Describing her work and process, Erin M. Riley states “I am a tapestry weaver, working on a floor loom with hand dyed wool. I slowly and methodically building imagery that is sourced from the internet, video stills and my personal cache of photographs. My work is inspired by how the depths of the internet have shaped me, from exploring sexuality, to understanding my queer identity, unpacking trauma, and addiction. I am propelled by the ideas that while we might feel alone in our experiences, there is probably a place or a person or a thing who have experienced such things. This seeking for understanding is a hugely youthful concept and I hope my work taps into that notion that we are not singular in our experiences no matter how specific and the comfort that comes from speaking up about our struggles and finding our corners of the world or the world wide web. I find images that are compelling and complicated, simplify them down to their essence into a cartoon drawing and begin to weave them in some of the traditional ways that tapestry has been executed for decades. This work is presented in contemporary art galleries, textile exhibitions and museums to create and add to the narrative of textile work while challenging the notions of feminism, human rights and experiences and sex positivity.”
Riley received her BFA in 2007 from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, MA and her MFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA, in 2009.
For more information, please see: https://erinmriley.com/home.html, and on Instagram @erinmriley.
Erin M. Riley standing in front of Reflections, 2019. Hand woven wool, cotton. 100 x 78 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
First, and most importantly, how are you doing? How are you navigating the highs and lows?
I am doing okay. I had prepared for 2020 to be mostly work anyways so I had started March full of supplies and ideas to work on. It has been awful to see the world change so much, see so many people die, as I sit at the loom and work through pieces about family and myself.
Erin M. Riley, Violation, 2017. Hand woven wool, cotton. 48 x 70 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
It's my experience that most artists engage with some level of self-isolation in their day to day art practice. Has this been your experience? And if so, have you found these innate rhythms to be helpful during this larger, world-wide experience of isolation?
I am usually a person who exists in a life alone, getting outside only to get supplies or food, rarely interacting or socializing. Not much has changed.
Erin M. Riley, So Over, 2016. Hand woven, hand-dyed wool. 100 x 67 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
It would be great if you could briefly talk us through your practice. Understanding it is integral to appreciating the multivalence of your work.
I am a tapestry weaver. I work with hand dyed wool and traditional weaving methods to produce large scale tapestries using imagery of myself, objects and various scenes.
Tapestry weaving in progress. Image courtesy of the artist.
Has any of your imagery shifted in a reflection to what's currently happening? Or are you considering using coronavirus related imagery for future projects? Do you find it necessary to make work about the pandemic? And why, or why not?
I don’t necessarily have plans for talking about the pandemic explicitly but before all of this started I was thinking about loneliness and aloneness. Which is more and more being talked about as so many people are living solitary lives, many for the first time. It’s hard to depict aloneness and being isolated. I have been working with this theme for a while but it very much relates to the pandemic now. I do think death and loss is paramount to my work and the collective pause on funerals and gatherings has been hard to experience. The urge to mourn together is pushed back on.
Erin M. Riley, Evidence, 2017. Hand woven wool, cotton. 134 x 48 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
Installation view of Evidence, 2017. Hand woven wool, cotton. 134 x 48 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
Are you thinking differently? Coping differently? Inspired differently?
I am pretty much the same, researching and exploring topics that have always inspired me, reaching out and working with communities that need support and exposure. So much of my work is about dealing with issues that have affected me and looking back on how they have affected women and humans for decades.
Erin M. Riley, Nudes 40, 2019. Hand woven wool, cotton. 48 x 55 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
What do you think or hope will be different after this crisis has passed?
I hope that things will slow down, that art will be less commercialized and there will be less art fairs. That people will spend more time looking at art, talking about art and making art. That art will have value for its impact rather than its sales price. I hope industries will pay their employees better, value quality of life, as well as the health and safety of their workers. I hope that cities will drastically cut the funding of police, to demilitarize society and to hold cops accountable for their racism and the killings of black Americans. I hope that there will be different leadership; our options aren’t great but different nonetheless. I don’t have a lot of hope for anything actually, but there are so many things that need to change.
Erin M. Riley, Cutie, 2017. Hand woven wool, cotton. 48 x 73 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
What is bringing you solace, or even joy, in this moment?
I have been trying video therapy for the first time, doing some exercise, and gardening have been moments of pause.
Tapestry weaving in progress. Image courtesy of the artist.
What research or writing are you doing that you find compelling?
I have been working through a lot of stories and family history, trying to write down memories and figure out what truth is.
What are you reading?
I just finished In the Dream House, Jack Goldstein and the CalArts Mafia, and The Light of the World. I am currently reading Burn It Down, Destruction of the Father/Reconstruction of the Father: Writings and Interviews, 1923 - 1997, and re-reading The Undercommons.
Riley in the studio with their loom. Image courtesy of the artist.