ABOUT

Erica McKeehen (b. 1987, Marion, OH) is a multidisciplinary artist in Chicago, IL. As a sex worker and burlesque performer, McKeehen creates self-portraits and images, often paired with biographical text, of her close friends and peers who also navigate a range of roles within the sex industry. In building long-term collaborative narratives of performers, she explores identity, performance, and storytelling to present nuanced views of femme experience, sexuality, and autonomy. McKeehen also curates intimate public panel discussions with her peers in burlesque and sex work and co-produces Chicago’s Lust for Life, a rock n’ roll burlesque show, alongside her collaborator, Kitty Tornado.

Growing up in rural Ohio, McKeehen spent her childhood consumed by her dad’s vast rock n’ roll media collection; her lifelong fascinations with public persona and depictions of glamorous performers come from the music videos, album covers, and photo spreads in Rolling Stone that she studiously viewed.

McKeehen received her BS ‘10 from Ohio University, and her MA ‘21 and MFA ‘23, both from Columbia College Chicago. At Columbia, she received the Stuart Abelson Graduate Research Fellowship, the Albert P. Weisman Award, the John Mulvany and Bob Thall Scholarship in Photography, the Fogelson Foundation Photography Scholarship, the Anderson Ranch Award, and the Lya Dym Rosenblum Award.

CV

CONTACT

commissions, inquiries, & love letters: erica.mckeehen@gmail.com