Erika Stern: Faces, Places & Stories

I used to believe that an artist’s Identity was a fixed thing. I thought finding one’s Artistic Voice was really the whole freakin’ point.

I’ve only been painting for a little over 10 years (so roughly a sixth of my life) and have felt really bipolar about my body of work until fairly recently. In the beginning I found myself exclusively painting little allegorical “stories” featuring mystical characters. I went through a Portrait phase, fascinated by the stories told by peoples’ faces (especially by their eyes). At the moment, I’ve completely abandoned both creatures and people and am playing a lot with Abstract Landscapes.

Although pieces from each of these periods look like they were painted by 3 completely different artists, that doesn’t worry me anymore. The common thread, I think, is my fascination with the interpretations people come up with about my work. Everyone seems to want to make up their own story about what they’re looking at. One viewer can see a mountain lake while another is convinced that the very same painting is of Fenway Park. I love this.

And I have no idea what my next ”voice” will sound like.