Erica Deeman: In Our Likeness

Deeman is a multidisciplinary artist who explores race, gender, Black identity and its hybridity. In Our Likeness takes inspiration from Lessons of the Hour, an immersive ten-screen film installation by British artist Isaac Julien about the legendary former slave, abolitionist, and statesman Frederick Douglass. The exhibition is on view at McEvoy Arts through March 13, 2021. The project comprises the December 2020 edition of MCD’s Mobile MakeArt Kits, a multi-year effort to share free art and design activities to families in San Francisco through partnerships with local food banks and community organizations.

Each of the one hundred kits in distribution include a one-time use color film camera, prepaid mail-in access to the film’s development and return, and creative materials such as poster backdrops, cut-out frames, and other materials to aid the recipients in creating their own photographs, silhouettes, and collage portraits. Users gain a practical understanding of best practices in photography and portraiture while being empowered to explore their own agency and innate creativity in the act of self-representation.

In Our Likeness embraces Douglass’s vision of photography as an ideal tool for depicting a subject in its “truest” light. It explores the power and voice of the photographer in creating images that express both the subject and the image-maker.

Erica Deeman (She/Her) is a visual artist whose work intersects race, gender, and the hybridity of Black identity. Originally from the U.K., she has lived in the States for ten years. Deeman’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth, UK; Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco, CA; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA, and New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, among other institutions. Her work is in the permanent collections of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL; and Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco, CA. Deeman is represented by Anthony Meier Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA.

The Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) is San Francisco’s only museum devoted to craft and design. Founded in 2004, MCD showcases designers, makers, and artists through an exciting and distinctive series of craft and design-focused exhibitions and public programs. MCD is building on its history as one of the first museums to present pop-up exhibitions across San Francisco and is re-envisioning its capacity to bring dynamic art experiences to the community through the launch of its mobile craft and design vehicle, MCD Mobile MakeArt. MCD Mobile MakeArt provides creative tools and materials for San Francisco families to connect and create within the safety of their homes. MCD is dedicated to making a unique and important contribution in the community by supporting the creative and emotional well-being of families and individuals of all ages.

NOW Hunters Point has transformed a former industrial landscape into a dynamic activity center – a place of restoration and renewal in the Bayview Hunters Point community. In working towards these changes, NOW Hunters Point embraces an interactive community engagement process to understand what is wanted and needed – and what will be loved – by the community. Input from event attendees and local partners serves as a guide for the design, programming, and future visioning of the site.