Erin Rachel Hudak

Presidential Flash Cards
glitter vinyl on vintage flash cards
variable size (each card is 6 x 4 in.)

Working with an assortment of materials, my work discusses ideas of freedom, power, perception and transformation. I am interested in various version of the American story, as told through objects, photo mediums, fairytales, myths and metaphors. I like to ask myself: where are we going and were have we been.

The ideas I am most attracted to are symbolic. I draw from objects or phrases that point in the direction of something much greater, which is where I begin my work. Thus, while mining sources like old history books, I re-imagine and re-learn American history. This gives me a renewed and complex view of the history of this county. Furthermore, this knowledge is intertwined with what we see (movies), read (books), and now view (online media) and the literal fabric of our individual backgrounds is becoming replaced by one larger story – as told by others. Instead of local histories, we are becoming interconnected and forming identities based on corporations and ideas seen through large media. Thus, I am interested in using and transforming this complex system of myths and stories to question and introduce new perceptions of who we are.

© Erin Rachel Hudak