Mali Fischer-Levine is a Portland, Oregon-based illustrator whose most recent work involves serene drawings of plants, flowers, and nude women. She describes herself as an artist who seeks comfort and calm from drawing, and her illustrations support that: they instantly inspire a peaceful, still feeling, but one that almost feels like a guise, hinting at bigger, more complex and more confusing emotions just below the surface. “I like the idea of projecting human feelings onto plants, and plant feelings onto humans,” Fischer-Levine says.
Her intentions are successful, with illustrations that conjure feelings of being “in this together” rather than coping alone. One of her most recent pieces—a bouquet of flowers with the words, “there are lots of things to worried about but this drawing of some flowers is not one of them” written under it—is a great example of her ability to simultaneously confront and deflect big issues. She’s also done logo branding and design for apothecaries, swimwear and backpack companies.
