At Rochester Contemporary Art Center

When the sun sets, Rochestarians set off on all manner of adventures. While sleeping, they toil in the “Kangaroo Rescue Section” at Durand Eastman Beach. They protect Noam Chomsky’s intellectual blanket. They burrow deep in the earth and fly high in the sky. They attend the Scholastic Book Fair and fall deep down in the void.

Using collage and mixed media, I seek to honor these untethered creations of unconscious minds. “Other People Dreams” features the fruits of four years of dream collection – from friends, family, and strangers who visited my dream booth at the Rochester Public Market. Many thanks to all who shared dreams with me. When you look at my work, I hope you enjoy the freedom of being asleep, when the rules of time, space, and logic don’t apply. 

Artist Bio

Early in life, Erica Bryant dreamt that she was the spiritual leader of a group of alligator-human baby creatures. She awoke with an enduring love of dream imagery and ideas. Her work has appeared in art spaces in California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and New York, including the Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta. In waking life, Bryant is the associate director of writing at the Vera Institute of Justice, an organization that seeks to end mass incarceration and protect immigrant rights. She was born in Rochester, New York, during a mid-April snowstorm. 

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.

Other People’s Dreams will be at Rochester Contemporary Art Center Open Hours: Saturday, June 7, 12-5pm & Saturday, June 14, 12-5pm Enter through RoCo’s main entrance. 

E-mail: erica.m.bryant@gmail.com 

Instagram: @Erica_Likes_Alligators 

Leave-A-Dream-Hotline: 585-310-0921