ABOUT VIRGINIA ERDIE

With a strong background in psychology, science fiction, creative writing and drawing/painting, I have developed a portfolio of imaginative and somewhat satirical artwork over the past 29 years.

As I am more and more fascinated with the chaotic beauty and design of this physical universe, I am currently more interested in the underlying subtleties that our senses cannot detect.

These subtleties are lurking just beyond the unconscious mind and I am attempting to capture that beauty and chaos on canvas and wood.

My embellishment studio classes at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and my printmaking studies at The Maryland Institute, College of Art, inspire me to incorporate found objects and texture into my current work.

I now possess a powerful ambition to create larger installations. I have learned that it is nearly impossible to deny myself of these creative obsessions.

A JACK INTERVIEW WITH VIRGINIA ERDIE

What was your first experience with art?

I went to a two-room school, 3 grades in each room, in Appalachia. I was the only student who could, or would, draw on the blackboard. I happened to be quite good at it. I entered some art contests and won almost every time. I used art as an escape from boredon, as well as reading science fiction and doing creative writing.

What is your favorite medium & why?

My favorite medium is painting, although I prefer to paint with lots and lots of texture and color. My bachelors degree is in printmaking and drawing, which gave me the foundation I needed to experiment with painting and design.

What style are you most drawn to? Does it ever change & if so, why?

Initially I was drawn to artists like Gorky and Dali and Magritte for their unique interpretations of our mundane reality, Now I am more drawn to my own, evolved style, which is somewhat similar to Primitivism and Abstract art. I have the ability to see life through the eyes of a child while depicting art through the eyes of a classically trained artist. I admire almost all styles of art, though.

Have you always been an artist or is this a career change?

I have always been an artist, though many have demanded that I make a career otherwise. I have always expressed myself through symbols and the unconscious language of art.

Have you ever taken classes/courses?

I took art classes in grade school, where I received awards. I abandoned it during high school, when it was not popular. I re-visited it later when I realized that I could only be an artist and nothing else. I moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1982 and graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts. Then I moved to Chicago, Illinois, where I graduated with a Masters in Art Therapy, emphasis on studio and clinical analysis of art.

What do you want your art to accomplish or describe?

Having played out the "scapegoat" and martyrdom roles, I am now trying to describe the intangible...meaning that I am trying to depict the other worlds that we know exist but that we cannot access due to the limitations of our so called "senses". I refer to these other existences as "infinite, simultaneous" existences. Fractal art and science is my latest interest.

Art programs are being cut all over the nation in schools - what's your opinion on this?

Without art the evolution of the human race is predictable...stagnant. Please look up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Where is your favorite place to create?

My favorite place to create is wherever I can feel safe enough to go into my inner sanctum where the most important ideas and truths exist.

Which comes first - the inspiration or the medium?

Great question! Wow! Right on the mark for me right now! Initially the inspiration was EVERYTHING! I made so many paintings and drawings that were originated from my deep, deep, painful soul. That happened for decades! Lately, I am more interested in the tactile adventure of applying texture to canvas in a whimsical and linear manner, and then painting it to make another reality on canvas.

How has your work changed over time?

I have been making art for over 40 years. My studies at The Maryland Institute, College of Art inspired me to do etching and drawings that were dark in nature. My studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago inspired me to start working with texture, yet I remained committed to creating dark subject matter, as I was an art therapist with the criminally insane for 6 years.. Having left those superb schools of art, I have branched out to other dimensions. My Scientific Readings professor once said to me (please don't quote this for it was decades ago) "Don't feel so humbled, Virginia, otherwise we would not exist at all." What I am trying to say is that I realize that none of us knows why we are here, from whence we hail, and to where we might go. We might all pretend to know and adopt some written word that tells us so, but the truth of the "matter" is that we do not know. This drives me somewhat insane, so I try to depict this unknown factor on canvas now.

If somebody was standing in front of one of your works, is there anything you'd want to tell them?

No. I really just want the viewer to get lost in the work and enjoy it. It's all about the viewer, in the end. What good is all of the artist's angst and ego if the unconscious cannot be shared?

Do you have a favorite piece you've done?

My favorite piece is always the one that I feel I have made HUGE discoveries while painting. Sometimes these pieces still thrill me after decades....sometimes not. Ideas are borrowed from the future and there is no such thing as past, present and future. Our ideas are from simultaneous, infinite realities. Having said that, my answer is that there is no one painting that has been created by anything other than love, angst and curiosity.

Can you draw a perfect circle freehand?

Of course not. The Universe is not a perfect circle and I am affected by the Universe. I really feel that man makes up all of his geometrical and perfect measurements to pretend that he has some type of control over reality. Fractals are not perfect and I believe we live in a fractal world. Thank you for your time.