Erickson was born at Wilmington General Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. She is the middle child of Eric Blaine Erickson and Janet Diane Erickson (née Snyder). Her father is a Terminal Trainmaster/Haz Mat Sentinel at CSX Transportation in Walbridge, Ohio and her mother is a homemaker. Erickson moved frequently in her early life, living with her family in New Castle, Delaware, from 1977 to 1978, in Mantua, Ohio, from 1978 to 1979, in Lindenwold, New Jersey, from 1979 to 1980, in Runnemede, New Jersey, from 1980 to 1981 (where she attended Bingham Elementary School), in Laurel Springs, New Jersey, from 1981 to 1994 (where she attended Laurel Springs Elementary, Samuel S. Yellin Junior High in Stratford, and half of her first year at Sterling High School in Somerdale), and in Sylvania, Ohio, from 1994 to 1996 (where she attended Sylvania Southview High School and was a member of the Cougarettes varsity precision dance team).
Education
Erickson moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she earned her BFA in Crafts with a concentration in Ceramics and Art Education K-12 Pre-Certification at The University of the Arts (1996–2000). At UArts she worked closely with artists/professors James D. Makins, Lizbeth Stewert, Alec Karros, Jeanne Jaffe, Sharon Church, Susie Brandt, Roy Superior and Rod McCormick. In December 2000, Erickson returned to Sylvania, Ohio, and continued studio work in her parents' basement, became a member of the Toledo Potters' Guild where she glazed/fired her work, took part in exhibitions, ran the Seagate Gallery in Toledo, taught at art centers, and substitute taught for Toledo Public Schools. In September 2002 Erickson began her MFA in Ceramics at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, under Resident Artist, Tony Hepburn.
Erickson's work has been shown internationally and is represented in collections around the world. She has earned numerous awards, including first place for the Horizon Award presented by the Museum of Art and Design in New York and honorable mentions at the Korea Biennale International 2007 & 2009 Exhibitions. The Horizon Awards acknowledge the achievements of young and emerging artists and designers. "Erickson's work represents the excitement that is now infusing functional ceramics," said Tony Hepburn, head of Ceramics at Cranbrook. "It is simply the hybridizing of craft and design. Upbeat, innovative, employing new technologies and allowing this new world to help us rethink how we think about the objects we use."[1]