Episode 47: Erin Riley

Commonplace: Conversations with Poets (and Other People)

Host Rachel Zucker talks with textile artist Erin Riley about how she started weaving, the importance of making work no one saw, promiscuity, risky behavior, addiction, how her work became more detailed and came to have more depth, learning things without learning them, pornography, selfies, the loss of meaning when images are repeated, slowing down, being deliberate, girlhood obsession with one’s body, yeast infections, UTIs, menstruation, using images of her own body in her tapestries, tattoos, long distance image-based relationships, the mental and physical stamina required to make tapestry, the pleasure of making tapestry, ego, velcro, labor, deliberately choosing not to do something in a traditional mode and the pushback from people who like to tell other people how to do things “right,” not behaving, non-erotic nudity, trichotillomania, representing things in tapestry, the mediation of reality that tapestry affords, the strength of vulnerability, dick pics, privacy, dildos, how skill can restrict the content, how to keep work from getting stagnant, not feeling responsible for other artist fellows and other wonderful things about meeting and being at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

EXTRA MATERIALS FROM EPISODE 47

Erin Riley’s CV and portfolio can be accessed here

Other Artists, Writers, Places, Schools and Makers Mentioned on the Episode

The MacDowell Colony

Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Tyler School of Art at Temple University