We recently connected with Erin Dellasega and have shared our conversation below.

Erin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

My current artistic practice has caused me to take some fairly big risks. These are risks that I was not anticipating when I started the path that I am currently on; I am half way through a three year master of fine arts program for painting + drawing. Despite being in a painting program, over the last 12 months I have decided to turn my practice back towards working with textiles, fashion design, and garment making. Prior to starting my MFA program I completed a year long master’s program in studio art in which I focused solely on painting and when I completed that program I was truly anticipating to only be painting for the foreseeable future. I do paint quite often still, but most of the concepts and themes that I normally focus on within painting and drawing tend to be stuck in a more passive or reflective state; in many ways, that tendency for passivity does not fit with the more contemporary and relevant ideas that I am currently dealing with in my practice. My research right now involves investigating ideas about post-feminism and learned femininity, issues on persona development, as well as the development of self-identity amidst the digital age. Because of this, I have had to put my paint brushes away for a while and turn back to working with textiles and sewing in order to really delve into these issues. At the moment, my practice involves a sort of solo couture approach to garment making, as well as a focus on video and installation work. I am still very much in the midst of this change, so it is an ongoing project, but so far it has been immensely fulfilling and exciting to develop.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Erin Dellasega and I am a painter, fashion designer, and digital artist from southeast Kansas. I graduated with my Bachelor of Fine Arts in May of 2020 from the University of Kansas, and received my Master of Arts in studio art from Eastern Illinois University in May of 2021. Currently, I live in Athens, Ohio and I am in the Master of Fine Arts in Painting + Drawing at Ohio University.

I began my career as an artist focusing mostly on painting and two-dimensional work with the occasional digital project here and there; I taught myself photoshop and video editing when I was very young. I always knew I wanted to be in a creative field since I was very young. I remember thinking that I wanted to be a fashion designer when I was very young, but I ultimately decided to pursue painting and drawing when I reached college age, so I have focused on painting and drawing for most of my artistic career.

My painting + drawing work has focused mostly upon the ideas of memory as it relates to space and the passing of time. I am drawn to utilizing a collage and mixed media approach when I paint, so my painting process becomes much more sculptural as the pieces develop. My prior body of work in painting focuses on interior spaces and collaged photographs of the different places that I have lived in and have come to call home; those pieces comment mostly upon cyclical time and routine and the intensity of isolation.

However, as I have continued to discover my voice through my creative practice, my most recent body of work trends more towards dealing with themes of post-feminism and what I refer to as a confrontation with my learned femininity, as well as the implications of coming of age within a world heavily impacted by social media. I am interested in the contemporary necessity for public persona development, and more specifically, how that is reflected through fashion trends and style curation.

I began to investigate this new avenue in my work last year as I started to collect second-hand domestic textiles; I was really interested in floral patterned bedsheets, lace tablecloths, and stained curtains and how those pieces of fabric could harness emotions and feelings. Specifically, I was interested in the way that those fabrics conjured emotions that are poignant and relevant for the individuals, most likely women, who owned those fabrics which were then simply given away with no trace of who previously owned them. Interestingly, I found myself very attracted to these aesthetics of feminine domesticity that are extremely traditional and stereotypically feminine. This revelation forced me to reflect upon why exactly I was drawn to those aesthetics. As I was coming to this understand, I was concurrently painting onto those fabrics that I had collected through a method of staining, as well as creating garments from them.

After spending almost a year with those secondhand and inherited textiles, I recognized that what I am most interested in right now is how I can cultivate and understand my own femininity through my own persona development. This also allows me to investigate the larger implications and issues that the trend of public persona creation has placed upon contemporary society. These ideas are what has lead me back to focusing upon fashion design and sewing as the main avenue of my current body of work. The work I am making right now emphasizes newfound independence and a play upon alter-ego and performance through the creation and curation of a couture line of garments, as well as accompanying video and sound installation pieces.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

This is an interesting question because I have just recently come to terms with the fact that it is a necessity for new and contemporary artists to harness their social media presence in order to receive recognition or cultivate an audience. I, myself, really struggle with the intensity of social media because in order to develop a large audience it is essential to post very often and consistently. I find that my best interactions on social media come when I am not striving too hard for perfection with each post and am my most authentic self. Overall, I try to make sure that I post often but not to let it affect my mental health. I recently began posting more often on TikTok, however, and despite some initial apprehension, it has quickly become my favorite social media outlet to cultivate an audience. There is something about the algorithm on TikTok that allows me to reach individuals who really resonate with the work that I am making, rather than on Instagram.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an artist that I have found so far is finding a core group of colleagues and peers that share the same values as me and truly understand where I am coming from in my practice. There is nothing more exciting than seeing how others can translate similar ideas and emotions into work that is so vastly different, but equally important and contemporarily relevant.

Contact Info:

• Website: erindellasega.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/erindellasega
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-dellasega-b84875152
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ursilentface

Image Credits
Erin Dellasega