Name | Erica Eyres

Country | Scotland

DOB | 1980.12.08

Email | erica.eyres@gmail.com

Web | www.ericaeyres.com

Curriculum Vitae | Click Here

Statement | Erica Eyres

I am interested in how humans create an absurd mixture of conflicting emotions when they are faced with overwhelming situations and anxiety, and I would like viewers to have a similar experience when they see my work. My latest work is a series of drawings and videos that focuses on women and how they portray themselves through self-portraits, and how these images reflect their sexuality and their sense of self-worth. These women straddle the border between being pitiful and hilarious so that they demand both empathy and an uncomfortable laughter.

My video work also makes use of this melancholy discomfort. The characters featured are both hilarious and pitiful, evoking a cautious laughter. I always use myself to portray the characters that I create because I believe this element adds to the sense uneasiness, making use of the blurred line between the fiction and the objectiveness of self-portraiture. I utilize the narrative structures found in television, and have emulated video dating programs, reality television, confessional television, documentaries, and children's programs. By imitating these familiar structures, I wish to draw the viewer in and then suddenly upset their expectations. I intend to induce the sense of embarrassment and confusion that we experience when we are confronted with fear, sympathy and laughter that somehow feels inappropriate. I believe that laughter is a natural reaction to fear, but simultaneously makes us feel guilty when it appears out of place.