Even as a child, Erin Currier felt that discarded packaging—chocolate wrappers and soap boxes with scenes of paradise—were humble works of art and beauty. In her new exhibition opening in late June at Blue Rain Gallery, the artist uses reclaimed materials from across the globe to create mixed-media portraits of figures she encountered during her travels. The show, titled From New Mexico to the Mediterranean: Motorcyclists, Mystics, and Milongueras,features an intriguing cast of characters, including artists, travelers, bikers, dancers, saints and autonomous thinkers.
Saint Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas of Palestine, acrylic and mixed media on panel, 36 x 24 in.
Currier’s work seeks to illuminate the divine within the mundane to honor the inherent human qualities of compassion, courage and passion. “My subjects have touched the divine through honoring their own individual passions and humble paths and, in so doing, have touched and inspired the lives of others as well,” says Currier.
One of her subjects is Elspeth Beard, the first woman to ride around the world alone on a motorcycle.
“The majority of the found materials I layer in reference to the story of the subject,” says Currier. “In the piece celebrating [Elspeth], I used mechanic’s packaging, motorbike playing cards from Hong Kong, a Nomad Festival poster from Palermo, dance flyers and other pieces of trash that speak to ideas of freedom and movement and velocity.”
Pamela Coleman Smith, acrylic and mixed media on panel, 24 x 18 in.
Another subject in Currier’s work is the prolific British illustrator and occultist Pamela Colman Smith, best known for illustrating the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. The deck remains the most widely used tarot deck in the world since its creation in 1909. The artist lovingly depicts Smith’s life and struggles in her portrait, in which Currier has collaged ephemera from her travels to create Smith’s clothing, adding texture and symbolism that underscore her humanity and resilience in pursuing her art and talents.
Elspeth Beard, acrylic and mixed media on panel, 48 x 60 in.
One quality that is a cornerstone of Currier’s work is the idea of encountering God, the gods, the Creator and the divine within oneself. Guided by that idea, she portrays ordinary and overlooked subjects from across ethnicities, generations, borders and trades in her work who reflect the human commonalities.
“I have seen so many portraits of royalty, aristocrats, popes, cardinals, sultans and emperors in the magnificent churches, museums, mosques and palaces of the world—some from hundreds, even thousands, of years ago,” says Currier. “Yet the paintings of the people: workers, vendors, cooks, teachers, even artists and musicians, seem few and far between in comparison. My life’s work is to honor such people—all of us—so that centuries, even millennia later, the quiet dignity of ordinary yet extraordinary humans has its legacy.”
Sicilian Fly Girl, acrylic and mixed media on panel, 48 x 36 in.
From New Mexico to the Mediterranean: Motorcyclists, Mystics, and Milongueras will be on view at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from June 26 to July 9, with a reception on opening day from 5 to 7 p.m. —
Blue Rain Gallery 544 S. Guadalupe Street • Santa Fe, NM 87501 • (505) 954-9902 • www.blueraingallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
