Erika Holden
Gisborne

Erika is a multi media artist focussing on paint. Of East Coast origin she is currently living in Gisborne on the beach. Erika is of NZ European and Maori descent. Although from Tairawhiti Erika is also an active participant in the Hokianga Art Group. She has spent much time over recent years traveling between the two places, a decision she has made to concentrate and devote time to her love of paint.
A mother of three adult children and three mokopuna, Erika displays a wide range of artistic interests. She is well known for her mosaic work, having completed several public and private commissions and a skilled seamstress; her inventive fashion work in collaboration with daughter Huia was rewarded in the 2005 Eastwoodhill Xtreme Artwear Awards. A former member of the Gisborne Printmakers group, Erika has exhibited extensively in all media, both with others and in solo exhibitions.
"My paintings explore the landscape, its underlying structures, and my emotional connections with it. This is a journey of discovery. The compositional threads are created by the building up and scraping back of the painted surface. As water cuts a path through land, so water has moved through the paint finding the way of least resistance. The placement and the repeated abstract symbol of the pohutukawa tree provide the link between the elements of earth and water. The Zen-like quality of these paintings is the expression of a connection with the landscape that is always been part of my life."
Erika's life and work is influenced by home and family, the bush, the desert, the outback and elemental extremes in landscapes. These collective experiences have led the artist to express her 'mark as a maker' in painted works.

Erika can be contacted on akirehold@hotmail.com for commissions or to purchase works.