Erica Voss

Artist Statement, Community Crochet Circle, 2009-2010.

I have been focused for some time on an interaction between multiple viewers or participants with an object, which disrupts communication, necessitating a revaluation of the way humans interact.  But I have come to question my satisfaction with the ability of these forms to achieve these goals and am examining new ways of working.

Most recently, I am inviting the viewer to be a collaborator, and we communicate through dialogue to make a work of art.  Each individual’s unique contribution shapes the direction of the project; no voice is cancelled-out or erased.  It is both frightening and thrilling as an artist to lose control in this manner, but the benefits are a rich conversation and exchange and an unpredictable result that is shaped by the many individuals who have shared in the process.

As the Community Crochet Circle and resulting installation continue to grow, I hope the collaborative nature of the project will mature as well.  Currently, each participant crochets a form, which I integrate into the larger installation, sometimes with the help of collaborators.  Every piece is important in shaping the direction of the project, and I am often challenged to change my own preconceptions based on what someone else contributes.  This exchange could be advanced in a sustained workshop in which participants work on a form for a set time, then switch with a partner and continue to work on the new form they receive, then switch back, continuing to work on the form they had originated.  In responding to the way someone else handles the material and responds to a given form, the individual’s way of working is altered and expanded, allowing them to do more than they could on their own.