Fantasy worlds for marginalised communities
Elise Rose has always found herself drawn to fantastical worlds. Growing up in Coventry at a time when there weren’t many creative opportunities for young people, this manifested itself in an obsession with fantasy gaming, in particular role-playing games (RPGs) such as The Sims.
“It was quite isolating, especially if you were into creativity, or a person of colour, or queer,” she tells CR. “I think I was really into the idea of world-building from a young age because the world around me wasn’t an inspiring place to be at the time.” Fast-forward to today, and her love of the ethereal has been translated into a career as a 3D digital artist and graphic designer, which has seen her collaborate with the likes of Beats by Dre and music festival Afropunk.
Top: All Hands on Deck; Above: Campaign for Howl’s Queer City event
Collaboration with Beats by Dre and Babes on Waves
While Rose always knew she wanted to do something creative, and initially tried to study media at school, the closest thing she could actually do was photography. “I ended up loving it and pursuing it further but always felt like there were limitations to the scenes I could create,” she says.