Erica A. Meier

Celebrating the subtleties of function.

As a metalsmith, sculptor, designer, and educator. I am constantly collaborating with wide range of thinkers- craftspeople, bicycle frame builders, mechanics, jewelers, tool makers, artists- and folding their information into my arsenal of production.

I make objects. I make non-functional and conceptual artwork- usually sculpture or handheld objects- I also make functional jewelry, home decor, bicycle frames, and do commercial work. I am influenced by functional objects in my past and present and I am enchanted by their necessity to function and their fate is they stop performing. Engaged by how we adapt functional objects to suit our lives and how we adapt ourselves to them, I find myself envious of their simple necessity to perform a perfunctory task.

The metamorphosis of our cultural objects has changed the way we communicate, the way we work, and the way we adapt to change and difference. Through the lens of personal history, my research ranges from complicated subjects of disability, mental illness, addiction, and defining the disabled maker to a simple brief dependency of one individual on another- the role of the dysfunctional tool in my practice is a constant protagonist.