Crystallized tears on silk organza. Hand-embroidered. Approx. 4' x 18" x 16". 2009.
Crystallized tears on dress. Approx. 5" x 18" x 16". 2009.
Hand-embroidery and Crystallized tears on silk organza. Approx. 5' x 13'. 2008-2009.
by www.erincolemancruz.com
Flood the Luminous Body
Between the tears I see...
when all our walls are full
BACK TO PORTFOLIO
Between the Tears I see...
2008-2009
Tears are the physical manifestation of emotion with our Selves. A sea brimming over carving a landscape of emotional experience. I have asked my viewers to submit stories of their times of hope: that which they see between the tears...
Detail of false t
emotions begin to seep out,
carefully stored jars of tears will run over
to crystallize in their moment of liberation, dropping
to our feet.
the disillusionment
and then dissolving
into tears
our longings and losses
of nurture and rational thinking.
And in the end, the careful nature, the planning and coping and keeping and pushing back and building against
are to tear open and flood the entire luminous body
Collaborative Projects
In 2007 I began working on multiple projects with collaborators:
The Crate Projects with Bradley Cahill
inter(change). This work is a closed system housed inside of an old shipping crate that uses a glass water bottle, a stopper and tubes with drip clamps, a canvas sling with bean sprouts, and a vermiculture bin with red worms, soil, and organic refuse.
The crate used in this project has become a symbol of transience and the life, death, and re-birth cycle, as the crate itself is upcycled into a new use and houses a living process which deals with an active cycle in real time. In the middle of the piece, bean sprouts grow in earth that was generated by the actions of worms (located in the lower bin) upon decaying, organic matter. Both of these operations: life and death, are activated by water, which brings into focus a fundamental routine that is occurring at all times everywherethere is genesis, life is sustained, and eventual demise and decay, which will nourish the next generation.
Transduce : [L transducere to lead across, transfer...] 1. to convert [as energy or a message] into another form.
Using all pre-used objects (art shipping crates, desks, drawers, suitcases, bedframes, shipping pallets, railroad ties, etc) we consider the ability to "transduce" or convert these used objects into something new. We contemplate transience by placing together permament trappings with mobile objects, considering the possiblities within the birth-death-rebirth cycle.
The threshold project with Bianca McGraw
Braided together by a long rope of hair the artists transform a site into liminal space. The braid acts both as a bridge between each of the artists but also as a threshold between the artists in which the participants can cross. The resulting liminal space invites contemplation with multiple readings such as the contemplation of entering another's space, potential progressive or transgressive acts.
Merkeyna Coif Boutique with Bianca McGraw
Click to see images of our work:
Bio
Born in the midwest, the artist currently lives in northern Illinois with her bibliophile husband Daniel Shank Cruz.
Erin teaches Computer Arts and Graphics at McHenry County College and works at the Northern Illinois University Art Museum. When she is not teaching or handling art she is busy making and showing work, curating, or creating collaboratively. She also runs two etsy shops in her "spare" time.
Artist Statement
Our sufferings do not magically end; instead we are able to wisely alchemically recycle them. They become the abundant waste that we use to make new growth possible. bell hooks*
An inner landscape takes form through crystallized tears, maps of inner journeys appear on garments, narratives of loss and pain are shared. The terrible beauty of our longings and losses is first succumbed to and then delicately transformed into expressions of coping and keeping, mending and sorting, nurturing and holding. Here the longings to be able to nurture and love, and to be nurtured and loved, are stitched into the very works themselves. There is futility present, and yet so much is surmounted by the expression of a gesture, thought, or word.
As an artist, I find that there is the opportunity to createvia a magical processusing an item of little value and transforming it into something of great meaning, which is central to my work. I transform my own difficultyet often commonexperiences into meaningful expressions by selecting simple and abundant materials such as household goods, garments, plants, and salt, and transforming them via an alchemical-esque process. My use of embroidery and other traditional womens work techniques along with lived-used domestic objects that have passed from one use to the next over time serves to remind us that the home is the site of our first world, and the objects and functions in those homes are charged with meaning.
*All About Love: New Visions. New York: Harper, 2001, 80-81.
CV
Please download the following PDF for an updated resume.
coleman-cruz_cv_2010-jan
CONTACT ME
ecolemancruz_yahoo.com
www.ecolemancruz.etsy.com
815.761.8813
Erin Coleman-Cruz
Artist
