Statement

“The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.”

-Toni Cade Bambara

 As I explore community dynamics in a time of societal reimaging, I am interested in the power of the imagination to create new realities.  Through a Science Fiction lens, I ask - how can creativity enhance the interdependent relationships necessary for building communities? Can exploring creative worldbuilding lead to the uncovering of what our current world could be? What does a world look like that is interdependent, collectivist, and teeming with joy and life? What role do science fiction artworks play in the creation of new social order?

My passion for Science Fiction stems from an interest in the leaking of the foreign or uncategorizable into our known reality. In the same way that Science Fiction literature and film defamiliarizes known scenarios and social systems, I am interested in interjecting my uncanny work into the everyday life around us; placing a series of dioramas in the stacks of a library, creating fuzzy, creature-like costumes that move through public parks, or unexpected installations in alleyways. These rich fictional worlds juxtaposed with daily life invite storytelling, imagination, and recontextualization of complex societal narratives which are woven through the fabric of our interconnected lives. This invitation has the potential to influence how viewers interface with the creatures and worlds they may encounter in other areas of our lives.

Wanting to enter into a fictional world in order to fully experience it – but not being able to – is an urge I experience regularly. In my works, I construct environments that invite the viewer to enter them but are, for scale or other barriers, unenterable. Conversely, I also create environments that offer to engulf participants as they interact with their newfound surroundings. Each side of the coin invites curious exploration.  In line with the work being part of the everyday, using fabric to create these creatures and worlds feels significant as it is a material we are all in contact with constantly. Creating the otherworldly with such a common medium underlies the reality that new worlds are possible, to each human and as a species, through small action and creativity.

Bio

Lily Erb is a queer maker living in Kansas City, MO. Lily received her BFA from Hampshire College in Sculpture and Printmaking in 2013 and their MFA from Ohio University in Sculpture + Extended Practice in 2022. Lily spent the first eight years of her creative career working almost exclusively with steel after signing up for a welding class in college and falling in love with welding. They have been focusing on creating soft sculpture after a discovered love of sewing while in residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in the fall of 2018. Other residencies Lily attended are Yellow Bird Art Park, Wabi Sabi Thrift Store, and Paducah A.I.R. Public art pieces include, decorative panels for The Paramount, Vita Nova, Tastings, and Splendora's as well as Extended Chaos in Paducah, KY and Clothing Rack Bike Rack in Moab, UT.