About Erin

Baltimore City
My drawings invite viewers to consider connections to physical spaces they inhabit. Whether the urban landscape of a city or the private interior of a home, I choose not to draw the occupants, and with their absence I hope to encourage the viewer to not only imagine those not shown, but also to ruminate on correlations to their own personal environments. In my shadow drawings I draw particular attention to the malleability of our relationship to space, through even the continuously variable… more

The Weight of Absence

This series of drawings depicts architectural structures located in the city of Baltimore, my hometown. This work initially stemmed from a place of loss. As I grieved the death of my father, who was an architect, I used representations of physical structures to attempt to create an external vessel to hold my immense feelings of grief. I found these structures by exploring the City on foot, by bike, or by car. By building space and form through the layering of charcoal marks, I created tonal landscapes, rendering both the city and my internal world. As the work progressed, I developed an increased interest in the interplay of presence and absence, where the tangible and intangible become intertwined.
  • The weight of absence
    The weight of absence
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 26" x 40", Private Collection
  • The intangible expanse of a last breath
    The intangible expanse of a last breath
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 27" x 37", Private Collection
  • As if floating
    As if floating
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 38" x 26", Private Collection
  • Behind the swell
    Behind the swell
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 42" x 28", Private Collection
  • Pimlico Towers
    Pimlico Towers
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 17" x 17", Private Collection
  • Warehouse bridges
    Warehouse bridges
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 17" x 17", Private Collection
  • To have arrived at this place
    To have arrived at this place
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 18" x 18", Private Collection
  • To hold close until breaking
    To hold close until breaking
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 102" x 35"
  • To remain unprepared
    To remain unprepared
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 17" x 17"
  • Little white house on Charles
    Little white house on Charles
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 17" x 17", 2017, Private collection

The Weight of Absence (continued)

  • To remain unprepared
    To remain unprepared
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 17" x 17"
  • Latrobe Homes
    Latrobe Homes
    charcoal and graphite on paper, 38” x 51”, 2017
  • Little white house on Charles
    Little white house on Charles
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 17" x 17", 2017, Private collection
  • What day is today?
    What day is today?
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 27" x 35", 2018, Private Collection
  • A home inherited
    A home inherited
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 25" x 33", 2018
  • Eastern Pumping Station
    Eastern Pumping Station
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 30” x 42.5”
  • Reptile House
    Reptile House
    Charcoal and graphite on paper, 31” x 42.5”