Eric Bladholm
Semifinalist
Eric Bladholm (born 1965, Chicago, IL) has a BFA from California College of the Arts, San Francisco, where he trained in glassmaking and other craft disciplines in addition to the fine arts. Working in sculpture, photography and design, Bladholm has a deep interest in the interaction of the built environment and the natural world, as well as in our post-industrial present. His work has been shown throughout the United States, including at the Atlanta Photography Gallery, GA; Filter Photo Gallery, Swedish American Museum and Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, all Chicago; idea Museum, Mesa, AZ; and the San Diego Art Institute, CA. Bladholm’s work appears in the exhibition catalog Protest Art (2023), published by the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Bladholm runs Chicago Glassworks, a glassworks and artist’s studio located in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
Statement from the Artist:
We have, collectively, entered ‘of a certain generation’ territory once again. I’m not sure what exactly future elders will remember or murmur about the first quarter of the 21st century, but I know there will be, unfortunately, far too much to speak of, and much of it unsuitable for younger ears. Since February 2022, when Russia intensified its invasion of Ukraine, the vocabulary of modern geopolitics has expanded to include incursions, annexations, occupations, genocide, torture and disappeared persons, while so much of the world remains indifferent. I am participating in humanitarian trips, photographing and documenting in Ukraine because I don’t want future generations to think those of us in this first quarter of the twenty-first century didn’t care, didn’t see it coming, and most important, didn’t remain indifferent.