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Jacob Monarch (October 2025)

ABOUT

My art as a child was influenced by animation in TV shows and movies, sparking my interest in character design. My studio practice uses 2D and 3D processes, which include my personal experiences with mental health, gender identity, neurodivergence, and childhood-to-adulthood memories. The media I explore are ballpoint pen drawings, painting, life drawings, printmaking, photography, filmmaking, and sculpture. My practice is diverse, but focuses mainly on ballpoint pen drawings and life drawings. Japanese comic books, or manga, inspire my drawing style in using black-and-white mark-making techniques. I enjoy using the contrast between colours as well as textures in my artwork. I also enjoy the use of lineart to make something whole, in a visually striking direction to create form. My practice includes the making of murals, depending on the request, I make large and decorative spacial artwork or immersive environment. In my filmmaking, the content I create is personalised to my inner creative world with homemade masks, using lived experiences and recording my voice to enhance relatability with the viewers.

The themes I use in my practice are horror and science fiction. I apply the genre of horror in photography by shooting images that recreate a scene of a dream or using myself in an uncanny setting. One of the biggest influences is Swiss artist HR Giger and his creation of the Alien, now the Xenomorph, which gave life to the Alien movie franchise. During the pandemic, I watched the first Alien movie from 1979, which opened a new world of self-discovery for me through my non-binary identity. I identify as a non-binary alien, and the imagery and representation of Xenomorphs' physicality draw my attention, as they lack physical attributes that could signify whether they are male or female.

Photo by Jacob Monarch

CV

Born in Harwich, lives in Manchester, UK.

Education

2024 - 2026: BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Salford

2023 - 2024: BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Bolton

2021 - 2022: Foundation Year in Art and Design, Trafford College

2019 - 2021: Level 3 Diploma in Art and Design, Trafford College

Awards

2026: Haworth Charitable Trust Life Drawing Award

All rights reserved © 2026 Jacob Monarch

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