Erik’s entire life has been bathed in art. He lived among mythological Hopi masked faces, paintings, unique creaky dark wood furniture and a cornucopia of books, from illuminated manuscripts to ancient bibles to obscure non-fiction in his parents “museum” home.

He has often wondered if the time he spent leafing through his grandmother’s collection of Life magazines as a young boy had a commanding effect, revealing the strong realism and power of the photographic image. Perhaps those black and white images, especially of World War II, stained his subconscious in the tonalities of the grayscale.

Imbued with this sense of history, Erik studied history and art history at Rutgers University. He carried an inner fantasy world with him while he pursued a commercial art career. Over many years he mastered lighting techniques. This skill he particularly exploits to enhance the atmosphere of his sets.

He refers to himself as a constructionist artist whose medium is photography. He assembles carefully fabricated sets and employs sculpture, woodworking, painting, collected photographs and found objects.

His current project, “The Demise of Yesterday – a novella”, is a step in a new direction. This extensive endeavor requires a narrative line that tells a story employing visual metaphors and challenges his ability to apply color as an emotional device.