Layers, Touch, Texture
The ground soaks up the pounding rain, tree branches sway and bend under the heavy wind. The rain continues here in San Diego, and I find myself dodging puddles, head ducked down to shield my eyes from the droplets as I approach Studio 6.
Erin is like the color that illuminates the walls, welcoming, warm, her eyes an open invitation to sit and talk textures, layers, and hues. She lets me into the space, where she shares the studio with two ceramicists and two painters. I see pieces of their work in the materials that surround us, a snapshot of process, waiting to be brought to life within their categorized bins and shelves.
The studio isn’t extravagant, yet it is everything someone needs to endeavor in mind adventures. It shelters us from the rain, silently protecting the delicate process of aspiration, pursuit, and creation. Erin shelters small colorful makings in her journal, where her mixed media pursuits began later in her career as a paralegal. Before that, her curiosities and experimentations manifested themselves in the unique plays and strategies that she would concoct as a competitive soccer player.
As the demands of the game wore on her body and the grueling hours of paralegalism took their toll, she decided to begin again with something totally unfamiliar, something she couldn’t compare to her past experiences. Her pursuits would be more lighthearted this way, and she would be able to let go of the heavy intensity of her past accomplishments.
Starting something as a retiree and as a complete beginner was a challenging feat. Erin is still navigating the challenges of being an artist among others who have been honing their craft since they were very young. She is quick to surround herself with great teachers and fondly recalls all the evening courses and individuals who informed and shaped the compositions she creates.
This summer, she’s delighted to share her knowledge with others by making experimentation rather than perfection her formula for success. As I watch her roll on new hues, blending and improvising as her piece takes on new forms before my eyes, I sense that this practice must come from a very grounded place that welcomes the uncertainty of this medium. Although an initial challenge, Erin seems to dive headfirst into the uncertainties of her craft and in life. I am refreshed by her honest nature and her ability to let go of expectation. Some artists are quick to control, and find great satisfaction in knowing that the more they practice, the more perfect things will become. Erin takes on a new challenge, and gets comfortable knowing that the world will take her to a new visual experience.
Covid 19 was an uncertainty that naturally, no one was equipped to handle. During this time, she happened upon a chair in her neighborhood that reminded her of the chairs that would banish children to the corner of school classrooms. Isolation was a form of punishment, and here the world was, coping with mass amounts of isolation. Erin decided to call upon her fellow artist friends to send her words and images of hope, and decorated the chair with adornments of beauty to raise money for local healthcare workers. In transforming something that symbolized isolation and decorating it with messages and reminders of community, Erin was able to empower herself and others by reminding them of signs of life and togetherness through her medium. Her upcycling mastery transformed a symbol of isolation into a visual resting place for service workers, healthcare workers, and others who doubled down to provide for the community.
As life has reached a steady rhythm for her, she reminisces on her creations inspired by a disrupted world. Only in hindsight can we see where the seed of hope sprouts, through the cracks of our lived experience.
Erin continues her delightful experimentations on her Instagram. Check her out here.
