elaine m. erne:
elaine_m_erne @hotmail.com

The Lives and Traumas of Stuffed Animals is a series of drawing that represent anguish and pain from childhood. The toys are used as an allegory for a child and her fears. They allow me to explore the inner workings of past events without being immersed in the reality of those unmanageable situations.. In recurring stressful situations, children become like dolls, putting forward a cheerful personae in order to survive. Though the circumstances represented are far from real, they capture the aura that surrounds a person who has no control.

After receiving my BFA from Carnegie Mellon University,Pittsburgh,PA, I came to Philadelphia for my MFA at Tyler School of Art, Temple University. Upon graduating, I settled in Philadelphia. In 2003 I received a two-year fellowship with the Center for the Emerging Artist (formally the Creative Artist’s Network) which gave me the opportunity to show my work in many venues. In 2004 I was awarded a Dene M. Louchheim Faculty Fellowship form the Samuel Fleisher Art Memorial.

I am now working on pieces for a Community Gallery Solo Exhibition at the Abington Art Center in May of 2006 as well for my solo exhibition at Nexus in September of 2007. During the day, I work for the Moore College of Art and Design as well as teach in both the adult and children’s art programs at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial where I wrote two lab manuals Basic Stone and Plate Lithography, © 2004 and Kiln-fired Glass: the Basics for a Beginner, © 2001.

Selected shows: •2006 - Oink, Moo, Baa: Animals in Art, Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE •2006 - Community Gallery Solo Exhibition, Recent Work, Abington Art Center, Abington, PA •2006 - Matched Pairs, Nexus, Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA •2006 - 100% Centennial: Wall-to-Wall CFA, Select Alumnae from the College of Fine Arts, Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA •2006 - Works on Paper, Annual Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA •2005-06 Art in City Hall, New Works by Past Artists, 1984-2005, Juried exhibition, Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia, PA •2005 - From the Studio 2, POST, Felicity R. Benoliel Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

•2005 - 77th Annual Juried Exhibition, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA, 2005 •2005 - Selected Artists, William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, PA •2005 - Works on Paper, Annual Juried Exhibition, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ •2005 - The Print Show, Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD, HM Juror’s Award •2004 - Dene M. Louchheim Faculty Fellowship Solo Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA •2004 - Works on Paper 2004, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ •2004 - Collaboration 1, Chashama, New York, NY •2003 - Baltimore Bound, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD •2003 - 26th Annual Juried Art on Paper Exhibition, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD •2003 - 2005 Group Fellowship Exhibitions, Center for Emerging Visual Artists (formally the Creative Artist’s Network) in cities in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland