Wanderlust by Erin Stafford

Art League Houston (ALH) is excited to present Wanderlust, an exhibition by Dallas-based artist Erin Stafford.

The exhibition features an installation of five identical View-Master stereoscopes, each revealing a uniquely layered three-dimensional photograph that the artist made using pre-existing View-Master imagery, which relate to themes of travel, religion, storybook narratives and culture.

Inspired by ideas of nostalgia and fantasy, the works in this exhibition propose new ways of engaging with historical material, and expands upon the artist’s exploration with combining the social graces and ritualistic propriety from bygone eras with philistine sensibilities, revealing personal desires in the form of visual delight.

“By layering seemingly disconnected three-dimensional images from various View-Master reels, I have created visually uncanny effects that exposes our vulnerability in relation to perceptions of memory” says the artist. “The viewer is confronted with images that are simultaneously familiar and yet disorientating, while using an object that is infused with sentimentality. When observing these images, the mind will attempt to recall past events, filling in the gaps where information is missing, thus creating a reconstruction that is neither truth nor fiction”.

“While drawing influence from Joseph Cornell, I am interested in our ability to carve out memories from both our realities and our dreams that is often filtered by unspoken desires for the past. These tokens of remembrance will present an opportunity to escape into surreal, dream-like visions that are illuminated with layers of mystery, whimsy and absurdity. The interactive component of the work will provide an intimate viewing experience, as only one person can view the work at a time. The work will combine multiple layers of the past, confronting our memories in a way that is free of consciousness and tapping into the mysteries of dreams and desires”.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Erin Stafford’s aesthetic tendencies are reflected in her studio practice as a result of her affluent upbringing in Dallas, TX where she found upper-middle class expectations full of irony and contradiction. Her influences stem from her perception of this cultural refinement, including various forms a rituals and traditions that have evolved from anachronistic forms of propriety from bygone eras.

She began her art education in painting and drawing at the University of North Texas. It was here that she began to question established social conventions while surrounded by eccentric artists and jazz musicians. After receiving her MFA at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2009, she returned to her hometown to begin her curatorial endeavors at the artist run space called Red Arrow Contemporary.

While continuing her studio practice, Stafford began experimentation in diverse mediums and challenged her art-making process with sculpture and installation.

Her recent exhibitions include FRESH at The Mom Gallery in Austin, TX, Biennial 600-Sculpture curated by Leigh Arnold at the Amarillo Museum of Art, Tongue-and-Groove at Lawndale Art Center in Houston, TX and Misbehaving at Kirk Hopper Fine Art in Dallas, TX.

Pictured: Erin Stafford, View-Master: Assemblage 100-A, 2016, View-Master, film, paint, adhesive.