Erin Kearney, “Living In and With,” July 28 – September 1, 2023

Buffalo Arts Studio presents an exhibition of new work by Buffalo artist Erin Kearney. Kearney’s work utilizes sculptural installation, video projection, and performance through a variety of fiber-based mediums. Her research roots itself inside the architecture of her childhood home. Pulling from personal narrative, Kearney examines the daily happenings that expose the tensions and fleshy underbelly of domestic spaces. The resulting objects are both familiar and disarming. Living In and With is on display July 28—September 1, 2023 with an opening reception on Friday July 28, 5:00—8:00 pm. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

Kearney’s work is an exploration of what it is to inhabit both a physical body and physical space simultaneously. Kearney’s fixation with this parallel began with the neverending repairs in her family’s 100 year old farmhouse. Even as a child, Kearney saw that although the many cracks in the ancient plaster were lovingly repaired, the structure could never be fully restored to its original state. Kearney sees similar limits within the body’s repair mechanisms. Like the skin that grows over a cut and forms a scar, the patch and paint becomes a visible record of the original wound as well as the limitations of repair.

A central work in the exhibition is a full 4 foot by 8 foot piece of drywall titled To Be, To Long and is made by pre-drilling the drywall and looping cotton twine into and out of those drilled holes to form a knitted pattern. Working along the vertical lines of the board, each row is fastened to the previous, and the tension of that thread begins to curve the board and allows it to stand. Kearney begins by drilling a set of holes along the bottom and one side of the board. These holes form an X and Y axis. As Kearney continues to perforate the drywall, the holes chart the limitations of her body due to the fatigue of the intense labor. The structure of the drywall is also changed by the holes, causing sections to sag and crack. Through the holes, Kearney crochets rope, working to maintain consistent tension and even stitches. This labor is taxing on both Kearney’s body and the compromised drywall. As the drywall bends and breaks, Kearney’s knuckles and back crack and ache.

Kearney’s interest in domestic spaces and domestic fiber processes reflects skills passed down and learned by generations of women in her family. Kearney employs processes rooted in craft including weaving, knitting, and crochet, which she marries with construction materials such as drywall, insulation foam, and concrete. While actively engaging with these disparate materials, Kearney reflects on the questions that emerge from living amidst countless building projects: What is on the other side of walls? Where is the hidden labor within the spaces we inhabit? What are the threads that connect the architecture we live in and the bodies we inhabit? What are the connections between the structures we live in and the things and beings we live with, and how can the act of creating blur the lines of both?

The sculptural and fiber work in Living In and With offers no answers. Instead, it invites viewers to look slowly and find their own connections.

Erin Kearney is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Buffalo, New York. She received her BFA in Sculpture from Alfred University and MFA in Art and Technology from the Ohio State University. In 2021, Kearney joined Buffalo Arts Studio as a Studio Artist, and quickly became a part of the Board of Directors, where she now serves as Vice President.

Press Release available here.

Exhibition Catalog available here.

Photo by Aitina Fareed-Cooke, Get Foku’sd Productions, Creatives Rebuild New York Fellow.