Asia Charity Eriksen

To be honest, I have no idea where Karl truly started, but I do know he is made of many elements, that's why he's so dear to me.

​

First, let's step away from the common misconception of demons, because Karl is not an evil beast as portrayed by modern religions.

 

The word "Demon" and the idea of them was actually taken from "Daimon" - a Greek word associated with guidance, division or direction. Daimons were like the connection between humanity and the divine. They were guiding spirits that would compel us to travel along our chosen paths, inspire us and even protect us. 

​

Carl Jung also touched upon the idea of Daimons, and spoke of us having our own Daimons which caused an intense, obsessive need to create - sometimes even to the detriment of ourselves and those around us.

​

Karl sits somewhere between Ancient Greece and Jung's psychology.

​​

I think of Karl as having multiple origins, but also having none at all. 

​

The earliest being my "safe spaces" in childhood: Thoughts of my father, a stuffed dog that I couldn't do without, movies that spoke to me, and music that felt like a sanctuary. He was in all those places, but didn't have a name.

​

He's an evolution of many characters that I daydreamed about and wrote about all my life.

 

When I sculpted Karl, I started to ponder what it truly meant to face your demons and learn to love them. I did more soul searching in that time than I had ever done in my entire life, confronting elements of my past - facing things that I had done, things that had been done to me, and daring myself to sit with them instead of always trying to forget.

​

Karl became my embodiment of creativity, and a vessel for exploring difficult parts of myself, learning to accept and even love them.

​

It was an exercise in healing through art, and a reminder of how many times art in every form has helped me through life - from stuffed animals, to movies, to music.

​

How art created by human beings has saved countless lives around the world.

​

That's what I wanted this character to be about, and that's how I started writing his story - and mine.

​

It's all about using your "demons" to empower and inspire you instead of using them for anger, spite and self-destruction.

​

We have this old idea that our "inner demons" have to be things that haunt us and make us troubled, angry and vengeful.

​

Karl is there to challenge whatever metaphorical "demons"  you're wrestling with - be it a difficult past, perceived failures, pains or struggles.

​

Karl is a demon who, instead of telling us we're broken, he asks us to pick up the brush, sing the song, or write the story.

​​

There has never been a character that I have wanted to give life to more, and so I thought of this crazy idea -

​

Nothing would bring the concept of Karl to life more than collaborating with as many artists as possible, especially nowadays, where AI is stripping away the human element and people are falling away from what art truly is and always has been -

-

Feeling, emotion, connection and deep expression from lives lived.

​

I hope some folks join me on this journey, and I hope we have some fun together, can make the world a little bit smaller and celebrate human creativity.

​​

Karl is my Daimon. I want him to be yours too.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​