Art Practice

Explore Erin Hephzibah's projects from her time studying at Glasgow School of Art and her continued professional art practice.

Photo of artist/writer Georgia Francis and a life-size black puppet made in her image. The puppet is lying on the ground. Francis is sitting on the puppet with her hand clutching her abdomen.

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.

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.

Photo of Erin Hephzibah with blue face paint on the right half of her face.

Photo of Erin Hephzibah with red and pink face paint on the right half of her face.

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.

Sculpture of a fleshy, pink Kelpie skeleton crawling through the mud. By Erin Hephzibah.

Broken sculpture of a fleshy, pink Kelpie skeleton in the mud. By Erin Hephzibah.

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.

Photo of full-body black-paint prints lying on the floor. People are walking over the prints.

Photo of full-body black-paint prints lying on the floor of a school foyer.

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.

Photo of Erin Hephzibah nude, lathering herself in mud.

The Petrified Self

Inspired by the photography of Francesca Woodman, The Petrified Self is Hephzibah's artistic response to Mother Shipton's Cave and the Petrifying Well, which is famous for turning objects to stone. Hephzibah lathers herself in mud in an attempt to become petrified. The project aims to examine the dual meaning of 'petrified', evoking a sense of both fear and self preservation. A petrified object is encased in a stony material, thus protecting its insides, echoing the idea of the psychic skin.