Erin Dixon

b. 1975

Erin began her art practice in Whitehorse as a landscape painter, but after a series of catastrophic world events and a move to Dawson City, she has changed the focus and media of her work. Erin creates highly detailed collages about death and grief and is interested in the places beyond the veil; the place we come from before we are born and the place we return to when we die, which the Tibetan Book of the Dead calls the Bardo. She cultivates a sense of this place by using images of furniture, plants and ephemeral people embellished with metallic papers, ribbons, sequins and resin. Erin creates imaginary places that feel dreamlike and secret but also cozy and comforting, a nice place to take a break. Using images of mid-century furniture, Volkswagens, and faces she adds a sense of familiarity, but there is also a sense of unease. The world is a place filled with sorrow, misery and suffering, but also heartbreaking beauty and awe. We cannot know the light without the darkness, and this is reflected Erin's work.

Tattoo imagery is integrated naturally into Erin's imagined landscapes. No one will notice the skull with the golden eyes buried in the garden among the birds and the bees. Her collages are lush with plant life, birds and butterflies, Erin's symbols for life, hope and sometimes the spirits of the people who have passed on and look over us. Erin has always found solace in nature, and feels absolutely privileged to have grown up in the Yukon. She is grateful to continue to live in Dawson City, where she has a flower farm which she operates during the short, but intense, Dawson summer season called Yukon Butterflies Flower Farm. Erin's farm and home are located on the traditional territories of the Tro’ndek Hwech’in First Nation, and she continues to be inspired by this incredible community everyday.