Erica Eash aka Heartbreak Betty "Between Oceans & Orbits"

Erica Eash "Between Oceans & Orbits" 2026

Analog collage on paper, Framed
Dimensions 8 x 10.75 inches, Framed 11 x 14, matted to 8 x 10 inches
Unique
Signed on Verso

Heartbreak Betty is the artistic alter ego of Erica Eash, a Michigan-based collage artist whose work explores the feminine experience and themes of identity. Inspired by her love of thrifting, fashion, and storytelling, she uses analog collage to transform imagery from the past into bold, contemporary works that celebrate confidence, individuality, and empowerment.

Although Eash has a background in graphic design, she prefers the analog process for her collage practice, finding its tactile nature therapeutic as she reimagines the past through a modern lens. An introvert herself, she created Heartbreak Betty as a way of embracing the qualities that have become integral to her signature aesthetic: characters who are bold, edgy, and unapologetic. Her goal as an artist is to create a space where people feel both seen and empowered to be the most beautiful and unique versions of themselves.

Artist Statement:

Featured Heartbreak Betty pieces in this exhibit represent a collection of analog collages that explore the many ways dreams can shape our waking lives. For as long as she can remember, Erica has been a vivid dreamer, but in recent years she started experiencing precognitive dreams. This has been both an unexpected and fascinating phenomenon that has left her curious about where these dreams come from and what they might mean. Her exploration of this experience has naturally found its way into her art practice, with dreamlike, sci-fi, and sometimes eerie elements appearing throughout her recent collages.

For Erica, dreaming also extends beyond sleep. As a lifelong daydreamer, she has always been fascinated by the dreams we carry with us while awake, including the lives we imagine, the worlds we wonder about, and the aspirations that can feel simultaneously exciting and impossible. Sometimes dreams seem to find us. And other times, we actively chase them. They can offer a glimpse into something beautiful and unknown, while also leading us through uncertainty, darkness, and unexpected places.

Together, these pieces explore dreams as a space between imagination and reality: the dreams that seem to arrive from somewhere beyond us, the dreams we pursue, and the possibility that our dreams may offer us a glimpse into the worlds or connections we don't yet understand. Erica uses her collage practice to explore the mysterious space where intuition, aspiration, memory, and imagination begin to blur into something beautiful.