Erika Shallcross, a Riverdale-based artist specializing in collage and photography, challenges traditional notions of feminine beauty through her work.
“I see a lot of art out there, which is a man’s idea of what’s femininity, what’s feminine, what’s sexy,” she said. “I hope that what my idea is also represents what other women think, but just what we (all) think of as femininie or femininity or beautiful.”
Shallcross, originally from New Jersey, studied English in college before getting her master’s in education and clocking in a 20-year career in teaching. And like many during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she became reacquainted with old hobbies while stuck at home. She started making collages regularly and began using her digital and film cameras again.
“I just happened to have a lot of magazines around, and it was easy; I didn’t have to go out for materials,” she said. “That was really what started my love of art back up again.”
In 2021 she left her job as an English teacher and landed a position as an instructor with the Pelham Art Center, and in March of this year she launched her own photography business called the New York Portrait Company.
“Last year I stopped teaching (English), you can imagine the pressures of teaching during the pandemic,” Shallcross said. “And I got a job teaching art … and it just opened up a whole new world for me of art being my job.”
Much of her work centers on femininity and the female experience, she said, which was also the primary focus behind her photography business.
When Shallcross couldn’t find a photographer to take portraits of her in the tastefully feminized way she wanted, she decided to create her own brand to cater to people with similar visions — and there the New York Portrait Company was born.
“That was the origin — just trying to provide a service for women that I could not find out there when I was looking for myself,” she said.
But what’s perhaps most unique about the portrait company is the history behind its namesake.
After setting up a Google Ads account and viewing a few digital prototypes on the internet, Shallcross came across records from a different New York Portrait Company — one that existed more than a century ago.
“I stumbled upon old newspaper clippings from a company that had been named New York Portrait Company, and that’s when I started digging,” Shallcross said. “I was just so tickled when I found out that there had been another company with the same name. I’ve been lucky enough to find a lot of photos turning up on eBay taken by the New York Portrait Company … I’ve actually bought some of the images.”
According to archives from the Buffalo History Museum, the old New York Portrait Company was named in the official catalog for the Pan-American Exposition World Fair in Buffalo, New York in November 1901. Adam Rubin, an assistant librarian at the museum, told The Bronx Times via email that old newspaper archives indicate the company was headquartered in New York City, although he “couldn’t say for certain.” The old New York Portrait Company was dissipated sometime after the World Fair in Buffalo, before it was resurrected by Shallcross — albeit unintentionally at first.
Some of her collages — under the name New York Paper Arts — will be showcased at Gallery 505 in Riverdale starting Sept. 12. The exhibition, called “From every angle: Through the female gaze,” delves into themes of femininity, beauty and the female experience.
Shallcross said she encourages people to experiment with the freedom of mixed paper art.
“I think that collage is an underrepresented art form, and I think it’s as valid a form of expression as anything else,” she said.
Shallcross’ photography can be found at newyorkportraitcompany.com; view her collage work on Instagram @newyorkpaperarts.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
