Erica Zeledón, Nature illustrated in Body and Soul. - Pura Inspiration

Pura Inspiration came to Erica’s workshop, attracted by her vibrant illustrations, wherein the end we discovered a little more about her, her beginnings in design, and also what she expects for the future.

Nature is the common denominator of everything she does. Lizards, hummingbirds, flowers, and people abound in her compositions. Very realistic figures sometimes, others instead,very synthetic. As she tells us, this has to do with a constant search for evolution.

As the years go by her illustrations mutate in each series her of works, maintaining a strong expressive desire. This subject is better understood when we hear the story about how she came to this trade or in better words how she stumbled up on it.

Without a doubt, an essential place for Erica is her workshop. There she received to Pura Inspiration.

The walls of Erica’s workshop show that each project is part of a process.

Erica has never been able to remember, for sure, how one day she appeared at the  National University of Costa Rica, more precisely, in the career of Art and Visual Communication. However, in one of her first classes, one of her professors, the renowned art historian Efrain Hernández, put in front of her a painting by Francisco Amighetti. That situation, in her own words, “Blew her jupa.”

While the professor made an analysis of the work, she discovered a new universe, one in which the brushes become instruments of expression.

Fabric scraps of his series “bichillos”

When people appear in their illustrations, it is in contact with nature.

From that university, she would finally graduate as a Visual Communicator, she had a fleeting passage through advertising agencies, a momentary affair, not because of lack of talent, but because she quickly realized that her place would be far away from this industry, away from jobs commissioned with references to stick to, something common while working with brands.

That same year, 2014, she created her own company, which she called Collage Design, starting her work as an independent designer.

Erica told us, that Latin American art and cultures are among his inspirations. It is something that you feel constantly in your work.

A baby tapir looks out in a jungle of blue and yellow leaves.

She recognizes inspiration from multiple sources, from Latin American cultures to classical art. , attributes to Nature, the ability to be the place where we can find all the inspiration we need. “Nature is the basis. The place where you learn everything from,” she argues.

She attributes many of her learnings about the spiritual connections that other living beings can establish with people.

Her products are also sold in his workshop. Impossible not to take one.

She loves what she does, and she does it with intensity. She is aware that illustration is her livelihood, but that it goes far beyond merely being that. It is a need that gives meaning to your life, and at the same time, defines it. When we talk about her future. She sees herself creating, of course, but she imagines it traveling everywhere to do it. After all, she says: She doesn’t need much more than that.

Sebas, in one of the few moments when he let his guard down to Erica.

You can follow Erica Zeledón and her works on Instagram.