b. 1986, United Kingdom
Erin Holly (b.1986) is a London-based emerging artist whose oeuvre confronts the politics of gender and sexuality embedded in our built environment.
Having graduated from the City and Guilds School of Art in London, Holly's artistic practice spans from the creation of small watercolours to public large-scale murals. Addressing a variety of themes Holly’s dynamic work provides a discourse on the politics of space and inclusion, trans identity, embodiment, and contemporary social categorizations. Drawing upon photographic source material from aspirational interior advertisements and catalogue images, Holly skilfully weaves together images of colourful homes with provocative visions of a utopian future. In pursuit of unveiling how capitalism has commodified the spaces we inhabit, Erin points to the transformative potential of the artistic imagination to create new ways of both being and seeing. Erin’s work powerfully destabilises the prevailing power structures that enforce binary gender relations and the forms of violence that often accompany them.
Although Erin’s artworks are primarily executed on canvas, she also creates commanding outdoor murals serving to activate public spaces and challenge normative conventions. As tangible demonstrations of Holly's commitment to social justice and the democratisation of artistic practice, Holly reveals art’s transformative potential to enact real-world change. Her murals and community-oriented works can be found all over the world, with projects based in the US, Switzerland and India.