For over a decade artist Erik Speer has been creating experimental fiber art collages by hand that employ an array of techniques, including macramé, crotchet, knitting, felting, and weaving. Thoughtfully detailed and expressive, his sculptural “tapestries” are naturally evocative and deeply rooted in his personal narrative. While his road to full-time maker was circuitous, it was not without purpose or consequence. Each turn in his path would become an integral component to his artistic practice and his creative outlook.
Born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico, at fifteen Speer’s family moved to South Carolina, where his lifelong fascination with the ocean would begin. Shortly after moving, he did his first open water dive and received his scuba diving license. “It opened up this whole new world that I had never experienced or even thought about,” he says. Though he entered college intending to go into the field of medicine, eventually Speer came to recognize that an office life would not fulfill him. He graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in marine biology, then spent two years traveling the world as a diving instructor, teaching in countries including Honduras, Croatia, and Malaysia. Diving several times a day took a toll: he ruptured both eardrums, nearly lost his hearing, and returned to the United States for treatment, recovering after about four months. Restlessness soon set in, altering his trajectory once more.
In marine biology, he explains, “You were either gonna be working on a fish boat in Alaska in the middle of nowhere holding fish counts, or you were gonna be stuck in a laboratory counting plankton samples. And I was like, I can’t do this. That’s not the life I want.” Speer moved to New York City and enrolled at Parsons, graduating in December 2015 with a degree in fashion design. He found the hands-off nature of most fashion design work unfulfilling, but the industry led him to his medium. While working as an intern for stylist Rachel Zoe, Speer was asked whether he knew macramé. He had learned never to say no in fashion, so he said yes and taught himself. His first full-size macramé wall hanging drew significant praise. After about three years of working on weekends, he committed to his art full time.
Naturally, much of Speer’s inspiration for his work comes from the ocean, and his art is the medium through which he shares his experiences in the water. “I guess that’s kind of how I put together my pieces…trying to recreate that aspect of it and taking fibers and small materials and building it onto each other to make this larger scale piece that feels like it’s complete. It’s like its own organism and it’s living on its own.” His diving days are visible in his massive wall hangings, which resemble coral reefs. They are knitted and crocheted from wool and interspersed with shapes reminiscent of barnacles, sea urchins, anemones and tunicates, made from various fibers and textiles. Employing highly sustainable practices, his materials range from wool, silk, linen and cotton to alpaca, angora and pineapple fiber, as well as rayon, polyester and leather. Across his varied palette of materials Speer uses natural dyes, many of which he has developed himself. “Most all of my materials are of natural origin,” Speer writes, “with wools, silks and linen being my favorites. I strive to use recycled fibers and yarns along with dead overstock and waste material. My main methods of construction include knotting, knitting, crocheting, braiding, and weaving, but I constantly try to push the boundary of what is possible with my media.” In 2024 Speer extended his practice into collectible design with Sit Down / Do Nothing Swivel Chairs, one-of-a-kind chairs upholstered in his signature woven, knit and crocheted assemblages.
Speer still dives, and takes trips specifically to study coral and other marine life. Today his inspiration extends to nature as a whole, especially the small, intricate parts that come together to form an ecosystem or organism, an idea he expresses through intertwined yarns, shapes, and textures. It’s not hard to imagine the state of meditative calm Speer must experience while creating the multitude of components that make up his remarkable tapestries. Perhaps it is a calm that mirrors those underwater spaces that have always captivated him.
