Holstad's varied art practice—drawing, performance, installation, and sculpture—is united in its homespun, crafty aesthetic and labor–intensive techniques that evoke nostalgia and escape. In his ongoing Erasurehead series, Holstad alters newspaper images to inject them with ironic social commentary. By erasing and doctoring them, Holstad "undoes" images from the popular press, configuring ghoulish and often pathetic versions of the original figures.
Gallery label from Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, April 22, 2009–January 4, 2010.