ARTIST STATEMENT

It is not possible to pass through life and not mark it in some way. Each event becomes a fixed point, a coordinate on the map of our existence. My work deconstructs these events that both scar and make us who we are. Working from X-Rays and personal experience I investigate perceptions of identity based formally and informally on the human figure. I push the boundaries of our external and internal support systems in order to map these points onto canvas and paper.

My process embodies elements of painting, printmaking and mixed media in an effort to capture the multi-dimensionalities of identity. Each mark is an experience I have internalized, processed and reorganized into a rebirth of self-awareness as an artist and a woman. The visceral approach to my work is derived from a conscious choice to capture raw emotional knowledge in a tangible state.

BIOGRAPHY
Erica Whiting is a visual artist and native of Erie. She discovered printmaking and painting while attending Edinboro University and increased her printmaking knowledge from her cooperating teacher at Mcdowell Intermediate High School. Erica graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Minor in Art History from Edinboro University. She returned in 2008 for her Teaching Certification in Art Education where she obtained a 4.0 and had the honor of being Edinboro Art Department’s Mock Interviewee Representative. She is available as to teach individual art classes in drawing, painting and printmaking.

Currently she works at Montessori Regional Charter School as their North Campus Peace Room Coordinator. Erica also substitutes for the art teacher and most recently assisted students with the completion of their Kids as Curator’s exhibit for the Erie Art Museum. The project is a dragon created completely out of recycled materials donated by students, teachers and parents.

Erica has also been commissioned by the Achievement Center to complete a series of collage paintings. She collaborated with mural artist Megan White on concept and design. Together they created 12 paintings for client therapy and waiting rooms; they are textural, vibrant and meant to be touched in order to appeal to children with special needs.

Her work has been displayed in local galleries and shows, including the Faculty Show at Gannon Schuster Library, 1505 State Street, and Eclectic Etcetera’s. In 2010 Erica collaborated with Eclectic Etcetera’s and Anne Deming for a benefit show: Songs of My Soul, A Story of Empowerment through Art and Music. A portion of the proceeds went to the “Boro’s Women Shelter”.