Emmanuel Hele is a working multdisciplinary artist based in Portland, OR, USA.

Emmanuel Hele has been drawing as far back as anyone can remember. Since childhood he has spent countless hours drawing, building, creating, disassembling, reassembling, and altering and improving upon most everything that falls into his path. His first major influence was Walt Disney; subsequent infuences include Dr Seuss and Will Vinton.

The 1990s were an integral time for the development of Hele’s trademark style. Immersion in pre-internet skateboard culture, hip hop culture, punk rock, and the underground rave scene, all lent immeasurably to his aesthetic . Throughout his teenage years he honed his skills by sketching friends, copying and adapting skateboard graphics and anime characters, writing graffiti, and penning pages of "stream of consciousness" images.

Upon graduating from high school, Hele enrolled in beginning oil painting and sculpture classes at Fresno City College. During his first year at FCC he painted his first mural, and as time progressed, the discovery of new media and processes - namely painting, collage, and photography - began to divert his attention from drawing.

A few years later he stumbled upon a bronze pour at the newly reoutfitted sculpture studio at FCC. The sight of the molten metal and the apparent process-intensive nature of this exciting new art form inspired him to explore bronze casting. Shortly thereafter, he took a job working as lab assistant for head of the sculpture department. With the sculpture studio’s resources at his fingertips, his focus of study shifted from two dimensional art forms to bronze casting.

By the time he graduated from FCC, Emmanuel Hele was completely immersed in the Fresno art scene. He had conceptualized and co-organized the first ever student-run art exhibition at FCC, had organized a number of exhibitions and art / music events in the Fresno area, and had held a space at the since-demolished H Street Studios. At the time, downtown Fresno was a hotbed of creative activity. The long-dilapidated area was transforming into a living, breathing, vibrant arts district; lofts were being built, murals were taking shape, and music was always in the air.

In 2006, Hele relocated from Fresno, California to Portland, Oregon. During his first few years he focused on mixed media work and began exhibiting around town. In 2009, he enrolled at Captain Jack’s Tattoo School; he graduated from Captain Jack’s in 2010. Delving into the world of tattooing has renewed his passion for drawing - an art form he largely ignored for a number of years in favor of “bigger and better” media - and has brought him back to many of his stylistic roots.

Emmanuel Hele continues to strive for innovation in his work. In addition to drawing, tattooing, painting, and sculpting, he djs, writes, and alters apparel. He views all art forms as interrelated and applies lessons learned in each discipline to other disciplines as he discovers their commonalities. He further applies this ideology to the relationships that exist among the worlds of life, death, perception, emotion, memory, communication, interpersonal relationships, dreams, magic, spirituality, and travel. It is his ongoing objective to discover those commonalities and to integrate his discoveries into his life and work.