to England to do a Masters of Magic and Occult Science at Exeter University. Maybe I can settle for something similar here, but those HECs debts do look terrifying!
Other than those HUGE expenses, I just love buying books and reading and curating my bookshelves by topic and decorating them with trinkets and zines (surprise surpriiiise), and because I love having defined places for things, a whole ass library room where I can read and do my spell work and meditate would be amazing.
Just a few small, very inexpensive things there hahahaha
Stay in Touch
You can find Emma on Instagram or see more of her work on her website.
