Artist Erica Everage highlights feminine power through her paintings
Art can elicit a lot of emotions for people and in this week's Java with Jamie we meet Los Angeles native, Erica Everage, who is known for her works highlighting feminine power and beauty.
Her works of art are displayed on the wall at Figeroua Hotel and that's where Jamie Yuccas sat down with the artist to talk about her journey. The hotel also has an artist suite decorated by Everage herself.
The hotel also has an extensive coffee list from specialty lattes to matcha tea, Café Fig has a little something for everyone on their menu.
Everage's artwork is featured in her new exhibit, which is part of the hotel's 2023 Featured Artist Program.
"The hotel itself, the history and the ethos of it, really match with my art practice and what I'm about as an person and an artist. Women empowerment, specifically women's bodies and the safety of women's bodies, and women being the subjects not the objects of our stories," said Everage.
Figeroua Hotel opened in 1926, funded by women and for women, who weren't forced to check in with a male chaperone. Now, Everage's nearly 20 hung pieces expand the idea of bold female figures.
What inspires you when you create these pieces?
"History. Right now I'm really into the archeology. Visually my pieces are already abstract and very curvy and mysterious. So I like I like to use all those elements," said Everage. "I like to use my own body to paint from. I used to be a dancer and I use my dance so make paintings. The connection is that I like to make my paintings larger than life rather than shrink them down."
Everage says that she spent a lot of her life trying to shrink down her body and minimize her curves, but now she wants to show that she can be a woman and be proud of her gender expression.
Her parents are interior designers, so creativity in the art space has always been part of her life.
Did you grow up knowing you wanted to be an artist?
"No, but I was always drawing fashion in my room at age 12 and my mom noticed I was always doing it a lot and said, if you're spending all of this time drawing, you should learn how to draw well. So, I got sent to figure drawing class and it became by favorite by of my week."
Her mom and dad are not only her biggest fans, but also her biggest supporters. When Everage found out about the hotel's new featured artist suite, she enlisted 'Krista & John of Everage Design, Inc.' to help decorate.
Before blasting onto the art scene, Everage wanted to become an actress. She was featured in a Barbie commercial in 1996 and although she went to school study acting at Northwestern, Everage found her way back to her paintbrush.
"It feels incredible and so free. I feel so much freer than when I was an actress. I feel in charge of my own destiny and I don't have to audition to get the job," said Everage.
Eventually Everage wants to open her own studio and teach others about art, painting and powerful female expressions.
