Erica Lord facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Erica Lord
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| Born | 1978 (age 46–47) Nenana, Alaska
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| Nationality | Nenana Native Association, American |
| Known for | Performance art, photography |
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Notable work
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Erica Lord (born in 1978) is an Alaska Native artist. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Erica often describes herself as being in a "cultural limbo" because she has a mixed background.
About Erica Lord's Life
Erica Lord was born in 1978. Her mother is Finnish-American, and her father is Iñupiaq/Athabascan. She grew up moving between her father's village in Nenana, Alaska and her mother's hometown in Michigan.
Nenana is in Interior Alaska and has many Native people. Her mother's town in Michigan was mostly white. Erica's father was an activist who worked for Native American rights.
Moving between these different places inspired her art. Her work often explores ideas of being displaced and having a mixed cultural identity. She is a member of the Nenana Native Association, which is a recognized Alaska Native tribe.
Erica studied at Carleton College, getting a degree in liberal arts and studio arts in 2001. She then earned her master's degree in sculpture and photography from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006.
Erica Lord's Art Career
Erica Lord has been showing her art since 2004. Her work has been displayed in galleries and museums across the United States. These places include Santa Fe and New York.
She has had solo shows at the DeVos Museum of Art in Michigan and the Alaska Native Arts Foundation Gallery. Her art has also been part of group shows, like the Havana Biennial. It was also shown at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native American Art.
Erica teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She helped create some of the first master's degree classes there. During the pandemic, she worked on a project called "Burden Strap." This project was inspired by traditional beaded straps. She beaded them to show the patterns of DNA and RNA strands. These strands represent diseases that affect Native American people more often.
Two pieces from this series, "Leukemia Burden Strap" and "Multiple Myeloma Burden Strap," were shown. They were part of the Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023 exhibition. Because of her important work on Native American issues, she was one of thirteen artists featured in Self-Determined: A Contemporary Survey of Native and Indigenous Artists in 2022.
Erica Lord also took part in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art Pandemic Oral History Project in September 2020. This project recorded how people in the American art world reacted to the global pandemic. Erica Lord was one of eighty-five artists, teachers, and curators interviewed for this project.
Important Art Exhibitions
- 2023: Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023, at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. This show ran from May 26, 2023, to March 31, 2024.
- 2020: Maajiigin wa’aw akiing miinawaa (Begin This World Again): Gina Adams, Erica Lord, Merritt Johnson, at Accola Griefen Fine Art in New York, NY.
- 2018: The New Red Order: The Savage Philosophy of Endless Acknowledgement, at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, NY.
- 2007-2017: Our people, Our land, Our images: International Indigenous Photographers, a traveling exhibition.
- 2010: Dry Ice, at the Museum of Contemporary Native American Art in Santa Fe, NM.
- 2009: BadLand, at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe, NM. This was an art setup of prayer bundles made from the red cloth of the United States' Star Spangled Banner flag.
- 2007: Off the Map: Landscape and the Native Imagination, at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian in New York, NY.
Selected Artworks by Erica Lord
Native American Land Reclamation Project (2000)
This was one of Erica Lord's first projects in 2000. It focused on her Native American background. In her art setup, Native American Land Reclamation Project, she used different objects. Her goal was to show how the U.S. government often broke treaties with Native Americans from 1778 to 1886.
The artwork was displayed at the Institute of American Indian Arts. It was in a 16-foot by 16-foot room with mirrors on the walls and floor. Hanging from the ceiling were many cut-up red stripes from the United States' flag. Lord wrapped these cloth pieces and filled them with dirt from different Native villages and lands across the U.S.
She used the mirrors to make the prayer ties look like they were repeating. This showed how history often repeats itself. Erica explained that she wanted to create a piece that recognized their shared history. She stressed that it was a history for both those who were oppressed and those who survived, both Native and non-Native people.
Un/Defined Self-Portrait Series (2005)
This series includes C-prints, which are a type of photographic print. The size of these prints can change.
Untitled (Tattooed Arms) (2007)
In this work, Erica Lord photographed two tattoos on her arms. One tattoo on her left forearm says "Enrollment number." The other on her right forearm says "Blood Quantum."
These tattoos criticize how modern society views Native Americans. The "Blood Quantum" tattoo refers to blood quantum laws. These laws were used by the U.S. government to control Native American heritage. The "Enrollment Number" tattoo is the number given to Erica Lord and other Native Americans by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. By placing this number on her arm, Erica Lord compares this experience to that of Holocaust survivors. She highlights the forced movement and changes Native Americans faced in the United States.
The Tanning Project: I Tan To Look More Native (2006)
"The Tanning Project" (2004–2007) is a series of four photographs. In these photos, Lord put text on her skin. Then, she used tanning beds to make her skin darker. This left the areas with text much lighter.
The words and poses are different in each photograph. Some of the phrases include "Indian Looking," "Halfbreed," "Colonize Me," and "I Tan to Look More Native." The title of each photo uses these words. This project makes people think about what a Native person is "supposed" to look like. It also shows how Native individuals deal with these ideas through their own choices.
Artifact Piece, Revisited (2009)
On April 3, 2008, Erica Lord performed Artifact Piece, Revisited at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. This performance was a new version of a piece by American artist James Luna from 1987.
During her performance, Erica lay down in a display case. She closed her eyes and allowed museum visitors to look at her for several hours. Signs around the display pointed out parts of her, like her painted toenails. There were also two glass cases next to her. One held traditional Alaskan Native clothing, and the other held modern clothes.
After this first performance, Erica gave talks and had discussions with the audience. She performed the piece two more times over the next two days. By using her own body in this way, Erica Lord made people think about how Native people are sometimes displayed in museums. She also made a point about how women's bodies are often put on display.
