Description
Mariposa Arts is pleased to announce ‘Within the Intimate Realm: Works by E. Schwinn,’ an exhibition of new patterned collages by the artist. E. Schwinn’s first solo exhibition in Delaware will be on view July 7- July 31, 2023 at the Gallery at Grace United Methodist Church at 900 N. Washington St, Wilmington, with opening reception Friday July 7, 5p-8p.
Once a devout painter, then a drawing artist, Erin has in recent years taken these two modes and turned them into tools for adding to and subtracting from collage artworks. She is a collector, a “saver,” and someone deeply concerned with beauty. Don’t mistake that term, though, for a reference to the art historical sublime. Rather, Erin is interested in the beauty of the everyday object, as referenced through found and saved collage papers, collected patterns, and everyday tools and materials. She does her best to use only scissors to cut her collage elements out, and incorporates pens, ink, paint, and glue sticks to make her collages into finished works.
Process is extremely important to Erin. She is deeply rooted in the process of making objects – of discovering, exploring, connecting, and building. She is, in a sense, constructing worlds in her collages. These worlds are interior, though, as well as intimate, psychological, and somewhat surreal. Erin describes her process as a kind of “getting lost” that allows her to “find her way through” the work until these fragmentary images, compositional elements, and patterns suddenly fall into a final arrangement. They coalesce into a whole with alacrity, unifying in a way that makes them a more significant sum than the disparate parts ever were.
Erin’s work speaks to this mental journey that we take as humans – she herself often terms her work as “psychological portraits.” In a sense, it is an examination of the shaping of our psychological identity, how we “collect experiences and memories from different moments in our lives” (to quote the artist) and internalize, connect, and grow them into a sense of self. Her work is deeply rooted in reflection, both during the making of it, and afterwards. It asks both the viewer and the artist herself to look deeper and closer to see more, understand more, and create more. Erin’s work is demanding in a sense, in that it demands your attention, time, and effort to decode or understand.
E. Schwinn (b. 1984) holds an MFA from the University of Texas and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Schwinn’s work has been shown in galleries across the country, including Vestige Concept Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA; No. 7 Center, Vermillion, SD; Chris White Gallery, Wilmington, DE; Offline at Central Booking Gallery, New York City, NY; Gallery Two Three, Richmond, VA; Mass Gallery, Austin, TX and Hermitage Museum, Norfolk, VA.
Schwinn lives and works in Wilmington, Delaware.
This project is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.