Erica Iman

My current body of work has been driven by years of material and process research and experimentation, a result of my pursuit to find forms and surfaces that resonate beyond materiality and object. The work is based on natural processes and raw earth materials. I work intuitively while creating the pieces, responding to the form, surface and overall feel, ripping at edges and emphasizing natural cracks. Many of my techniques come from mimicking nature’s processes such as freeze and thaw, extreme moisture and drought, and erosion. The paintings are created using the same powdered black iron that is used in my bronze glaze. The iron is mixed with varying proportions of water and poured onto an archivally primed panel. The black iron naturally branches, creating fractal-like details in the work. The texture, line-quality, form, edge, and line are similar in feel to my ceramic work, and I aim to create a similar sense of atmosphere. Intuition and an inner, centered emotion both play a large role during the creation of my work. I push back and forth between masculine and feminine, raw and refined; the exuberance of traveling to a foreign land and the inner clarity and resonance of simply being. I am drawn to a sense of timelessness, the origin story of a stone, a glacier, or cracked desert earth, something that roots us in our existence beyond what humans have constructed. These works help locate and orient me in the world. They are way posts, markers, guides, fragments, or cairns for exploring the essence of our physical and inner landscapes.