"In life we transfer the things that live inside us in multiple ways. We search for the best way to get the inside out. Through my years I have learned that passing our burdens from one container to another is cathartic. So I am imprisoning myself in both body and mind. Setting myself up to be the container that will hold your burdens for the rest of life," - Erica Felicella
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Imagine if you had the opportunity to leave some of those thoughts and actions in your head in another vessel and walk away unburdened. This is your chance. Right in front of you is a vessel that is set-up as a prison visitation room. Inside that cell sits one human receiver. All you have to do is sit down. Pick up the phone. Say what you need too and walk away. The artist will take it in, remain silent and carry your burden for the rest of her life. Swearing herself to secrecy no matter the story.
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WHEN: Friday, August 1st 7-9pm
WHERE: Ro2 Art Downtown Gallery
110 North Akard Street
Dallas, TX 75201
About Erica Felicella:
Erica Felicella is a self-taught photographer and new media artist living in Oak Cliff. She is actively involved in her local art community not only as an organizer and curator of art exhibitions and a mentor to new and emerging artists, but also as a creative in constant search for new and exciting ways to share her own unique perspective with the rest of the world. For Felicella, it began over a decade ago, at the Continental Gin building, a studio and art space in Deep Ellum. Here, in a place that fosters creativity, she unearthed a passion for art and community that has been with her ever since. Felicella has been involved with various local art organizations, including Pigeon Stone Project, La Reunion, Art Conspiracy and Kettle Art. As one of the pioneers of Art Conspiracy, a non-profit that brings together the local art and music scene to raise money for creative organizations, she worked hard to help take a tiny, fledgling of an idea and turn it into one of the biggest events in the Dallas art community. For the last six years, she has been a key member and organizer at Kettle Art, a local, artist run, gallery in Deep Ellum.
In addition to all of these artistic and non-profit activities, Felicella works as a commercial photographer with a focus on conceptual photography. Her work has traveled around the country and has been featured in numerous publications. She has been recognized with many top awards and was recently nominated for the nations’ largest emerging artist prize.
Most recently, Felicella has been exploring installation, video and performance works. She currently has plans for multiple large-scale and long-term conceptual photography projects. Now, more than ever, she is focused on her own art.
Artist Statement:
Conceptual thought is the tool I use to convey the ideas behind my work. By the time one of my pieces or collection of works has reached the production stages, a long process of research and development has come before it. For me the journey is just as much a part of the final production as creating the finished product. I love creating works that get a viewer to stop and contemplate the connection to their own life. In the last decade patterns have begun to form in my work. I tend to take personal moments from my own life to create pieces that can relate to a bigger picture of human emotion and reaction.
Currently I have been moving out of my comfort zone of conceptual photography into broader and larger multiple medium based projects. My current and currently being planned works involve performance installation using viewers or myself as the subject. The ideas are formed around the thoughts and reaction to human emotional response. In our current society we are obsessed with the observation of others and ourselves. However, we also live in a time where displaying of actual emotion in our American culture is considered to be a weakness. It is my hope to connect viewers with their own emotion by using emotion as the motivator.
