Ingrid Erikson

Ingrid Erickson, Insectarium, 2018, cut and painted paper, dimensions variable
Natural History exhibition, Room 100 Gallery, Durham Art Guild, Golden Belt, Photo: Eric Waters

Ingrid Erickson creates works and large-scale installations in cut paper. Reflecting the intersection of art and science, she explores the ornithology, botany, and ecology of ecosystems through the rendering of specific species. Her interest in cut-paper first began during her travels: “I fell in love with the art of cut paper when I taught English and art in Changsha in southern China.” Since then she has collaborated with science centers and natural history museums across the country and considers herself to be a “cut-paper naturalist.” Cut-paper insects are created using drawings, photographs and specimens. Erickson spoke with Edie Carpenter about her work:

This spring many people have been home in the yard and have gotten closer to insects. For your Insectarium you used collections in natural history museums?

Yes, I researched many of the insect species at The NC State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh as well as the Field Museum in Chicago. I also met with an entomologist at the College of Idaho Natural History Museum while I was an artist in residence at Surel’s Place in Boise, Idaho last fall. I like working with scientists and often do research for my projects in natural history collections. I keep sketchbooks/field notebooks since I am interested in the biology and behavior of organisms as well as their structure. As I have been gardening this spring, I have been observing many different species right in my yard.

Are insects challenging subjects to capture in paper?

Definitely! I found myself using magnifiers (a loupe and magnifying glass) to examine them up close. I did lots of sketching to try to understand their structure and movement. One of the most interesting characteristics of insects is an exoskeleton—the hard external covering that protects their bodies instead of having a bony skeleton inside the body (endoskeleton) like mammals. Small details such as legs and antennae are a good challenge to render in paper using my X-acto knife. It was fun and unlike any other installation I had created before…

What do you want people to experience from the vast number of specimens in this collection?

There is such incredible variety among insects and they are adapted for almost all habitats on earth. Many insects are beneficial to people. For example, they play a key role as pollinators. I wanted to give a sense of just how numerous and varied they are. By the way, in addition to insects, (which have 6 legs and 3 main body parts, the head, thorax, and abdomen) there are also a few arachnids in this piece (which have 8 legs and 2 main body parts: the cephalothorax and the abdomen). One is a scorpion.

What are you doing during social distancing, and have you had to put any projects on hold?

This is an unusual time for everyone. Like many artists, my teaching gigs, shows and residencies have been postponed, gone online, or are taking place in a modified form. I was actually supposed to be in Finland right now, mid-way through a month-long residency at Fiskars Village, one hour from Helsinki. It is a community of 100 Finnish artists, and they host one artist in residence at a time for a month.

Instead, during this time of social distancing, I have been having a self-styled “Stay at Home Residency.” I have been very productive in the studio and am actually working towards a “Stay at Home Exhibition” using the indoor and outdoor space at my home, which I will share through social media. I will be inviting other artists to participate in their own home spaces. My artist critique group has moved to Zoom so we can continue to share work-in-progress with each other. I’ve also been keeping in touch with arts colleagues from Toronto to Iceland virtually.

As a balance to my studio practice, I have been using this unexpected gift of time at home to learn and do new things. For example, I have been working in the mini greenhouse that I built, growing herbs and flowers, gardening, and doing lots of cooking and time rich baking and cooking (English Muffins, Bagels, yeast breads, Dorie Greenspan’s Carrot Cake). I’ve also been independently working through a coursebook from the Culinary Institute of America (at over 1200 pages, this is the perfect time for it), and learning Swedish.

Ingrid Erickson, osteological paper sculptures based on research at the College of Idaho Natural History Museum and the Sitka Center.

Ingrid Erickson
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