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Gorgeous Oil Paintings of Women Submerged in Water by Erika Craig

Artist Erika Craig captures the multi-faceted beauty beneath the surface of water in her series of gorgeous oil paintings. The works revolve around submerged female characters whose reflections are distorted by the constantly-moving liquid. Abstract shapes and meandering colors intertwine with the women's bodies they're fully encased in the sun-kissed water. Humans and nature look as though they are one.

To Craig, water represents a bodily and spiritual renewal as well as life and death. “It is the place of origins, and a place inside ourselves where we go to find peace. Making up most of the Earth and most of our bodies, it is the connectedness of things,” she writes in an artist statement. Craig continues, “I occupy the world below the surface, the subconscious, a place of intuition and dreams.” With this sentiment in mind, we can't help but imagine her subjects in the same contemplative mindset.

Prints of these original paintings are available to buy via Craig's Etsy shop.

Erika Craig website and DeviantArt page
via [L'Acte Gratiut]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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