Bio

Erica Holloway is a multi-disciplinary emerging artist and an alumna of both University of Texas - Austin and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited in multiple regional, national, and virtual exhibitions as well as digital and print publications. She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Statement

My work focuses primarily on oft-dark personal interpretations of the human condition as visualized via oil paint shaped into sculptural textured forms, with varying textile additions. I rely heavily on saturated color palettes and distortion of both shapes and the paint medium itself in order to evoke responses ranging from disgust to nostalgia. Frequently, I utilize textural variation on the surface of a painting as commentary on the human need for touch, connection, sensory stimulation, and sensuality in order to draw the viewer into the atmosphere of a piece; simultaneously, I repel the viewer in various ways, such as piercing the surface of a canvas with pins or alluding to an act of physical aggression through visceral colors, dark themes, texture, and subject matter. Bold, saturated colors in the paintings are juxtaposed to the subject of each piece to highlight the disconnect of emotion from reality. Tension is a recurrent theme, as is intrusive fantasy. Both are exacerbated by metaphorical depictions of racial and gendered injustice. In this way, viewing this artwork becomes an unexpected act of conflict reflecting our very existence.

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