Community engagement and social justice
Digital / lighting / projection art
Sculptural art
Pittsburgh Creative Corps Artist Directory
Erin Mallea
Primary Discipline
Artistic Practice
Assemblage, including found objects, multimedia
Audio / sound recording
Digital / photography
About the Artist
I explore the past and present of particular microcosms as metaphors for larger human and environmental conditions. Analytical, playful, and often public in nature, my work manifests in a range of media including sculpture, installation, video, writing, and participatory projects.
My work often collapses personal, natural, and national history to scrutinize systems of producing knowledge, place, and relationships to land in the American landscape. My work has explored specific contexts including the internal struggle of a former utopian community to define itself, my grandmother’s attempt to understand and articulate family history, land-use conflicts near my hometown, and the industrial past and ecological transformation of the park beside my studio.
At the root of my art practice is a commitment to learning about the complex social, political and ecological spaces I inhabit, building relationships, and imagining strategies for the future. My work is grounded in place-based research and partnerships that I develop often outside of traditional art spaces. I have partnered with community volunteers to develop a performance as a choral insect cacophony, developed an “invasive” species test kitchen and community sourced cookbook with a group of biologists and initiated a project with my family to create conversations around generational care and death.
Photo by Mikhael Shteyn
Web
Accreditations, Certifications, and/or Awards
- Frontier Fellowship Community Engagement Residency, Green River, UT, 2022;
- Plyspace Community Engagement Residency, Muncie, IN, 2020;
- Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Art, New York, NY, 2021;
- MFA, Carnegie Mellon University, School of Art, 2019;
- Dedalus Foundation MFA Sculpture Fellowship Finalist, Dedalus Foundation, New York, NY, 2018;
- Visual Ecology Research Fellow, Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, OR, 2014;
- Feast ii: Community Grant, The Charm School, Boise, ID, 2012;
- Studio Arts Program Scholar, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 2013;
- Painting Scholar of Distinction, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 2012;
- Arrupe Scholar, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 2008-2012;
- Andrea K. Friedman Endowed Art Scholarship, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 2008-2011
Provides Fabrication Services to Other Artists
Yes
Teaching Artist
Yes, all ages
Joined the Directory
March 2022
Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.
“My process is grounded in place-based research and partnerships that include long-term conversations with individuals and institutions outside of traditional art spaces. Within these partnerships I work closely with small, focused groups of community collaborators to develop interactive projects, public performances, resource materials, and time-based, layered video and sound works.”
Erin Mallea
Contact the Artist
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Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.