October 21st 2017, 7-9pm
“Selfie culture has changed the way we perceive our social interactions and ourselves, taking over as one of the most powerful means for self-expression and self-imagining.
By performing and interacting with others at Four Elements Fitness adorned with selfie sticks, I am playing with centering myself in notions of grandeur, power and admiration, as well as inviting judgment, ‘selfie-shaming’ and self-shame. Navigating internal and external (social) spaces, the gym is an ideal setting for me to draw the connection between fitness, self-care, self-conjuring and empowerment while occupying the space in an almost invasive way to create a database of a curated reality.”
About Erika
Erika Gomez Henao was born in 1987 in Buenaventura, Colombia, and immigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen. She received a B.F.A from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2015 and currently lives and works in the Bay Area.
Gomez Henao works with different mediums like painting, installation, ceramics and performance to explore with humor and a bit of sarcasm the materialistic and sometimes irrational aspects of the self.
In a nation obsessed with shopping and material goods, Gomez Henao explores the boundaries of internal and external perceptions through contemporary issues of sexuality and consumerism. She uses herself as the subject of her performances and paintings to represent imaginary characters that are in questionable states of mind. She uses theatrical setups to document her performances and paints some stills from the video documentations.
Gomez Henao is a classically trained artist that gives a contemporary twist to her figurative paintings utilizing recognizable social media imagery. Provocative postures, a great deal of cosmetics and wigs represented with bright and bold
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