Erin Shirreff creates boundary-crossing art that explores the gap between images and the things they picture. Permanent Drafts features over 40 of her recent collages, photographs, sculptures, and videos, including installations specific to the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Trained as a sculptor, Shirreff understands photography as a significant but imperfect means of conveying three-dimensional objects. Her work focuses on the reproductions through which we often access art, inviting audiences to consider how each of us sees and interprets the world around us. Shifting across time, material, and dimension, these works reward in-person engagement and slow, close looking.
The renowned artist’s most comprehensive exhibition in a decade, Erin Shirreff: Permanent Drafts was curated by Kristen Gaylord, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The exhibition is on view from May 30 through September 1, 2025.
