Art Practice
Explore Erin Hephzibah's projects from her time studying at Glasgow School of Art and her continued professional art practice.
49.5kg
Collaboration with poet, artist, and writer, Georgia Francis.
49.5kg was Hephzibah's final project at Glasgow School of Art. The project began as a response to ableist notions of illness and the romanticisation of caring for a sick loved one. Hephzibah pairs her sister, Georgia Francis, with a life-sized black puppet modelled after Francis' body. Through the interactions between Francis and the puppet, a fully rounded and honest narrative of illness and caretaking emerges. The piece aims to educate and engage an audience in conversations about carer and disability rights, treatment, and representation.
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49.5kg was exhibited in Mid Wharf Art and Design in 2021 as part of The Alternative Degree Show Festival, curated by Caitlin Callaghan of WASPS Studios.
This Is A Migraine Attack
During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, Hephzibah launched public art project, This Is A Migraine Attack. The project sought to raise awareness and understanding of chronic migraines by creating visual representations of invisible pain. Fellow migraine sufferers participated in the project, sharing their own artistic interpretations of pain on social media with the hashtag #ThisIsAMigraineAttack.
The Extinction of Folklore
The Extinction of Folklore was Hephzibah's third year project at Glasgow School of Art. The piece depicts a fleshy, pink Kelpie skeleton crawling from a pond. The Extinction of Folklore was inspired by the notion that humanity’s connection to the world of our ancestors has dwindled, taking with it our belief in magic and fantastic creatures. During the piece's exhibition, it was destroyed by a member of the public, leading to the literal extinction of folklore.
A Painting of Fainting
A Painting of Fainting was a social experiment inspired by Fainting Girl, a poem by writer, Georgia Francis. The project explores the physicality of Francis' chronic illness, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Hephzibah made full body prints on white sheets to depict the physical impact of fainting. The sheets were subsequently placed on the street and in Hephzibah and Francis' former secondary school. The audience were allowed to observe, avoid, or walk over the prints. These organic audience responses reflect the variety of reactions to disabled people.