While Erin Shirreff creates works of video, photography, and sculpture, she considers herself—first and foremost— a sculptor. This can be seen in the artist’s unwavering investigation of the sculptural object through other medi­ums. Shirreff often creates ephemeral maquettes that exist solely for the camera’s eye, dissecting sculptural form in order to highlight the limits of fully experiencing a physical object when it is mediated through visual representation. Here, Shirreff photographed her maquettes—made of painted plaster or cardboard—and then cut the images in half, joining disparate halves to create entirely new works. The result is a disjointed amalgamation of form, material, surface texture, and lighting that speaks to the allure of artifice itself.

Excerpt from

• Anna Katherine Brodbeck, ed., TWO X TWO X TWENTY: Two Decades Supporting Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art), 2018, 216.

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