About Erica Enriquez:
Erica Enriquez (b. 1997, Newburgh NY) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Queens, NY. Erica received her BFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2019 and MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts with a concentration in Sculpture: Expanded Practice in 2024. Erica has shared her work and performed internationally in spaces such as MoMA PS1, the RISD museum, a handful of galleries in lower Manhattan, the St Moritz Film Festival in Switzerland, most of the 200 cap music venues in the Brooklyn, a black box theater in LES, a comedy club on St Marks, 2 wrestling rings, and a dumpster in her brother’s old apartment. Erica’s work has been featured in and reviewed by publications such as Artforum, The MODA Critical Review,Thrasher Magazine, Quartersnacks, Obscure Sound, and Wisteria Mag. She is also the proud conductor of New York City’s No.1 Train Themed Rock Band CHOO CHOO, which is available on all streaming platforms. All aboard!
By Erica Enriquez
Cement, tire, inkjet print, shellac, wire mesh
21.5” x 21.5” x 2”
1 of 3
The word tire, is a shortened form of the word attire - meaning to clothe or dress. I imagine my junk tires before their tired arrival with me. The car once served, the roads kissed. After World War II, war vehicles were abandoned around the Philippines. In response, the local community reclaimed these discarded forms with decorative paint jobs, repurposing them as public transportation vehicles. These are known as Jeepnies.
Jeepney is a portmanteau of the post-war “Jeep” and pre-war “Jitney”. Though the term can also refer to a suitcase, that opens into two equal parts. I use performance to preserve what is designed to be disposable. I dissect the cumulative history of materials through their geological origins, cultural fluidity, and imaginative potential. I embrace the simultaneity of these qualities, their gestalt, and resemblance of me in queerness, and gesture. These elements are surrogates, carrying oral history tales of migratory resilience, resourcefulness and play. I consider joy as a tactic of political resistance. I hold an iterative practice where permutation and sampling serve as acts of regenerative gratitude. Through play, I remain steadfast in the boundlessness of creation - that everything ever made was once imaginary, and made into belief.
By Erica Enriquez
Print on dropcloth
9’ x 6’ ft
1 of 10
The word tire, is a shortened form of the word attire - meaning to clothe or dress. I imagine my junk tires before their tired arrival with me. The car once served, the roads kissed. After World War II, war vehicles were abandoned around the Philippines. In response, the local community reclaimed these discarded forms with decorative paint jobs, repurposing them as public transportation vehicles. These are known as Jeepnies.
Jeepney is a portmanteau of the post-war “Jeep” and pre-war “Jitney”. Though the term can also refer to a suitcase, that opens into two equal parts. I use performance to preserve what is designed to be disposable. I dissect the cumulative history of materials through their geological origins, cultural fluidity, and imaginative potential. I embrace the simultaneity of these qualities, their gestalt, and resemblance of me in queerness, and gesture. These elements are surrogates, carrying oral history tales of migratory resilience, resourcefulness and play. I consider joy as a tactic of political resistance. I hold an iterative practice where permutation and sampling serve as acts of regenerative gratitude. Through play, I remain steadfast in the boundlessness of creation - that everything ever made was once imaginary, and made into belief.
By Erica Enriquez
Cement, tire, inkjet print, shellac, wire mesh
21.5” x 21.5” x 2”
1 of 3
The word tire, is a shortened form of the word attire - meaning to clothe or dress. I imagine my junk tires before their tired arrival with me. The car once served, the roads kissed. After World War II, war vehicles were abandoned around the Philippines. In response, the local community reclaimed these discarded forms with decorative paint jobs, repurposing them as public transportation vehicles. These are known as Jeepnies.
Jeepney is a portmanteau of the post-war “Jeep” and pre-war “Jitney”. Though the term can also refer to a suitcase, that opens into two equal parts. I use performance to preserve what is designed to be disposable. I dissect the cumulative history of materials through their geological origins, cultural fluidity, and imaginative potential. I embrace the simultaneity of these qualities, their gestalt, and resemblance of me in queerness, and gesture. These elements are surrogates, carrying oral history tales of migratory resilience, resourcefulness and play. I consider joy as a tactic of political resistance. I hold an iterative practice where permutation and sampling serve as acts of regenerative gratitude. Through play, I remain steadfast in the boundlessness of creation - that everything ever made was once imaginary, and made into belief.
By Erica Enriquez
Cement, tire, inkjet print, shellac, wire mesh, mirror, performance residue
21.5” x 21.5” x 2”
1 of 3
The word tire, is a shortened form of the word attire - meaning to clothe or dress. I imagine my junk tires before their tired arrival with me. The car once served, the roads kissed. After World War II, war vehicles were abandoned around the Philippines. In response, the local community reclaimed these discarded forms with decorative paint jobs, repurposing them as public transportation vehicles. These are known as Jeepnies.
Jeepney is a portmanteau of the post-war “Jeep” and pre-war “Jitney”. Though the term can also refer to a suitcase, that opens into two equal parts. I use performance to preserve what is designed to be disposable. I dissect the cumulative history of materials through their geological origins, cultural fluidity, and imaginative potential. I embrace the simultaneity of these qualities, their gestalt, and resemblance of me in queerness, and gesture. These elements are surrogates, carrying oral history tales of migratory resilience, resourcefulness and play. I consider joy as a tactic of political resistance. I hold an iterative practice where permutation and sampling serve as acts of regenerative gratitude. Through play, I remain steadfast in the boundlessness of creation - that everything ever made was once imaginary, and made into belief.
By Erica Enriquez
Cement, tire, inkjet print, shellac, wire mesh
21.5” x 21.5” x 2”
1 of 3
The word tire, is a shortened form of the word attire - meaning to clothe or dress. I imagine my junk tires before their tired arrival with me. The car once served, the roads kissed. After World War II, war vehicles were abandoned around the Philippines. In response, the local community reclaimed these discarded forms with decorative paint jobs, repurposing them as public transportation vehicles. These are known as Jeepnies.
Jeepney is a portmanteau of the post-war “Jeep” and pre-war “Jitney”. Though the term can also refer to a suitcase, that opens into two equal parts. I use performance to preserve what is designed to be disposable. I dissect the cumulative history of materials through their geological origins, cultural fluidity, and imaginative potential. I embrace the simultaneity of these qualities, their gestalt, and resemblance of me in queerness, and gesture. These elements are surrogates, carrying oral history tales of migratory resilience, resourcefulness and play. I consider joy as a tactic of political resistance. I hold an iterative practice where permutation and sampling serve as acts of regenerative gratitude. Through play, I remain steadfast in the boundlessness of creation - that everything ever made was once imaginary, and made into belief.