Wednesday, September 21 @ 5:00 – 6:15pm
Elvehjem L160
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Online at Zoom: go.wisc.edu/uw-art-talks

German-born and the daughter of two ballet dancers, Erika Diamond is a textile-focused visual artist, curator, and educator. Diamond’s work addresses the vital and fleeting qualities of human contact. It investigates the possibility of immortality, the commemoration of touch, and the thresholds between people. It reveals the vulnerability and self-preservation negotiated during human interaction. Referencing skin, defense mechanisms, and safety procedures, her work questions the fragility and resilience of both the human body and our connections to each other.

Diamond has exhibited nationally and internationally and her costumes have been commissioned by Charlotte Ballet. Residencies include McColl Center for Visual Art (NC); STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise (NC); Black Iris Gallery (VA); ABK Weaving Center (WI); Platte Forum (CO); and STEAM studio at UNC Asheville (NC). She received a Regional Artist Project Grant in 2015 from the Arts & Science Council of NC and an Adjunct Faculty Grant from VCU Arts to create new work using bulletproof Kevlar fabric. Diamond has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University (VA) in the Craft/Material Studies Department and Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design (CO). She spends her summers as Assistant Director of Galleries at Chautauqua Institution (NY). She received a BFA in Sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Fiber from Virginia Commonwealth University. erikadiamond.com