Erica Aitken

BELGIUM

Artwork Details

“Carlos” is part of a 15-silkscreened prints series dedicated to essential workers. He, and others like him, are my heroes, showing up for work, sometimes with minimum wages, so that we could shelter safely at home.
I met all of the people in this series, except for two, and they have my deepest gratitude.
This type of silkscreen invites the unexpected, such as how a color will print, how much of a pattern it will yield. It's a technique that fully represents who we are and how we're living our year of pandemic and natural disasters.

Artist Bio

I was born in Belgium. I grew up near Antwerp and attended the Ecole de Recherches Graphiques in Brussels where I earned an BA. After working a few years in Brussels, I moved to the US and lived in different places until settling in Santa Cruz, California. I earned a MFA with a concentration on publishing.

In the late 90s, I started a technical consulting business that specializes in workflow solutions for the graphic and printing industries. At the same time, I designed a magazine for a non-profit organization. A few years ago, we published an award-winning magazine called Out of Chaos. This was the realization of a life long dream. But it’s difficult to launch a new publication and we folded after a few years.

Art took a back seat for a few decades while the mind and the body matured. I have so much to tell today and devote most of my free time to creating art using Epson prints, silkscreen, with drawings and paintings. The mix of these media is a metaphor for who I am, a bit of everything that built careers, relationships, loves and beliefs.

I am completely committed to the fight for equal opportunity for all, not with just words but with action. Art is one way to express political and social beliefs, action is another. I won’t stop agitating until we make way for everyone to live and work comfortably, and for our infrastructures, our schools, banks, businesses to serve everyone without regard for race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Please don’t hesitate to send feedback on the work that you see here.