EFA STUDIO PROGRAM: Member Artists
Edgar Jerins
I recently traveled to Omaha to begin three new drawings. I spent time with my old high school friend Doug whose personal and family life has spiraled into a world where drugs, mental illness and even suicide are normalized. Drawing this marginalized world is the central focus of my work.
I am a New York City-based artist and Adjunct Faculty at the New York Academy of Art. My practice is rooted in personal narrative—drawings and paintings centered around family members, presented in large-scale drawings centered around family and friends, as seen in my book Life in Charcoal. These works deal with mental illness, violence drug addiction divorce and loss. The Midwest is a culture neglected in the visual arts - literally ‘fly over country’ – but as we learned in the last election, it is an area of huge importance to the US. My work gives voice to the ongoing, often unseen struggles that define many American families today.
