“During my residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, I will immerse myself in my multidisciplinary practice to develop a new body of earth-based work that connects deeply with my cultural lineage.”
Erika Allen is a multidisciplinary social change artist whose philosophy of "Ecological Alchemy" uses healing arts to confront structural oppression. Her practice reclaims food, culture, and spirit through traditional indigenous African and folk arts, transforming the Urbs in Horto (city in a garden) ethos into a vehicle for food justice and liberation.
Working in five-dimensional forms with a core focus on painting, Allen’s work has been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago and the South Side Community Art Center (SSAC).She Founded Growing Power's Chicago Office, which transitioned into Urban Growers Collective and is a co-founding partner with Green Era Sustainability. She integrates creative and therapeutic techniques to build circular economies and climate resiliency.
Allen holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an MA in Art Psychotherapy, and a Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Illinois. A Leadership in Society Fellow at the University of Chicago Graham School (2025–2026), Allen’s career serves as a blueprint for multidisciplinary modality weaving through the intersection of art, soil, and communal healing.
Erika Allen is a multidisciplinary social change artist whose philosophy of "Ecological Alchemy" uses healing arts to confront structural oppression. Her practice reclaims food, culture, and spirit through traditional indigenous African and folk arts, transforming the Urbs in Horto (city in a garden) ethos into a vehicle for food justice and liberation.
Working in five-dimensional forms with a core focus on painting, Allen’s work has been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago and the South Side Community Art Center (SSAC).She Founded Growing Power's Chicago Office, which transitioned into Urban Growers Collective and is a co-founding partner with Green Era Sustainability. She integrates creative and therapeutic techniques to build circular economies and climate resiliency.
Allen holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an MA in Art Psychotherapy, and a Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Illinois. A Leadership in Society Fellow at the University of Chicago Graham School (2025–2026), Allen’s career serves as a blueprint for multidisciplinary modality weaving through the intersection of art, soil, and communal healing.
How do you hope to use your residency period at Guest Artists Space Foundation?
During my residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, I will immerse myself in my multidisciplinary practice to develop a new body of earth-based work that connects deeply with my cultural lineage. I plan to collaborate with local artisans to observe and integrate traditional techniques using clay, plant dyes, and other natural materials. Through site-specific earthworks, installation, and photography, I will explore indigenous terrascaping knowledge as a metaphor for the Black experience, emphasizing the regenerative cycles of soil and life.
During my residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, I will immerse myself in my multidisciplinary practice to develop a new body of earth-based work that connects deeply with my cultural lineage. I plan to collaborate with local artisans to observe and integrate traditional techniques using clay, plant dyes, and other natural materials. Through site-specific earthworks, installation, and photography, I will explore indigenous terrascaping knowledge as a metaphor for the Black experience, emphasizing the regenerative cycles of soil and life.