The Bridge from Craft to Fine Art by Erika Hagberg

Erika Hagberg:

As a fifth-generation artist, Erika started developing her talent at a very young age. These talents manifested themselves in high school where she could always be found in the art room. Her beginnings in the more liberal city of Madison, Wisconsin, influenced her choices in her art field. Most often, artists are not appreciated in their own lifetime. These tapestries deserve to be appreciated in the here and now to help the world understand that nudity and sensuality do not have to be the exclusive territory of pornography and lust.

She is an artist who puts a piece of her soul into each one of her masterpieces. She weaves the subtle shadows and lines of the human form by using color theory, hand sewing, hand beading, and embroidery. One cannot truly appreciate the depth of each piece by viewing it in a photograph. Only by standing in front of one of her works of art can one see the interplay of textures and light and depth, allowing true appreciation of each piece.

Some of her recent work can be seen at the Hunt Utility Group (hugllc.com), a teaching campus in Pine River, where she has constructed three dimensional mud murals. She has also painted an undersea mural on a climbing wall at The Children’s Park in Crosby, Minnesota, and mural at the gaming store called Citadel Games of Brainerd, Minnesota. But you will truly bust your bustle when you view her ‘busts’, two thermal graphic sculptures colorized through the depiction of body by means of a cancer screening tool; one male torso is sculpted with tumbled semi-precious gem stones, and a female torso that glows with the many facets and colors of Swarovski crystals. Monsieur Pol, as the male is named; and Madame Bling of Swarovski elegance, are sculptures that would lend grace to any establishment with boldness and refinement.