1969 born Belfonte, Pennsylvania, lives and works in New York.

In her paintings, New York-based artist Inka Essenhigh creates an enigmatic world in which animated action figures are cast alongside mythological characters and the demimonde in roles where human concerns such as patriotism, competitiveness and heroism are played out in landscapes that seem simultaneously ancient and futuristic. Her paintings often include the presence of scarcely individualized figures, hybrids existing somewhere between their bodies and their surroundings, inhabiting ordinary life situations and pursuing the promise of beauty and pleasure - shopping, going to the gym, getting a tan. Essenhigh's work is reflective of her ability to unite divergent influences, including Romanesque murals, the graphic stylised qualities of Art Nouveau, the iconography of Italian Renaissance painting and the aesthetic sensibilities of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, whilst at the same time reconstructs her own contemporary mythologies.