Statement + Bio
As an artist, I’m committed to promoting a culture of empathy and reverence for the natural world. I make paintings, drawings, collage and cyanotypes that explore intimate encounters ranging from personal moments between lovers to nocturnal interactions between insects and instances that traverse both realms. My work centers connectivity and embraces both the abject and sensual aspects of my subjects.
I’m drawn to ink, watercolor and cyanotype for their unpredictable qualities, as these mediums often obscure my images in ways that are beyond my control. Most of my imagery is drawn from personal photographs and video stills of firsthand experiences, as I prefer full control over my source material. When I’m working with erotic themes, honesty and vulnerability are of utmost importance. By asserting ownership of my body and desires within my images, I aim to open up conversations around the representation of pleasure and sexuality in contemporary American culture. The figures in my art revel in pleasure without shame, leer back at the viewer, and rage against the demure.
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Born and raised in Metro Detroit, Erica Podwoiski received her BFA from the Columbus College of Art & Design in 2010 and her MFA from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017. She has exhibited locally and internationally at the Gallery of Contemporary Art (GOCA) in Colorado Springs, at the Galerie Im Kornerpark in Berlin, and with the Denver-based pop-up art truck Hey Hue. In 2022, her work was recognized in the Tom of Finland Foundation’s annual Emerging Artist Competition. Erica has taught figure drawing and painting at CU Boulder and in a variety of nontraditional settings. She currently lives and works in Boulder, Colorado. Her turn-ons include big hands, a well-trained bonsai, Polish Cold War-era movie posters, hearts of palm, androgyny, pierogi, midcentury tchotchkes, grottoes, glam rock, moss, and the iliac crest. Her main turn-offs are truffle oil and mansplaining.