Statement:
My work synthesizes my learned femininity with new explorations of selfhood. It emerges from the intersection of familial and institutional aesthetics, melding with the pop culture of my youth. This convergence forms a new language for life through garment creation, through the reshaping of problematic femininity. I utilize traditional fashion techniques to develop this language, translating the practice of new pattern and textile design into tangible ideals. Garments become vehicles for change, requiring playful, transformative performances to break free from past patterns. By embracing textiles as a functional tool for crafting new life patterns, we can challenge the cycles imposed on us since our inception.
Bio:
Erin Dellasega is a painter, digital artist, and fashion designer working in Kansas. Dellasega received her BFA in Visual Art at the University of Kansas in 2020, MA in Studio Art at Eastern Illinois University in 2021, and an MFA in Painting + Drawing at Ohio University in 2024.
Dellasega’s work integrates experimental technological processes, reflecting the media landscape of her upbringing, in order to emphasize the importance of self-expression over societal expectations. Dellasega's research explores the interplay of time and memory within worn textiles and patterns, contemporary interpretations of femininity, and the impact of social media and pop culture on self-creation. Her exploration of maximalism and textile patterning reimagines traditionally feminine aesthetics, creating a new space for dynamic and expressionistic practices that translate into everyday life.
Dellasega received the Women of Artistic Vision Award (WAVE Award) and Graduate Student of Distinction award at Eastern Illinois University in 2021 and was chosen to participate in the Art St. Louis Varsity Art Exhibition in 2021. She has been featured in multiple blogs and publications, including Canvas Rebel, Voyage Ohio, New Ohio Review, Art Start Art Blog, the Art St. Louis Blog, The Kansan, and Chalk Magazine.
Recently, she taught drawing, painting, design, and digital art courses at Ohio University. Currently, she is teaching painting and drawing at Pittsburg State University while continuing her studio practice and conceptual research.
