about
Artist Bio
Within my practice I explore themes that intimately examine the human condition and experience. Employing both painting and sculptural elements, I explore these themes through a lens of femininity and utilize my own experiences to create artwork that feels intimate to viewers. I incorporate natural elements such as seashells, pearls, barnacles, and oysters. These nautical forms are often associated with femininity as well as change and transformation.
Seashells, oysters and pearls are broadly associated with change and transformation within their animalistic nature; in contrast barnacles showcase suction and permanence. In my art, I incorporate the human form,either in segments or whole, which is able to help viewers connect to my work on a personal level. By combining these elements in my work along familiar human forms and elements, I am able to showcase the various cycles in life of change, transformation, the human experience, memories, death, and rebirth.
Most of my creative process is shaped by my own lived experiences, with each piece acting as both a reflection of those utterly human moments and my personal understanding of them. These personal experiences tend to reflect a broader association with femininity, transformation, and identity working to reflect societal issues back in a personal context. I am also heavily inspired by periods of art history like the High Renaissance, Baroque, and the Surrealists, as I commandeer the established symbolism from those times to blend it with my own visual language.
Erica Lapp is a multidisciplinary artist from, and currently working in Denver, Colorado. Currently receiving her BFA from the University of Colorado Denver, she uses her practice to pose difficult questions about being human to her viewers and provide an intimate space for reflection. Lapp blends together contemporary art and playful or humorous elements to engage viewers outside of her contemporary audience.
Primarily Erica works in sculpture, specifically three dimensional bronze and iron casting, recently experimenting with soft sculpture and using found objects in her sculptures like antiques or animal bones. Erica has exhibited in a number of group shows including at Emmanuel Gallery, the Art Depot, and most recently her BFA thesis show at the Revel Blake Street Gallery.
As well as pursuing her art practice Erica also maintains her love for the museum world and has worked at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver for the past three years as a Gallery Attendant, Visitor Services Associate, and currently Manager on Duty which allows her to interact with new artists and find new directions to take her practice as well as pursue her interests in art history, contemporary art, and research.