Meet Erica Dallman

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in a small, conservative town in Arizona. Growing up, I used art to escape boredom, family drama, and the heat. At almost any hour of the day, I could be found in my room with a pencil and paper. I continued to create throughout my life. I became more known for my art in high school, where I took my first art class. I was still creating “pretty” art then—art based on trends and craft alone. As many young artists do, I spent plenty of time drawing portraits of pop culture icons, with no intention other than idolatry and aesthetic.

Unsure of the instability of the artist life, I applied to Arizona State University for business. Before my move to Phoenix, I received a transformative call from my sister, who encouraged me to pursue my artistic passion. When the phone call ended, I switched my major to Fine Art.

I don’t believe that university is for everyone, especially with the current business model of most universities in America. However, coming from a small town with no real accessibility to fine art and life that primed me for college, university was the right step for me. I took a wide variety of classes throughout my college career—drawing, watercolor, woodworking, fibers, painting, etc. Thanks to brilliant professors and peers, my definition of art evolved from “pretty and trendy” to explorative and thought-provoking. My art process, which once solely consisted of drawing, became concept-priority and medium-secondary. When I realized that my already-present thoughts could inspire my work, my art evolved. I did not have to work very hard to conceive an idea about piece—I could simply listen closely to the thoughts that already inhabited my mind.

This is a difficult question for me to answer because the answer is continuously evolving. Not unlike other artists, I have a tendency to grasp onto an idea, explore it until I grow tired of it, and then try something new. I suppose that consistency in my work is an aspect of socially informed and/or engaged ideas. I have always had a passion for human rights. I have made or participated in work about gun violence, women’s rights, sexual objectification and consent, technology, and incarceration. My media varies widely—photography, video, fibers, drawing, installation, painting, sound, relational aesthetics, etc.

As an interdisciplinary artist, the medium I work with depends on the objective of the piece. For example, my BFA Thesis Project, Comprehending the Incomprehensible, intended to create a space for people to comprehend and critically engage with the issue of mass shootings in America. Because of this goal, it made sense to create an installation.

An earlier piece, SELF, intends to explore what intimate, feminine self-expression can look like in the age of technology—a phenomenon that is women photographing themselves in their bedrooms and sharing the photos with the outside world. This piece consists of a performance by dancer Gina Jurek and utilizes a front-facing phone camera.

Cybersexxx is a photography series of mine. It is comprised of photographs of technological inputs and outputs, mirroring the style of 1970’s pornography, organized into a webpage ( cybersexxx.tumblr.com). The intention of this piece is to identify and exaggerate the sexualization of technology in advertising.

As time passes, the more ambiguous my work seems to become. I used to think that a piece was meant to be a definitive opinion, feeling, or answer. I now think of pieces more like questions, explorations, and conversations. My most recent exhibited piece is called My Feet Look Like My Sister’s, shown at Xico Inc at an exhibition centered around ideas of mapping. It is a collaboration with my sister, Alex Dallman. As avid travelers and artists, my sister and I found ourselves with collections of audio recordings from different times and spaces all over the globe. Because Alex is a sailor and uses the star navigation, we created an archive of star maps to document the times and places these recordings were taken. The maps were displayed next to headphones playing collages of the recordings, and at the base of the piece rested a pile of dirt, which was inspired by a snippet of writing from an email exchange between her and me.

You can measure success in a million different ways. As an anti-capitalist, I don’t look to fiscal success for satisfaction. I tend to measure my own success on my ability to grow from my experiences, not be fearful of making mistakes, and most importantly, keep creating work. It is easy to stop creating work (or sell out) in a society that values profit and often doesn’t value creativity. Determination is essential to any artistic career.

I am currently on a six-month backpacking trip through Southeast Asia, so my present artist process consists mainly of journaling, blogging, and photography. The best place to see my work is on my website,  ericadallman.com. You can support my work simply by keeping up with it, connecting with me, and when given the opportunity, visiting it in person.