Vibrant florals, Cloaked Figures, and the Power of Persephone : Paintings by Erika b Hess
My next interview is with painter Erika b Hess, who lives and works in Columbus, Ohio. Erika is known for her bold, vivid use of color and otherworldly imagery, largely inspired by the natural world. In her paintings, you'll find bright florals, slithering snakes, swarms of butterflies, and cloaked figures shrouded in plants. These elements come together to create narratives that are mysterious, beautiful, and complex. In this interview, Erika discusses the evolution of her work and what led her to launch her podcast, "I Like Your Work." She also shares her creative process and inspiration, from flower symbolism to the Greek goddess Persephone.
Hi Erika! Tell me about your background and where your creative journey began.
Like a lot of artists, I was a creative kid. I grew up in an area filled with beautiful trees and miles of woods. I could walk out my front door and head up a hill to paths that would just keep going and going. There weren’t a lot of people and while it was beautiful, it was isolated and that was a bit of a struggle for me. I had to entertain myself through drawing or going on hikes. Making drawings or being in the woods felt like a way to connect with something else, something bigger, which is how I still feel about making paintings. I began seriously studying art in undergrad where I discovered oil paint, and worked with great faculty mentors, and then I went on to attend Boston University for my MFA.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Yes and no. The easy part was I knew I wanted to be a painter. The hard part was: “OK, how do you make that happen?” I took jobs that allowed me to have studio time, I was flexible in the studio spaces I worked in, and overall, I always made sure that making work was at the forefront of what I was doing. One example is when I moved to NYC after grad school: I told myself if I got into a situation where I wasn’t able to afford to make work, I would leave because I was there to be a painter, not to be someone who gave up painting to live in New York. I ended up leaving because I needed more of an income and that was a tough choice. I’ve shifted a lot in order to make room for my painting practice but as I’ve gotten older it’s become easier. I think the bottom line is you have to make decisions that work for you and work for what you want in your life.
How have your paintings shifted and evolved over time?
Yes, my paintings have definitely shifted over the past 15 years in terms of how I apply paint as well as in my subject matter. I originally worked from observation, and then left the figure to explore non-representational painting and have returned to representational painting. I have also shifted the surface of my work from working thick and with texture, to thin layers of color and back again.
Your work combines figurative elements with the flora and fauna of the natural world. What inspires your work, and how do you select your subject matter?
The figures with flowers started about five years ago when I had my first child. We were living away from family, and when we brought our daughter home from the hospital, we started receiving bouquets of flowers on our doorstep. I was floored! I hadn’t expected this gesture and this celebration of life was touching. This led to a series of paintings titled, “The Flower Bearers." The idea was beautifully simple to me: the act of giving and receiving flowers. And yet the narrative was wonderfully complex and mysterious: who is giving flowers, who is receiving, and why? I’m fascinated by how the flower reflects our own cyclical nature. We are born, we are beautiful, we live and we die. Recently I have been thinking about the idea of Persephone, Goddess of the Underworld and Goddess of fertility. Persephone received the souls of the dead into the earth and acquired powers over the fertility of the soil, over which she reigned. The cyclical nature of Persephone as both the bringer of life and witness of death is fascinating to me.
In addition to being a painter, you host "I Like Your Work," a podcast that features interviews with painters, curators, studio artists, and collectors. What led you to launch this podcast?
In 2016 I co-founded an artist space, MUSA Collective, and it was a really incredible experience for me. I loved working with other artists, and diving into supporting each other to achieve something larger than what we could do alone. After about a year of being involved, I knew I was going to move, and I wanted to continue a dialogue with artists and friends so I decided to start a podcast. I love being in people’s studios and hearing about their work and life. The fact is there are so many artists out there who we can learn from but that aren’t always enough platforms so I thought why not create one and share these great stories.
When did you join Instagram, and how has it impacted your work as an artist?
I joined in 2011 and at first, it was a place to post pictures of my cats! Ha! Over the years it became more of a professional space to share my work. Honestly, Instagram has had a positive and negative impact on me. There was a time where I became overwhelmed and being on there made me feel inadequate. It had to do with my own headspace. I needed to stop looking at a lot of work and just look at my own. Once I found my footing again I was able to go back on and not have those feelings. Now I use Instagram as a way to find artists to share on I Like Your Work and that is a different way to look for me. Instead of thinking about it in relation to my own paintings, I look at it on its own terms. That has been a very different experience for me as an artist and one that I find positive.
What does the future hold for your painting and creative endeavors?
I am thrilled to share that I have a solo show coming up at Marietta College in Spring of 2021 that I am currently making work for and I will have work in a group show at Contemporary Art Matters in Columbus, OH this summer.
Follow Erika on Instagram at: erikabhess
Website: www.erikabhess.com