Delaney Welsh ’24
Sophia Jackson ’24
Located in the Crawford Campus Center Art Gallery, Ellen Erikson’s “Long Way Home” exhibit represents her experiences navigating life without a true “home.” Erikson explains that the main inspiration behind the exhibit “came from [her] twenties spent exploring and living abroad but also feeling very lost and adrift, both physically in the world, but also very emotionally within [herself]”. This exhibit was on display from September 1st to October 4th.
Before beginning a project, Erikson takes time to evaluate what she wants to get out of the photographs. She explains, “You go out and photograph and you are just drawn to things… you spend time intentionally thinking about your compositions and making a strong photograph, but you go out and you explore.”
Courtesy of EA Communications
Erikson drew inspiration from the sense of displacement she felt while visiting over thirty countries including Austria, South Korea, Ireland and more. She notes, “I can’t say that I was feeling anything immediately, but I can tell you that a lot of the work came from a more dark part in my life. Not horribly dark, but you know, a difficult part in my life where I was lost and I was lonely and I was feeling very adrift and disconnected.” However, Erikson explains that her creative process was not limited to photography as “there was a lot of time spent journaling and writing and really looking at my images being like, ‘What’s in these photographs? What has drawn them all together?’”
David Sigel, the Upper School Art Department Chair, explains that by understanding Erikson’s personality, he felt more connected to her exhibit. Sigel notes, “oftentimes we go into museums or galleries and we look at the art for its art. But what a real treat to be able to know the person who made that art, so I felt joy in being able to almost hear Ellen’s voice through her work and to know her is to hear that voice and to see that caring approach.”
Hilary Hutchinson, Upper School 3D- Design teacher, expressed a similar sense of connection, after having a conversation with Erikson where she learned that her “work is very personal and is connected to different places that she has lived in. It is interesting to see what she associated with being home, and how home was a lot of different places.”
The subjectivity of Erikson’s art made the experience of visiting the gallery more enjoyable, since viewers were able to make contrasting interpretations from the same pieces. Mia Filopovski ‘23, a 2D design student, describes the exhibit as “really peaceful because of the way she captured the still moments.” Erikson explains that along with calm responses, she also was told her art sparked sadness since her exhibit consisted of “really kind of depressing photographs. They are very empty…It is very moody and dramatic and full of melancholy.” Erikson comments on the emotion in her pieces, saying, “I am a happy, chipper, giggly person, and it is very true that I am that person but there’s obviously also the more internal part of me that is not that person and that comes out a lot more in my photography and my art.”
Filopovski explains that she admired Erikson’s ability to connect with viewers as she could “really see and feel the emotion through the images.” Hutchinson adds that “Erikson’s art provided an interesting opportunity to be able to hear an artist talk about their work and talk about where their ideas come from and what inspires them.”
Courtesy of EA Communications