"In Observance of"

By Erin Holt

Erin Holt (They/She) can be found in and around the Twin Cities working as an artist, an art educator, and an arts events producer. Their work spans many mediums including drawing and painting, printmaking, ceramic work, fiber art, installations, poetry, and short fiction. Collage is a joyful mingling place where all these mediums can coalesce, interacting and reacting in ever more curious ways. ‘In Observance of’ is part of an ongoing series reflecting on what it means to make a home for yourself. This series explores the beauty in living authentically and with pride, in confidence and security. The woven papers, handmade and salvaged alike, reflect the time, effort, and attention we put into making our homes and filling them up with love and beauty. This series also explores the tangled, messy parts of homes- soaring house prices, rising rent, scarcity, isolation, and dereliction. The torn edges, rough textures, and irregular lines emphasize these myriad challenges millions of people in this country alone face daily. For every comfortable abode, there is another that is teetering on the edge of collapse, its residents barely able to scrape enough together to keep their roof over their head. Erin is an Aro/Ace individual struggling with the huge financial hurdles related to home ownership and they daily deal with the anxieties and uncertainties around their ability to survive and thrive in this world as a single working artist. That said, they still find joy in the curation and cultivation of their own modest rental space. They are proud of it. There is abundant beauty to be found even in the shabby and second hand, the dinged and the dented, when it has been gathered up for the sake of making a Home. The sun shines brightly overhead, the garden grows, and the birds nest. It is imperfect and it will not last forever, but it is Home all the same, and it is loved.