Erin Hartley: Decoy

Event Description

De-coy: a bird or mammal, or an imitation of one, used by hunters to attract other birds or mammals. to lure or entice (a person or animal) away from an intended course, typically into a trap.

The song of the rain smattering the once silent landscape, rings in my ears like the aftermath of an earthquake - angrily rattling windows and poorly hung paintings.

I ground myself by digging my heels deeper into the wet earth, with my toes wrapped in warm cream colored socks cocooned in muddy yellow boots.

As the rain beads off my back, I tenderly tuck my head beneath my wings; I welcome the wake that pushes me into the bramble.

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Erin Hartley is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in North Saanich, BC. She
primarily works within the timeline of the beginnings of home cinema and alternative analog
photography, to the digital revolution of the early 90s - 2000s. Erin holds a BFA with Honors and
Distinction in Visual Arts & Film Studies from the University of Victoria, and she has been the
recipient of the Pat Martin Bates Award, the Emily Apinis-Grundstein Scholarship and the Asper
Scholarship In Media and Video Art. Erin has been featured in multiple Victoria, BC based
exhibitions and international publications and

lm festivals.

The combination of technologies; comparing and contrasting the tactile characteristics of
video and photography is the backbone of Erin’s practice. She gathers and curates found footage
consisting of anonymous home videos, amateur photography, and audio, and supplements it with
original video and photography shot on

lm and less-than-great digital. The rockier the better as she
uses the mixture of mediums and materials to explore themes of inter-generational grief, loss, and
memory. Erin works to physically meld the temporal space between the mediums, and literally stitches
together a narrative outlining these terrible yet necessary feelings that connect us as humans.