Main Exhibition
The liminal spaces depicted symbolize the intricate internal landscapes women share. Gardens of introspection, filled with growth and domestic detritus, surround figures that tie themselves up into knots. Adornments like ribbons and obscured amulets latch onto limbs, becoming armors of ornamentation. These amalgams reflect on the ways mementos and beauty charms create a sense of shelter. They become balmy but fragile shields against fading time and memory, working to thwart the emotional impact of societal constraints on feminine identities. By blending these elements, I create a narrative tension that mirrors the ambivalence many women feel towards domestic responsibilities, caregiving relationships, and idealized appearance.
Though the narratives have undertones of trepidation, I offer the outermost mantle as a stopping point. Whimsical vignettes provide portals for escapism, granting moments of discovery within intricate scenes that evoke intimate aspects of beauty, sexuality, mental health, domesticity, and memory-making. These compositions invite nostalgic reflection and weave gentle threads of feminine delight. Inspired by the rich tapestry of myth and fantasy, I challenge the patriarchal norms of the hero's journey, which focus on messaging about success, power, and triumphalism. I center the often untold narratives of the feminine experience, exploring feelings of apprehension, tentative connection, internal growth, and the mercurial longings implicit within it.
Erica Westenberger - "Dyads Blink to Linger," 2020
$3,750.00
Graphite on paper
25 x 21 in (framed)
The world-building I explore is centered around spaces of apprehension. I compose tense encounters of fear, love, and longing to suggest the emotional journeys women wade through to find contentment. Intuitively rendered objects, animals, and twisting figures reflect indirect recollections bordering on nuanced moments of pain and care. These memories span a range of my lifetime: a hazy childhood memory of my grandmother cleaning my thorn scrapes after falling into her groomed rosebush and hugging my mom in the garden after my brother’s mental illness diagnosis. I preserve these emotional artifacts between women by weaving them into narratives, forming my private archive.
The liminal spaces depicted symbolize the intricate internal landscapes women share. Gardens of introspection, filled with growth and domestic detritus, surround figures that tie themselves up into knots. Adornments like ribbons and obscured amulets latch onto limbs, becoming armors of ornamentation. These amalgams reflect on the ways mementos and beauty charms create a sense of shelter. They become balmy but fragile shields against fading time and memory, working to thwart the emotional impact of societal constraints on feminine identities. By blending these elements, I create a narrative tension that mirrors the ambivalence many women feel towards domestic responsibilities, caregiving relationships, and idealized appearance.
Though the narratives have undertones of trepidation, I offer the outermost mantle as a stopping point. Whimsical vignettes provide portals for escapism, granting moments of discovery within intricate scenes that evoke intimate aspects of beauty, sexuality, mental health, domesticity, and memory-making. These compositions invite nostalgic reflection and weave gentle threads of feminine delight. Inspired by the rich tapestry of myth and fantasy, I challenge the patriarchal norms of the hero's journey, which focus on messaging about success, power, and triumphalism. I center the often untold narratives of the feminine experience, exploring feelings of apprehension, tentative connection, internal growth, and the mercurial longings implicit within it.