ERIKA WAIN, residing in California, is a graduate of UCLA - Bachelor of Arts; however she is primarily a self taught artist. She works in oil, acrylic, mixed medium, installation, Architectural photography and Nature study, corporate giclee and computer art.  

" I study the human condition; political and natural, introspective and external.  My interest is in the forces that create, shape an individual's psyche.

The mechanism of the act; the architecture of the mind.  I am interested in how it all works, not simply, that it does work.

I look to colour and texture to connect the art to reality.  I paint to release. I am an addict."

ERIKA WAIN showed extensively in the late 1970's - Musee Moderne in Paris, France; Barnsdall Summer Fest; UCB Galleries etc… and then re-emerged with a solo retrospect in 2003 at the Upstairs in the Market Gallery (4 rooms) in Los Angeles with oils, giclees, an installation project with audio and photography.

Her oil works have recently shown at Boernicke Castle, Berlin (8-28/11-31,2005) as part of Artist to Artists, an International art group.  The show has since gone on to Hamburg and will show in Greifswald, Germany May-June 2006.
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The Plight of the Artists -
part of an interview with Carnegie Mellon Institute
in New York

Art is passion - a love affair with life and everything that goes with it, into and is a result of it. Art is light, colour, space, movement, statement, laughter, sorrow, thought, enjoyment, hate, discipline, persistence, struggle and joy of accomplishment. It is the breath that makes the day complete - it is the body of the human nature; it is ubiquitous.

Financial - quality - persistence
There is a need for IMMEDIATE and no real sense of HISTORY from whence things came from. There is always a history of where things came from, how they came to be and political awareness - there is always a need to make a statement of somethiing real - not fluff - something NEW not hacked and rehashed - these are factors...

To be a working artist is very difficult but one does what one does because that is what one does - simple as that. One makes the choice - choose a job that allows you the luxury of your passion - to depend on funding well - I would never have done anything, gone anywhere, shown anywhere... and yes I have had to turn down some really nice venues due to lack of funding but then that makes the choice all the more important - art is a very expensive hobby - like acting - one comes out of 'retirement' to show time - I paint every day - I think out pictures every day - I look at everything I can - every show I can - examine techniques - look at other artists on the web - I do much homework and am constantly trying new avenues - all of which is costly but this is what I do - time is short - time is always short - I am relentlessly driven by a passion and a knowledge that this is right for me - it is my destiny.
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Gallery Comment :
Erika explores many styles and is not confined by any one. A mature artist with a sound body of experience, a solid knowledge of her media and a keen sense of composition. She ranges from gestural strokes to a very controlled and realistic depiction, sometimes combining the two to great effect.