STATEMENT
My work begins with solitary walks through green space and overlooked outdoor spaces, often at night. Using a Holga or vintage 35mm SLR camera, I photograph trees, shrubs and tangled plant life on film, embracing the blur, grain and accidental light leaks produced by the analogue process. I build images within the process by taking multiple exposures. I enjoy the anticipation and slowness of waiting for the film to be developed.
The photographs are enlarged and mounted onto aluminium Dibond, then layered with paint, spray paint, markers and resin. As the original image is obscured and reimagined, the work moves between photography and painting, natural representation and abstraction.
Rooted in personal experiences of loss and a deep interest in death and dying, the work reflects my melancholic attachment to the natural world and an awareness of life’s fragility. Each piece attempts to hold onto a fleeting moment while acknowledging that nothing remains unchanged.
BIO
Erin Burns was born in California. She studied painting at the University of California at Berkeley where she attained a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree, she graduated with Honours. At UCB she studied with and was greatly influenced by the late Wendy Sussman, who encouraged her to move to New York City to further her studies. Taking the advice, Burns went on to receive a Masters of Fine Arts degree from New York University. There she studied with and was the studio assistant to Cora Cohen and then to Lisa Yuskavage.
After several successful shows in her native San Francisco where she has shown on consignment with the Andrea Schwartz Gallery, she moved to the UK and in 2005/06 was awarded a residency at the Florence Trust Studios in London.
Her work involves delicately painting and marking the surface of a photograph taken in a natural environment which is then mounted on aluminum and then covered in multiple layers of viscous polymer resin and paint. The viewer appears to be looking through a translucent solid where textures, layers, and imagery converge.
Burns has shown in Paris, New York, San Francisco, London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. She lives and works outside of London in the coastal town of Brighton, East Sussex. Her corporate clients include Nordstrom who commissioned 5 pieces for their new flagship
store in Palm Beach, Florida; her work is also in these fine collections: The Ritz Carleton Hotel, Marina Del Rey; The Dorchester Hotel, London; and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
My work begins with solitary walks through green space and overlooked outdoor spaces, often at night. Using a Holga or vintage 35mm SLR camera, I photograph trees, shrubs and tangled plant life on film, embracing the blur, grain and accidental light leaks produced by the analogue process. I build images within the process by taking multiple exposures. I enjoy the anticipation and slowness of waiting for the film to be developed.
The photographs are enlarged and mounted onto aluminium Dibond, then layered with paint, spray paint, markers and resin. As the original image is obscured and reimagined, the work moves between photography and painting, natural representation and abstraction.
Rooted in personal experiences of loss and a deep interest in death and dying, the work reflects my melancholic attachment to the natural world and an awareness of life’s fragility. Each piece attempts to hold onto a fleeting moment while acknowledging that nothing remains unchanged.
BIO
Erin Burns was born in California. She studied painting at the University of California at Berkeley where she attained a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree, she graduated with Honours. At UCB she studied with and was greatly influenced by the late Wendy Sussman, who encouraged her to move to New York City to further her studies. Taking the advice, Burns went on to receive a Masters of Fine Arts degree from New York University. There she studied with and was the studio assistant to Cora Cohen and then to Lisa Yuskavage.
After several successful shows in her native San Francisco where she has shown on consignment with the Andrea Schwartz Gallery, she moved to the UK and in 2005/06 was awarded a residency at the Florence Trust Studios in London.
Her work involves delicately painting and marking the surface of a photograph taken in a natural environment which is then mounted on aluminum and then covered in multiple layers of viscous polymer resin and paint. The viewer appears to be looking through a translucent solid where textures, layers, and imagery converge.
Burns has shown in Paris, New York, San Francisco, London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. She lives and works outside of London in the coastal town of Brighton, East Sussex. Her corporate clients include Nordstrom who commissioned 5 pieces for their new flagship
store in Palm Beach, Florida; her work is also in these fine collections: The Ritz Carleton Hotel, Marina Del Rey; The Dorchester Hotel, London; and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
