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Emma is a digital illustrator, empowering and inspiring through positive artworks. Go Inspire UK catch up with our incredibly talented cover artist.
Go Inspire UK: We would love to know more about Pixels by Emma and what motivated you to start your journey?
Pixels by Emma: Behind the account is me, Emma (she/her), a 27 year old woman originally from Hertfordshire. By day I work in CRM for a high street fashion retailer, by night I’m an illustrator talking about all things body positivity and women's issues. I’m a left wing, liberal, feminist, my personality type is INTJ (IYKYK) plus I’m an Aries… which I think says everything you need to know about me.
I started Pixels by Emma during the pandemic, and like a lot of other people I was trying to be somewhat productive during a really really strange time… 2020 was a particularly difficult year for me (excluding Covid). I was made redundant from a job I loved, moved to a new area of the UK, had a few issues in my personal life and also made the difficult decision to be estranged from all of my maternal family. With all of the madness that was going on around me, I craved a creative outlet, so I started to teach myself illustration using Procreate. I had studied graphic design at University but never illustrating, so this was a completely new outlet for me.
However, my journey with body positivity started before the pandemic. It actually started with the job I was made redundant from, I was employed to do social media and email marketing for a lingerie brand. Our main focus was lingerie for EVERY body. Body positivity was lived and breathed through everything we did, from internal meetings to our marketing campaigns. Not just an additional shot ticked off the list to make sure we look diverse. I even modelled in one of our Valentines campaigns (see image). As a size UK18 woman with tattoos this was honestly an amazing feeling, I had never felt more empowered. So through my artwork I want to recreate that feeling for others, because there is no right or wrong body type and I think it’s bizarre we would ever think that way. The things we have been taught to hate about ourselves are completely normal things that we shouldn’t be ashamed of… Who someone is or what they look like should never hold them back. That is my biggest drive in everything I create.
GI: Your artwork promotes body positivity and empowering women, can you tell us about what these subjects mean to you as an Artist?
PBE: In an ideal world I believe that body positivity shouldn’t exist… purely on the basis that a lot of the things we have been taught about our bodies by diet culture are wrong and have been created (usually by a man) to drive profit. Our bodies aren’t trends. You can make money without making people feel bad about themselves. I say usually by a man as when you look into who owns the biggest beauty and fashion companies - they’re almost always owned by men. We live in a patriarchal world and whilst we have made big strides, there is still a long way to go.
By using my voice to speak out about what I believe is wrong I am hoping to educate others. I always try to remain authentic and speak from my own experiences whilst being inclusive of different people. Just knowing how I used to feel about my body and hoping I can change that for even just one other person. I have spoken about it in my stories before, but I lost a lot of weight back in 2018 which made me miserable, less confident and so unhappy… when everything in mainstream media and diet culture has led us to believe the opposite. I had disordered eating habits, plus my whole life revolved around food and my appearance. I did not see the issue until my best friend expressed her concerns. That was my turning point. Almost 5 years later and I can safely say that the best and happiest memories in my life had nothing to do with my appearance, weight or size. I’m a true believer that self acceptance starts with your mindset, not your appearance but I also know that it’s hard to separate the two.
From posting about this a lot online I know that a lot of trolls believe that being ‘body positive’ means being anti health. I try to educate people that it’s actually pro health. You can be healthy at every size. There is scientific evidence which supports this idea. Plus being body positive doesn’t mean going on strike from fitness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m never going to love cardio (but who does… and isn’t lying) but my gym visits are no longer surrounded by how many calories I’m burning. I’m moving my body for me, to feel good, and to release those endorphins.
As for my art, I love drawing the female body with all the lumps, bumps, acne, hair, stretch marks, dip hips, small boobs, big boobs, slim, fat, and more aka *ALL* body types because I believe there is beauty in what we have been taught to hate. My best friend (who I mentioned earlier) has always had the opposite body type to myself, but we both went through similar mental struggles driven by the people around us and the media. Even at school when we were 14 years old, we had the comments that we were ‘supersize and superskinny’ after that particular 00s TV show… I was a size UK8 at the time and I was being called supersized? It’s no wonder we struggled on into our early 20s as well.
GI: You continue to authentically bring to life statements that challenge the status quo, who inspired you to have a strong female voice?
PBE: I have always been an unreserved individual when it comes to the things I believe in… But I’m also a huge introvert, meaning I hate sharing photos of myself (my personal account is a ghost town) so I love that I can use my voice through art. My biggest inspiration has always been body positive influencers, it takes a lot of guts to put who you truly are out there and I’m in awe of so many of them. One of my favourite influencers when I started was Jess Megan (who unfortunately no longer posts). She had a no bull**** approach to body positivity and I loved that. To change the narrative you cannot sit back and do nothing. However, my biggest pet peeve are influencers who try gatekeeping body positivity for larger bodies only. I say this as a larger woman, the disrespect that slim people receive is equally as damaging. Big, small and everything in between, whatever your body type - we all deserve to feel empowered in our bodies.
“Be the change you want to see in the world” is one of my favourite quotes, it resonates with me in all areas of my life - even beyond pixels. A few family members have had some opposing opinions on the topics I speak about, instead of getting angry and reacting emotionally - it’s important to educate. Not everyone will listen but even if we just educate ourselves, slowly others will follow.
GI: What does self-love mean to you?
PBE: My personal definition of self love is unconditional understanding. Knowing that even on your bad days that you are worthy of all the things in life. I still have bad body image days. I think it’s unrealistic to say you love yourself and your body 24/7 no matter who you are. However, the difference between 27 year old Emma and 21 year old Emma is how I react to the days I feel like this. Instead of falling back into disordered eating, I speak to myself with kindness and remember that my appearance has nothing to do with who I am as a person or what I deserve in life. But sometimes you just have to ride out the feeling, and to me that is what my art is all about. Learning how to speak to yourself with love and understanding even on the days you may not feel like loving yourself or even know how.
GI: We’d love to hear more about the cover artwork and the words by Radhika Sanghani.
PBE: I mentioned earlier that I believe that self acceptance starts with your mindset, not your appearance… Or mirror in this case. The power of our own thoughts is much greater than words spoken by anyone else. Which is why I love this quote from Radhika, teamed up with this illustration works perfectly. Radhika’s words to me are such a powerful manifestation which can mean something different depending on who the reader is. It could mean that you don’t need anyone to validate your decisions on clothing, career, hobbies, etc… you do them for yourself with your own blessing. Or it could be giving yourself the love you deserve and not expecting it, or even needing it from anyone else. I believe this strengthens relationships with others around us, because you’re not expecting anything from them - relationships aren’t meant to be transactional.
PBE: I just wanted to add, thank you so much for asking me to be a part of this issue. Has felt like a pinch me moment!
Images: Courtesy of Artist
Instagram: @pixelsbyemma
Article by Laura Pink
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