Art Chowder January | February, Issue 25 | Page 13

Art Chowder: What has living with a chronic
illness taught you?
Erik: The biggest lesson that I learned was that
I could start to heal, even though I wasn’t cured.
And from that place I could grow.
Mental toughness can be an asset but it can also
hold you back. If you’re tough you can steel
yourself from the emotional repercussions of
chronic illness for longer, but it’s not always
helpful. It can be really beneficial to break
down, open up to vulnerability and let go.
Sometimes it’s your strength that keeps you from
transitioning to the other side, to that rebirth from
the ashes of your former expectations that allows
you to grow.
From my own perspective I had to crash to the
bottom and give up my sense of self before I
could move on. Now I recognize that this is a
metaphor for life and can be helpful for shifting
perspective on all sorts of challenges. Perspective
changes everything — and perspective is
changeable.
Art Chowder: Being the grandson of
famous pilot, Charles Lindbergh, has his
legacy affected your art or is the aerospace
component something you came to on your
own?  
Erik:  It took a while, but when I got involved
with the XPRIZE Foundation, I started seeing
rocket ships and planets in fantastic pieces
of wood that I hadn’t been able to work
into furniture.  Then later, thinking about
my grandfather’s flight, I was inspired to recreate
some Spirit of St. Louis sculptures and blend
that with his vision of balance, of advancing
technology and preserving the environment.  The
culmination of that was the Evolution of Spirit
sculpture that was part bird and part plane.
Art Chowder:  Many of your creations do
seem to defy gravity. Did you learn to create
them on your own or did you have a teacher/
mentor? 
Erik:  Mostly I learned to create these things on
my own, although I’m always looking at other
artists, their creations, and adapting ideas into my
live edge work.
January | February 2020
13