erica steiner

ornamental tree (reverie in blue-green), oil, graphite, gold leaf on canvas, 30x30, miniature textile (pink), oil, graphite, gold leaf on canvas, 4x6, time and distance (with orange mountains), oil, graphite, gold leaf on canvas, 10x10, crossing of the sun, oil, graphite, gold leaf on canvas, 36x36, celestial imprint (with roses), oil, graphite, gold leaf on canvas, 12x12

erica steiner's elaborately decorated, lush, luxurious paintings are full of depth, exuberance and life...i love how she seamlessly ties together forms derived from landscape, decoration and the body...i'm so inspired...

I am powerfully attracted to objects of adornment, particularly traditionally feminine objects such as flowers, fabric, beads and jewels. At the same time, I am wary of the allure of shiny things— objects desired—and the endless hunger to consume which drives our culture to destroy the natural world, and one another, in their pursuit. I use my painting as a means to explore this attraction/destruction dichotomy, to pursue my affinity for beauty, for ornamentation, for excess, and the more turbulent psychic territory that lies beneath.