Erica Elan Ciganek’s work exists in the context of a society that garners power through the dehumanization of others. Engaging images of people is often done through numerous lenses of seeing that reflect our history, our socialization, the current systems and structures that perpetuate oppression, and our implicit biases. Ciganek continues to paint mainly portraits in pursuit of seeing, and re-seeing, both in the creation process of the pieces, as well as observing the outcome. With her portraits, she focuses intimately on the intersection of women and the significance of encountering one another. Her process of creating is done in hopeful, clumsy defiance of a culture of rampant dehumanization.
