Erin Currier
b. 1975, Haverhill, Massachusetts

Part portraiture, part collage constructed of disinherited consumer “waste” collected...
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Erin Currier
b. 1975, Haverhill, Massachusetts

Part portraiture, part collage constructed of disinherited consumer “waste” collected in thirty six countries, part sociopolitical archive, but wholly humanist, Currier’s work has been featured in numerous solo shows, including a major exhibition at the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Embassy in Washington, DC. Her work is exhibited and collected internationally. She lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.



Artist Statement

What began as a natural integration of my socio-political beliefs with a sheer joy of art-making, has since developed into a full-fledged artistic praxis by which I integrate the human realm I come in contact within the course of my travels- its individuals, cultures, and struggles- with its refuse, in order to comment on and participate in the issues I feel most passionate about. I have travelled to nearly 40 countries, immersing myself, to the best of my abilities, in the daily life of countries like Nepal and Nicaragua, cities such as Istanbul and Caracas, studying languages, getting around on foot or by bus, sketching, documenting extensively, making friends, and collecting disinherited commercial “waste”, after which I return to my studio to create series of works. Aesthetically, Latin American Muralist traditions, Eastern Spiritual Iconography, and Social Realism inform my work. In addition to drawing its subjects from the so-called developing world, my work often draws its aesthetic from the “Global South,” as well as its philosophical influence, in the form of Paolo Freire, Eduardo Galeano, Augusto Sandino, and Edward Said.

The more I travel, the greater my sense of urgency as an artist to address social inequality and economic disparity through my work. Above all, I am a humanist artist, politically active and unapologetically narrative in my repertoire of practices, and for whom art and the social world are inseparable.

-Erin Currier, 2011



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