artist statement
Erica Amato is a multimedia artist and animator based in Toronto, Ontario. They just completed their BFA in Experimental Animation at OCAD University with a minor in English and often works in paint, 2D digital animation, illustration, and most recently with puppet and top-down stop-motion animation. Their most recent work connects back to their roots in handmade mediums by utilizing paintings, miniatures and puppetry to portray themes of queer beauty standards, their relation to the monstrous, and experimental queer storytelling. Their work has been shown at OCAD’s Animated Bodies Exhibition in 2024 as well as OCAD’s Grad Ex 111 show in 2026, and they are a recipient of OCAD’s 2026 Experimental Animation Faculty Award.
Short Films
In my skin uses subtextual queer themes to connect queer identity to the monstrous. Using handmade materials such as painted frame-by-frame animation and puppet stop-motion, we explore a complicated relatability between man and monster.
The Rot is an experimental documentary film about gender queerness and expression.
Other Animation Work
Paintings and Illustrations
UNWIND Comic
UNWIND is a silent comic depicting a monstrous transformation. We watch someone who is visibly uncomfortable in their skin finally relax in the solitude of their home and let their most comfortable and monstrous form take over. This comic uses hand-inking to depict that specific kind of viscerality and uncanniness of not feeling comfortable in your own body and has roots in the subtext and relatability of old monster movies.
Process and Character Design
© Erica Amato. All rights reserved.