Erin McCarthy

Erin McCarthy began her career in the fashion and beauty industry, but after studying under world renowned makeup artist and body painter, Dany Sanz, at the Make Up For Ever Academy in Paris, Fr (2006-07), her interest began to shift to the structure and representation of the human form.

Erin decided to immerse herself in the discipline of realistic sculpture and so spent three years (2011-14) at the accredited Florence Academy of Art where she diligently studied the classical methods of the masters and realized her true passion for sculpting people. Her time at Florence Academy of Art focused on developing technique through accuracy of proportions and gesture. Her work has since evolved and she now pays significant attention to anatomy following a dissection course in which she had the opportunity to dissect a cadaver. The benefits of studying the human form in this way enabled her to sculpt with a more tactile approach as in her most recent public artwork Pandemonium, A Self Portrait.

Upon graduation, Erin was selected to serve as artist-in-residence for six months at the prestigious Galerie Schloss Weispach in Hallein, Austria. She subsequently exhibited throughout Europe before returning to Boston in 2016 to set up her studio.

Erin’s work is so lifelike that she was honored by The Portrait Society of America with first place in its 2019 international juried art competition for a bust of her father, entitled Simple Man. Her resume to date includes several privately commissioned busts, figurative conceptual pieces and public art works.

Erin was awarded the Edward Jonas Memorial Grant in December 2023 for her portraiture work.