21 Questions with Erin Prais-Hintz

In the spirit of the 73 Questions series at Vogue, we are asking our artists a set of 73 rapid-fire questions to get to know them better. They are invited to pick-and-choose as many of the questions as they would like. Below are the 21 answers that Erin Prais-Hintz chose to share.

• Describe your art in 3 words.
  Colorful. Multi-faceted. Pixelated.

• Why do you make art?
  I make art to heal, connect, and uplift.

• What are three things that you can't live without in your art space?
  Coffee. Podcasts/audio books. Wet wipes.

• What are the most important tools for you as an artist?
  Tweezers. Wheeled nippers. Hammer and hardie, an ancient tool that mosaic artists have used for over 2000 years. 

• Describe the space where you create art.
  I took over the dining room in my house as a mosaic studio space. Big windows bring in lots of light. Mosaics are driven by material, so I am constantly surrounded by piles of stone, glass, ceramic, found objects, beads, wire, and a motley assortment of frames, trays, and panels as substrates for making mosaics. It truly is a magpie’s paradise! (I also have a space in my basement - my Bead Bunker for jewelry making - that is just as packed!

Working in the studio

• Night owl or early bird?
  Mostly, I am a night owl. When my kids were young I called artmaking my “9-midnight foolishness.” But since being liberated from the working world in 2022 - currently enjoying my “rewirement” era - I work mostly during daylight hours unless I have a deadline!

• Do you create in silence or do you have something on in the background?
  I listen to a lot of podcasts, audio books, and music. My favorite podcasts right now are Good Hang with Amy Poehler and The Bullwark Daily.

• What is the last book that you read that you would recommend?
  Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

• Where do you find creative inspiration?
  Everywhere and in every thing.

• How do you know when a piece of art is finished?
  When it feels right. Or I run out of room.

Hand-cut Italian smalti ready to mosaic

• How has your art style changed over time?
  I started in jewelry making and amassed so many beads that I needed to find a way to use them. In 2014 I took a workshop with an artist who made a type of mosaics with handmade polymer clay elements and that started me down the road to exploring mosaics. I used to think that mosaics were merely stepping stones, backsplashes or kids crafts. When I discovered contemporary fine art mosaics, my mind was blown. I find that I love the meditative element of making mosaics plus it feeds my love of combining disparate materials and elements in a meaningful way. You have to be fully in the moment, so It is a very “zen-like” artistic pursuit.

• Who is your art crush?
  So many art crushes, so little time! Some of my favorites include
  Ellsworth Kelly, Anni Albers, Yayoi Kusama, Joseph Cornell, Alexander Calder.
  And I aspire to be just like my mentors, these amazing contemporary mosaic artists: Kelley Knickerbocker, Anabella Wewer, Rachel Davies, Rachel Sager, Mireille Swinnen.

• If you could take an artist residency to make art, where would you want to go?
  I went to Spilimbergo and Venice, Italy with a group of mosaic artists led by Mireille Swinnen in April 2025. It was life-changing. I would like to go back to revisit, and to other places in Italy to see mosaics and take classes, like Florence or Ravenna.

Micromosaic earrings with Italian glass smalti

• If you could try a totally different creative outlet from what you do, what would it be?
  I have taken dozens of metalsmithing classes over the years and would love to have the time to make my own jewelry designs. My late mother was an art history major at UWSP and I found her sketchbook from a metalsmithing class she took in the late 60s. I would like to create jewelry from her unrealized designs.

• What other creative outlets or hobbies do you have?
  I make the best banana bread (with chocolate chips, of course!)

• Tell us a little about your current body of work.
  My current work explores the concept of randomness in the design process. I was inspired by Ellsworth Kelly’s paper experiments for his later works called Spectrum Colors Arranged by Chance where he pulled numbers out of a hat to place colored squares in a grid resulting in analog pixelation. I used more modern technologies to add elements of randomness into my abstract designs, like a Dice app on my phone.

• What element of making art do you love the most?
  The possibilities are endless - in materials, in concepts, in presentation. Getting into the flow where time stands still is the best part about the making.

• What part of art making do you loathe?
  Cleaning up my tools so that mortar doesn’t harden on them and putting things away. Trying to organize the overwhelming amount of stuff I accumulate is a constant struggle.

The Dividing Line: Breaking Free

• What is the next level for you as an artist?
  I don’t know if I could do it, because I usually work pretty small and have never done mosaics for outdoors, but I would love to do a mosaic mural, or start small with grafitti or guerilla mosaics like those of Jim Bachor, Helen Miles or Ememem. (Do you think there is a pothole or a sidewalk crack in Stevens Point that could use a mosaic?)

• What is the most rewarding part of being a member of Gallery Q?
  I have been a member of Gallery Q since the beginning in June 2009. I appreciate being a part of this collective of artists, each one unique and intriguing in their medium, process, and personality. I have grown so much in my artistic life through the opportunities to exhibit and sell my work here. My goal is to own a piece of art from every artist who has ever been a member of Gallery Q.

• Is there anyone or anything that you would want to give thanks to?
  I want to thank my husband Paul. He puts up with my crazy ideas and my piles and even helps me with putting up displays like the window designs. He is my best friend and biggest supporter.