Erin Bird is an internationally showcased artist living in Surrey Hills, United Kingdom. Interested in how interplay between photography and painting signals a transgression of borders between rationality and the spiritual unconscious, she originated the experimental process of “waterprinting.” Combing through family archives to create digital montages that reflect individual and intergenerational transformation, she then transforms these images in unpredictable ways by submerging in water. Once altered, Erin carefully paints layers of color until the former image is completely abstracted. What remains is a vibrant form that conveys a sense of movement and freedom.

Erin writes “Water is the perfect medium to transform my imagery. It leads us back to the places we come from and anchors us to a wider ‘body politic.’ We’re all made of water, and we’re all made of composite experiences.” Erin holds an MA from the Royal College of Art, London (2010) and has been shortlisted for the 2020 Lumen Prize for Art and Technology. She has completed commissions for the National Media Museum and has exhibited in the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the Eastern Bloc Centre for New Media & Interdisciplinary Art in Montreal.